Wild, intense pre-season finale goes down to wire
Backup QBs Stanzi and Buckley shine as Stampeders squeak by Alberta rivals
All things considered, it was a job well done.
The Calgary Stampeders’ 36-35 victory over the Eskimos in Edmonton on Sunday night wasn’t the prettiest win they’ll put on the board this season, but it was probably never going to be.
Not when they’d only had five days between Sunday and their previous game.
Not in the pre-season.
Not when the usual starters played half the game, at most.
But ultimately, the Stampeders finished their bizarre pre-season schedule with a 2-0 record and got a better idea of what they’re capable of.
Plus, a win never hurts. “It’s still pre-season, nobody’s going to remember a win or loss, but I like to get in the habit of winning,” said Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson.
“Like I told the guys, everyone seemed to have a piece of this win and that doesn’t always happen in the regular season … It just felt like everyone, good and bad, was into the game and played hard.”
The circumstances that led to the win were, admittedly, intense and wild.
After the Eskimos drove down the field and Marion Grice scored on a three-yard touchdown run, pulling Edmonton to within a point of Calgary, they decided to go for two in an attempt to give the home fans something to cheer about and avoid a tie — pre-season games can’t go to overtime.
The Eskimos couldn’t convert, and all the Stamps needed to do was secure the ball on an onside kick to seal the win.
But the details of the victory were secondary to the performances on the field, and the Stampeders players gave their coaches plenty to think about.
Much of the talk surrounding the Stampeders during training camp has focused on the team’s backup and third-stringer quarterback position, so let’s start there.
After starter Bo Levi Mitchell opened up a 14-0 lead for the Stamps, each of the three men vying for the two positions had their chance to shine.
For Mitchell Gale, it was a challenging evening. Gale had one pass intercepted by the Eskimos and turned another ball over on a fumble, and the score was 22-15 for Edmonton by the time Ricky Stanzi took over in the third quarter.
Stanzi looked much more confident than he had in his CFL debut against the B.C. Lions, and he seemed to develop an instant chemistry with receiver Juwan Brescacin, who finished the game as the Stamps’ leading receiver with 82 yards on four receptions.
Stanzi would also connect on a game-tying touchdown with Rory Kohlert, setting the stage for Andrew Buckley to take over at QB.
Like Stanzi, Buckley showed serious composure in his time on the field, leading the Stamps on two touchdown drives and using both his feet and his arm to pick up first downs and help the Stamps surge ahead.
“We’ll see what the decision making was,” Dickenson said.
“(Gale) probably looked sharpest of the guys last week, so there’s still practice to be had.
“We’ve got to keep evaluating them and then come up with our strongest roster.”
The game didn’t come without a cost to the Stampeders, though, as star defensive lineman Cordarro Law went down in the first quarter with a leg injury and did not return.
“No update,” Dickenson said afterwards. “But for me, that takes a little piece of your heart with out. He’s one of the guys I love to coach. I don’t know how serious it is, I just know he looked kind of down, so let’s have our doctors check it out. It’s in the ankle region, which to me is sometimes a little better than the knee, but we’ll have to see.”