STAMPS’ DEFENCE THUMPS ARGOS IN STUNNING VICTORY
TORONTO — The Calgary Stampeders defence took one look at the depleted crew on the other side of the dressing roomand knew something had to be done.
No Jon Cornish. No Nik Lewis. No Dimitri Tsoumpas. No Drew Tate, Maurice Price or Joe West.
No hope against the defending Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts? Not a chance. Taking matters into their own hands, the Stampeder defenders knocked starter Ricky Ray out of the game and threw backup Zach Collaros on his behind more times than he could count.
In a game where they played the role of massive underdogs, the Stamps knocked off the Argonauts 35-14 before a stunned crowd of 21,157 with the lid open at Rogers Centre.
In doing so, the Stampeders snapped a five-game regular season losing streak against the Argonauts. Who would have thought? “If anybody goes down, we know it’s on us to get the job done,” said middle linebacker Juwan Simpson. “We get paid to play. If we stop the opposing offence, we’ll win.”
That the Stampeders did, with the big boys on the defensive line leading the way.
The game opened in disturbing fashion for the Stampeders. On the first offensive play, Marquay McDaniel reeled in a 19-yard pass, only to fumble and have Argos lineman Cleyon Laing recover.
From there, Ricky Ray sliced through the Calgary defence with five straight completions including a 19-yard touchdown strike to his Edmonton buddy, Jason Barnes
Enter Charleston Hughes. One of the precious few big names still in the Stamps lineup, Hughes tracked down Ray in the backfield just as the Toronto quarterback released the ball. Thud! With tremendous force, Hughes smoked Ray with a high, clean hit. Within moments, the Toronto training staff rushed onto the field to tend to the face of the franchise.
Favouring his right throwing arm, Ray walked to the Toronto dressing room on his own steam at 8:41 of the first quarter and did not return.
“I feel sorry that he’s hurt,” Hughes said. “But you know what? That’s just football.
“It’s a whole momentum shift. A big part of their offence is Ricky Ray and him throwing the ball and him actually controlling the game. He’s a veteran quarterback, and I think without him they felt a little hurt.”
A little hurt? Try mortally wounded.
On the very next play, linebacker Deron Mayo followed the example set by Hughes and sacked Collaros to force the Argos to concede a safety touch.
At 9:33, Cordarro Law belted Collaros behind the line of scrimmage, and the Argos surrendered another two points.
From there, Glenn and his ragtag crew on offence stepped up against all odds. “I’m very proud of this football team just because of the things they had to contend with,” said Stamps head coach/general manager John Hufnagel.
In his first game as the featured receiver, McDaniel bounced back from the fumble on the opening play to catch seven passes for 106 yards and a touchdown. Tailback Jonathan Williams averaged 7.3 yards on his first eight carries. Calgary product Anthony Parker stepped up with the biggest game of his career. Wideout Tim Hawthorne scored his first CFL major.
For his part, Glenn completed 14-of-20 passes for 228 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions before leaving the game early in the fourth quarter upon absorbing hellacious hit delivered by Khalif Mitchell.
With Glenn heading to the quiet room for concussion evaluation, third stringer Bo Levi Mitchell sealed the improbable victory with an 11yard dash to the end zone.
“I’m feeling all right,” Glenn said after the game. “They did a couple tests, and I think I did well. I had a little headache, so the biggest thing was taking precautions.
“I feel fine. I remember the play and everything. It was more just a precaution.”
Seemingly in his right mind, Glenn positively raved about the defence on a night with too many big plays to mention.
Fred Bennett forced a key fumble. So did Hughes. Jamar Wall chipped in with a timely interception. So did Juwan Simpson on a faked punt by Noel Prefontaine.
And so the replacements head home to Calgary with a 6-2 record, good for a temporary tie with the Saskatchewan Roughriders (6-1) for first place in the West Division.
The Riders take on the Eskimos Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium.
Short yardage: Kicker Rene Paredes missed a 22-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to end his CFL (and North American professional football) streak of 39 straight successful attempts.