Blue Bombers take a hit
Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ Timothy Flanders, left, is knocked out of bounds at the one-yard line with the help of Calgary Stampeders’ Tommie Campbell during second-half CFL action in Calgary on Saturday.
CALGARY — Rene Paredes kicked a 52-yard field goal with no time left on Saturday afternoon, leading the Calgary Stampeders to a thrilling 36-34 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell tossed touchdown passes to Kamar Jorden and Lemar Durant as the Stampeders (11-1-1) remained unbeaten in 12-straight games.
Jerome Messam also ran for a touchdown, while Paredes kicked five field goals for Calgary.
Mitchell completed 29-of-43 passes for 361 yards and also ran his personal unbeaten streak to 12 games, which is one shy of the CFL record held by former Edmonton Eskimos quarterback Warren Moon. Moon went 12-0-1 over two seasons in 1981-82.
The Bombers (8-5) trailed 30-7 early in the third quarter before rallying to take a 34-33 lead. Julian Feoli-Gudino caught a five-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Matt Nichols with 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter to tie the game before Justin Medlock kicked the convert to give the Bombers the lead for the first time.
Mitchell then proceeded to complete a 22-yard pass to Durant and a 14-yard strike to Jorden to get the Stamps into field-goal territory before Paredes kicked the game-winning field goal.
Nichols and Timothy Flanders had rushing touchdowns for the Blue Bombers, whose winning streak ended at seven games. Nichols also threw a TD pass to Clarence Denmark, while linebacker Khalil Bass scored after recovering a fumble deep in Calgary territory.
The Stampeders struck quickly in the first quarter as Mitchell led the Stamps on a six-play, 64-yard drive that culminated with him throwing a five-yard touchdown pass to Jorden.
Paredes booted a 27-yard field goal at 6:54 of the first quarter before Mitchell tossed a 14-yard TD pass to Durant at 6:08 of the second. Rob Cote then hauled in a short pass from Mitchell for a two-point convert to put the Stamps up 18-0.
Calgary increased that lead to 24-0 after a 15-yard rushing touchdown by Messam to cap off a fourplay, 54-yard drive, but the Stamps were unable to make the two-point convert.
The Bombers finally hit the scoresheet at 12:22 of the second quarter when they decided to gamble on a third-and-one situation at midfield. Nichols handed off to Flanders, who proceeded to ramble his way down field for a 50-yard touchdown.
Paredes then kicked a 17-yard field goal late in the first half and another one from 47 yards out at 4:50 of the third quarter to give Calgary a 30-7 lead.
The Bombers answered back as Nichols tossed a 12-yard TD strike to Denmark to cap off an eight-play, 52-yard drive.
After Nichols ran for a 1-yard score at 1:26 of the fourth quarter, he was unable to complete a pass to Weston Dressler in the end zone for the two-point convert.
On the ensuing Calgary drive, Mitchell completed a short pass to receiver Simon Charbonneau-Campeau, who fumbled the ball after being hit hard by Winnipeg linebacker Tony Burnett. Bass picked up the loose ball and ran it back 16 yards into the Calgary end zone to pull Winnipeg within three points.
Paredes had a chance to get the Stamps back on the scoreboard, but his 42-yard field goal attempt hit the right post. A short time later, Paredes connected on his fourth field goal of the game from 37 yards out to put the Stamps up 33-27.