Stampeders Fourth-Quarter Surge Earns Win over Argos

kurleigh-gittens jr- riley-jones
Argonaut wide receiver Kurleigh Gittens Jr. avoids being tackled by Calgary linebacker Riley Jones during the first half on Saturday at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alberta.

Calgary Stampeder Cam Judge’s fourth-quarter 71-yard interception and touchdown showcased the performance of the Stampeders’ defence and their ultimate 29-2 victory on Saturday against the Toronto Argonauts.

Judge, who was playing his first game back after a one-game suspension for an incident where he punched B.C. Lions Lucky Whitehead gave the Stampeders momentum after he intercepted off McLeod Bethel-Thompson and converted the interception into a touchdown with four minutes remaining in the game.

“I let the guys down last week”, said Judge. They had my back though, so I knew I had to put something out there for them.”

Adding to the Calgary Stampeders’ stellar performance was a three-yard rushing touchdown by running back Ka’Deem Carey in the final minute of play. As the CFL’s rushing leader, Carey added 92 yards to his 949 yards this season. Tommy Stevens and Reggie Begelton also scored touchdowns for Calgary, who put a stop to Toronto’s four-game win streak.

Calgary quarterback Jake Maier connected on 17 of 24 passes for a total of 175 yards and one touchdown pass in front of 21,299 at McMahon Stadium. Maier improved his starts to 4 and 2 since replacing Bo Levi Mitchell.

“I thought that was one of the best defensive performances I’ve ever seen,” said Maier. “That’s a great quarterback over there and a good receiving corps. They’ve scored a lot of points against a lot of teams and to hold them to two points is unbelievable.”

Toronto starter Bethel-Thompson was 19 for 38  and 195 in passing yards, and both he and Maier were intercepted twice, while Stampeder Malik Henry added 69 receiving yards on Saturday to increase his season total to over 1,000.

Both Calgary and the Toronto Argonauts have locked in their playoff spots before Saturday’s game for their respective divisions, but Calgary’s performance is an indicator of what is likely to come during this year’s playoffs.

Despite the loss on Saturday, Toronto still leads the Easy Division, albeit their lead dropped by two points after Montreal defeated Edmonton 25-18 on Saturday. While Calgary, who has three remaining in the regular season, are in a tight race with B.C for second place in the West Division and the opportunity to play host to the division semifinal in November.

Meanwhile, defending Grey Cup champion the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are 13-2 in the West Division and look like they will once again host the division final. While the Argonauts are a home playoff game, they are hoping it will be the East Division final. However, Toronto dropped to 2-4 against the West Division with their loss to Calgary, and the Stampeders improved this season to 4-3 at home and 5-0 against the East.

Saturdays battle between the Stampeders and Argonauts saw the first and third quarters going scoreless. However Calgary shinned in the fourth with Jameer Thurman and Cam Judge interceptions they both converted, while Toronto failed to score any points I the fourth.

“I would like to see a few more offensive plays on our side, said Stampeder head coach Dave Dickenson”, but punting was excellent, defence was excellent, special teams and neither team could really get their footing offensively.”

Dickenson also said Cam did the time, and he did the crime, but it was good to get Cam back.

“He is a playmaker. When Cam got that pick, that was what to me really kind of changed the game and put it in our favour and I had a feeling we were going to win from there.”

Toronto receiver Chad Kelly was one for five on Saturday before being picked off during the last play of the fame. The Stampeders third-string Tommy Stevens managed a 70-yard drive with a single-yard TD that Rene Paredes converted into a 14-2 lead heading into halftime.

The Argonauts, who had to make do with a single point for much of the game, were down by five when Boris Bede’s 46-yard field-goal attempt halfway through the second when wide. One of the two points for Toronto was thanks to a 71-yard punt at the end of the second quarter.

However, Thurman’s interception gave the Stampeders the ball at the Argo’s 23-yard-line early in the second saw  Maier throw a 16-yard pass to Begelton at the goal line, who converted a scoring drive to put Calgary up 7-1.

The Toronto Argonauts will return home on Saturday to play host to the BC Lions, while Calgary will head into a bye week before hosting the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on the 14th of October. This gives punters plenty of time to sign-up with CFL-friendly bookies like Bodog. New bettors with Bodog will be met with a generous 100% up to $200 CAD welcome bonus, let alone added perks like Bodog’s new cash out features and their Bodog Rewards program.

Author Hey all! My name is Doug Hirdle, and I am the main author at Betting.ca. As a huge sports fan, for years I have thought about running a website that’s going to provide people with the latest news from the world of sports. However, watching sports is not my only passion, as I also love...