Stamps’ defence comes together
Unit at its best in tough victory over Lions
The wildest thing about the Wild West Showdown on Saturday night at McMahon Stadium was probably the 180 by the Calgary Stampeders’ defence after a generous fi rst fi ve minutes. From that point on, they were at their parsimonious best.
“You watched the game in Montreal,” began linebacker Juwan Simpson. “We were there, but we weren’t really there. We know what type of team we are; we’re an emotionally-driven team. We’ve been preaching that all week and the guys responded well. I’m sure we have a lot of corrections to do, but, hey, I’m proud of them.”
The Stamps, after allowing an opening- drive touchdown, quickly tightened the screws and, while their off ence put up just enough points, bedevilled the B. C. Lions in a 14- 7 victory.
Calgary, now 11- 2, has little time to prepare for the next West test, the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Regina on Friday night.
The Lions’ one score notwithstanding, Calgary’s defenders shut down every aspect of the opposition’s attack, taking away their running threat while hounding quarterback Kevin Glenn into hurried and haphazard throws.
“We had a couple of busts ... but the thing about this football game is, they get paid, too, we understand that,” explained Simpson, who led the way with nine tackles. “As the season goes, we’re not going to shut any teams out, teams are getting better. We stuck together, we knew it was going to be a four- quarter game and our off ence they always give us production at some point in the game. We’ve been playing together for a while, we have a great group of guys, no pointing fi ngers. I think that’s what helps, when you can stick together.”
Jon Cornish, who had a starry performance himself with 156 yards on the ground, tossed kudos Simpson’s way.
“I think it was a key performance by Juwan Simpson,” said Cornish, whose 743 rushing yards in six games in 2014 place him just 21 behind league- leader Brandon Whitaker of the Alouettes. “Any time you have a leader — I would say he’s the leader of this team — any time you have him performing at such a level, it inspired everybody else to raise their own level. I think after losing to Montreal we realized we can’t rest on our laurels. We have to work to improve every week.”
Brandon Smith and Keon Raymond each had an interception, while Junior Turner and Quinn Smith both were credited with sacks, the former in the dying minutes of the contest.
“I thought we used our hands very well in the run game and we didn’t get complacent,” said Turner, who lined up at defensive tackle. “We kept our pedal to the metal. As a collective, we bought in and everybody did their job and that’s the big thing. Not just the line, the linebackers, the DBs ... 12 people.
“Hey, Coach Stubes told us that it was going to take a relentless effort from the D- line. He said you might not always get there, because KG likes to throw it quick, but get him off the spot and get him off his feet.”
“This was defi nitely a step in the right direction for us to be the top defence we want to be,” chipped in Raymond. “This is crunch time, we’re facing all West opponents, and we have to make sure we come to play every single snap, every single game, every single second.”
The Lions’ defence, too, had a pretty fi ne outing in limiting a stacked Calgary off ence to no major scores ( Rene Paredes had four fi eld goals). Quarterback Drew Tate, after a slow start, threw to a range of receivers, the longest a 60- yard strike to Maurice Price.
“I had a better grip of the off ence in the huddle,” related Tate. “It all starts with practice next week. It doesn’t get any easier going into Regina on another short week, so we really have to pull it together.”
An unsung hero in the game was returner Jock Sanders, who took back six punts for 101 yards and three kickoff s for 55, but was injured on a return late in the third quarter.