The Province

Reinforcem­ents on the way in Calgary

Linemen Davis, Turner could bolster Stamps’ beat-up lineup Friday against B.C.

- DANIEL AUSTIN daustin@postmedia.com

CALGARY — Considerin­g the way the injury bug hit the Calgary Stampeders’ defence this season, it’s sort of astounding the team has allowed fewer points than anyone else in the CFL.

On the defensive line alone, there was a period early on when it felt like a player was going down at a rather, um, breakneck pace.

And yet, the good old “next man up” philosophy has served the Stamps well as they enter Friday’s Week 9 matchup with the B.C. Lions having limited opponents to a CFLbest 145 points in seven games.

The scary part? With guys like Ja’Gared Davis coming off the sixgame injured list and ready to step back onto the active roster, the defence may be getting even better.

“Everybody was like, ‘What is going on?’ And it was like we really had the injury bug ... that everybody had something to do with their leg,” Davis said Wednesday from McMahon Stadium. “But you see how resilient our defensive line is and our defence and whole team in general. To battle through all those woes and come out at the point where we are now, feeling like we’re getting most of our guys back, (is great).

“It’s scary to see what we could possibly be with everyone buying into the system and continuing to work hard and put it all on the field.”

Davis should see lots of playing time at defensive end. He was likely to split time with Cordarro Law this season, but Law’s pre-season injury opened the door for Davis to play major minutes as a starter.

A Week 1 injury against the Ottawa Redblacks meant that instead of building on the seven sacks he picked up last season, Davis spent the better part of two months rehabbing an injured leg.

“No matter who you are, it’s devastatin­g,” Davis said. “Last thing on anybody’s mind at the beginning of the season is a setback, especially of that magnitude where it’s going to hold you out for at least one-third of the season.

“Watching my teammates go to battle, go to war week in and week out, it hurts. I want to be out there fighting right alongside them.”

With linebacker Deron Mayo’s return still questionab­le, Davis and fellow D-lineman Junior Turner could be the biggest names slotting back into the Stampeders defence this weekend against the Lions.

James Vaughters played well against the Toronto Argonauts in Week 7, though, and the Stampeders defence has been playing so dominantly that Davis knows he’ll have to be at his best if he’s going to reclaim a starting position permanentl­y at defensive end.

“We’ll see how he plays,” said Stamps head coach Dave Dickenson. “We’ve been playing well at our defensive end position, so Ja’Gared is ready and I’ve always felt he’s a dynamic player, a guy who makes plays and plays his best in big games, so we’re hoping that happens.”

With so many players likely returning to the fold in the coming weeks, the Stampeders coaching staff will no doubt be facing some tough decisions regarding players who have performed well for the team.

Really, though, that’s the only downside to having the reinforcem­ents on their way and there’s every possibilit­y the league’s most dominant defence is going to get even better.

Of course, the Stampeders are also entering a pivotal stretch in their schedule during which they’ll face the Lions this week and the Edmonton Eskimos twice between now and Sept. 16 with a matchup at McMahon Stadium against the Toronto Argonauts thrown in there Aug. 26.

Any questions about the Stampeders defence are sure to be answered by the time this upcoming stretch is done.

“I’m not necessaril­y looking at (individual) players,” Dickenson said. “I feel like our production has increased. They are performing like I thought they would and have done so year after year.”

 ?? — CP FILES ?? The Stampeders’ defence has allowed the fewest points in the CFL and get a further boost with the return of Ja’Gared Davis Friday from the six-game injured list.
— CP FILES The Stampeders’ defence has allowed the fewest points in the CFL and get a further boost with the return of Ja’Gared Davis Friday from the six-game injured list.

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