Stampeders advance to Grey Cup with 32-28 win
Calgary returns to big game as Edmonton botches kick return in the final seconds
The Calgary Stampeders will get their chance at Grey Cup redemption.
The Stampeders advanced to the CFL championship game for a second straight year Sunday when they downed the visiting Edmonton Eskimos 32-28 in the West Division final.
Calgary, whose 13-4-1 regularseason record was the league’s best, will face the Toronto Argonauts next Sunday in Ottawa.
The Argonauts beat the Saskatchewan Roughriders 25-21 in Sunday’s East Division final.
After posting a 15-2-1 record in 2016, Calgary lost last year’s Grey Cup in a massive upset. The Stampeders were beaten 39-33 in overtime by the Ottawa Redblacks (8-9-1).
Calgary was 2-0 versus the Argonauts in the 2017 regular season with wins of 23-7 and 41-24 in August.
The Stampeders had lost three in a row heading into Sunday’s game, but recovered their winning form. The defence held the CFL’s No. 1 offence to 18 points for three quarters.
Calgary’s ground game clicked with running backs Jerome Messam and Roy Finch each scoring a touchdown and combining for 152 rushing yards.
Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell threw touchdown passes to Marquay McDaniel and Marken Michel.
Quarterback Mike Reilly, C.J. Gable and Derel Walker scored touchdowns for the Eskimos, who finished third in the division at 12-6.
Kicker Sean Whyte missed fieldgoal tries from 42 and 30 yards, but was good from 34 and 20 yards.
Trailing by a converted touchdown, the Eskimos chose to kick a 20-yard field goal with one minute 43 seconds remaining instead of gambling on a third and four.
Calgary punted with 24 seconds remaining and Edmonton’s Jamill Smith fumbled the ball on the return as the Stampeders recovered to close out the win.
His team down 31-18 midway through the fourth quarter, Reilly scored on a one-yard plunge.
Mitchell and Kamar Jorden combined on a 51-yard passing play down to Edmonton’s 19 in the third quarter. Messam stretched over the goal-line to finish a 14yard carry for a 30-15 lead.
The Eskimos scored on their first two possessions, but the Stampeders countered with three unanswered touchdowns in the second quarter for a 22-15 halftime lead.
What was a gentle breeze at kickoff accelerated to gusts over 30 kilometres per hour in the second half at McMahon Stadium, where the announced attendance was 30,116.
The wind altered the trajectory of Whyte’s 30-yard attempt in the third quarter as the ball struck the upright and landed dead. But the Esks kicker was good from 34 yards later in the quarter.
Finch dipsy doodled 50 yards to the end zone and Messam’s threeyard carry added a two-point convert with 22 seconds to go in the first half.
Michel capped a 41-yard drive taking the hand off from Mitchell and scampering 13 yards to score at 11:54. Calgary scored on the first drive of second quarter when Mitchell threw a 10-yard pass to McDaniel.
Reilly connected with an uncovered Walker for a 69-yard touchdown at 8:44 of the first quarter. On a third-down gamble, Gable punched the ball in from eight yards to score on Edmonton’s first drive.