TEXTBOOK TACKLING

CALGARY — The Calgary Stampeders defence has rarely missed a beat this season. It’s rarely missed a tackle, to boot.

TSN reporter Lowell Ullrich pointed out Tuesday that the Stampeders have averaged just one missed tackle in every 15 attempts, while the CFL average is one in every five.

Now that’s textbook tackling.

“Calgary plays a great team defence,” B.C. Lions head coach Wally Buono told reporters Tuesday. “They run hard to the football. They keep everything in front of them. And that’s always a reason why you don’t have a lot of missed tackles.

“It’s a team that doesn’t hurt itself.”

Stampeders middle linebacker Alex Singleton is at the heart of the defensive attack, having set a CFL mark for Canadian talent with 123 tackles last season.

And the Lions look to slow up Singleton in trying to make the Stamps miss their tackles Saturday night at McMahon Stadium.

“We want to keep (Singleton) on his heels,” Lions running back Jeremiah Johnson told Postmedia.

“Looking at the defence on film, he’s the guy who flows around and makes all the big plays and tackles. We’ll get our big five (offensive linemen) on him and let the other guys make plays, and if we keep them guessing about what we’re doing, I think we’ll be all right.”