Poster boys Williams, Walter embrace game
TORONTO — Kevin Glenn realizes most common folk out there likely wrote off the possibility of the Calgary Stampeders running the ball Friday with any kind of success in the absence of Jon Cornish.
After all, Cornish is a CFL all-star — a threat to take it all the way on every touch. And he watched the Friday’s game from home in Calgary while nursing a thigh contusion.
Regardless, the Stampeders pounded the ball on the grounded with 177 net rushing yards en route to a 35-14 upset of the Toronto Argonauts.
CFL fans, meet Jonathan Williams and Matt Walter.
“Jon Cornish, who?” Glenn said in jest as the Stamps packed up for the charter flight home to Calgary. “I think they both took advantage of opportunities.”
Williams, an East Carolina product, toiled for nearly two months on the practice roster before opportunity knocked.
“It’s a good feeling to get back out there and do my thing and win the game,” said Williams, a player the Stampeders have been high on since the first day of training camp. “It’s big for me. It showed the coaches and the team that I belong here.
“It’s been a long road. I got back here. I came in here and did my thing, and it’s just a great feeling.”
In his CFL debut, the import lugged the ball 18 times for 82 yards.
“I think everybody on the team had confidence in him,” Glenn said. “And now the rest of the CFL, the rest of Canada, has seen what he can do.”
Walter, the leading rusher in University of Calgary Dinos franchise history, made the most of his touches with 10 carries for 56 yards.
“I need to start getting into the groove of it, and then I can really start playing to my potential,” said Walter, 24. “You saw a little bit of that in the fourth quarter. Getting a slew of carries helps me get in the flow of the game.”
On this night, Walter and Williams served as the poster boys for a ragtag offence of replacement players who embraced the moment.
“It shows our team has that resiliency, and we’re able to overcome these injuries,” Walter said. “A great team effort.”
For the second straight game, the Stampeders played without the services of arguably their best offensive lineman in Dimitri Tsoumpas.
The Edmonton native is battling symptoms of post-concussion syndrome.
“I feel bad for Tsoump,” said offensive co-ordinator Dave Dickenson.”I don’t want to be a concussion expert, but I have been there, and I see some things that worry me.”
Dickenson, of course, was forced to retire before his time due to repeated concussions. And while the medical team feels Tsoumpas is making progress, Dickenson feels his pain.
“I’ve been trying to help him out,” Dickenson said. “It’s very easy to get yourself down. That’s the hardest thing.
“Listen, he’ll be better. He’ll be back. It’s so hard when everyone is coming up to you and saying, `hey, how are you feeling today.’ And you don’t feel that different for a long time sometimes. And then you put all this pressure on yourself to get better, because you think you should be better, but you just can’t feel right.
“I do think Tsoump is making progress, but he’s been a big part of our offence ... He’s been our rock for a long time.”