CFL PRESEASON: STAMPS ROUT LIONS, TICATS WALK-OFF AGAINST ALS

CALGARY – A spark on special teams gave the Calgary Stampeders the momentum they needed to beat the B.C. Lions 41-6 on Saturday.

Shawn Bane Jr. ran a punt back 74 yards for a touchdown late in the second quarter on Sunday at McMahon Stadium to give the Stamps a 13-0 lead in the first pre-season game for both Canadian Football League squads.

“I played my part in the first half and I was able to end up in the end zone, so that’s always a fantastic day,” said Bane, who broke an early tackle before receiving a great block from Tre Odoms-Dukes that helped him run in for the score untouched. “Shout out to him. Thank God he knocked him on the ground because I didn’t want to cut back. I definitely gave him his props.”

Dedrick Mills, Tommy Stevens and Rasheed Tucker went on to score rushing TDs in the second half, while Josiah Schakel had an interception return for a score late in the contest as the Stamps cruised to a convincing win.

“We needed a spark and we got one on special teams,” said Calgary coach Dave Dickenson, who wasn’t overly impressed with his team’s start to the afternoon affair. “That was the play that kind of set us up for the rest of the game.”

After entering the game late in the third quarter as Calgary’s third quarterback, Stevens made the most of his opportunity by completing his lone pass for four yards before scoring his rushing TD.

Calgary kicker Keiran Burham finished with a pair of field goals and made all five of his converts.

Starting Lions quarterback Michael O’Connor went 17 for 23 for 151 yards and tossed a touchdown pass to Jamarius Way for B.C.’s lone points of the game.

Rookie B.C. kicker Mark Milan had a rough afternoon as he missed a pair of field goals and a convert.

“We chose to play a lot of first year CFL guys,” said B.C. coach Rick Campbell. “Regardless of what the score is, there’s some guys that did good things and that was our No. 1 goal coming here was to make sure we evaluate and not miss out on good players. We’re going to make sure we do a good job watching the film and see how it looks.”

While the Stamps dressed almost their entire training camp roster, Campbell brought just 50 of his players while the rest stayed behind in B.C.

“It’s two totally different rosters,” he said. “They’re dressing everyone because it’s a home game for them and that’s fine.

“We left a bunch of people back in Kamloops (training camp). They’ve been practising and we’re going to practise (Sunday). That just all factored into our decision.”

Dickenson agreed with his B.C. counterpart that the Stamps had a distinct advantage during the pre-season tilt.

“We had 90 guys,” he said. “They had 50. I think they ran out of gas and obviously a lot of their starter type of guys didn’t even play at all.”

Neither team could get anything going offensively in the first quarter with its starting quarterbacks in the game.

Bo Levi Mitchell got the start under centre for Calgary and completed just three of 10 passes for 37 yards. Although he guided the Stamps into scoring territory twice, both drives ended when he was picked off – first by Tyniel Cooper at the five-yard line and then by Quincey Mauger in the end zone.

“I’ll definitely eat those,” Mitchell said. “Things can be cleaned up, obviously; I can take care of the ball and make sure it’s not in harm’s way at all.”

O’Connor didn’t have much success in the opening quarter either as he was unable to convert on a pair of third-down conversions that resulted in a pair of turnovers for the Lions.

In at QB for Calgary in the second quarter, Jake Maier completed seven of 13 passes for 90 yards, but he did get the home team into scoring position multiple times and Burnham kicked a pair of field goals from 33 and 34 yards to give the Stamps a 6-0 lead.

HAMILTON – All Tadgh Leader wanted was a second chance to impact his first-ever game with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

The Irish-born former rugby player — whose first name is pronounced like Tiger without the “r” — made a 35-yard field goal on the game’s final play to give Hamilton an improbable 25-23 win over the Montreal Alouettes in the opening CFL exhibition game for both teams. Leader’s kick came after his 33-yard punt earlier in the final quarter.

Leader’s heroics came after rookie Davis Alexander staked Montreal to a 23-22 lead. After scoring on a one-yard TD run at 14:45, Alexander hit Krishawn Hogan on the two-point convert.

Hamilton returned the ensuing kickoff to its 41-yard line. With 10 seconds remaining, Montreal’s Robert Hayes Jr. was flagged for pass interference on an incompletion, giving the Ticats possession at the Alouettes’ 28-yard line with three seconds to play.

After making the kick, Leader was mobbed on the field by teammates.

“I’ve never been in that situation before,” Leader said. “That was just my 10th game of football ever so I haven’t had that opportunity. It was pretty surreal when I looked up and saw the ball was flying straight and within a few seconds all the lads just engulfing me. A nice welcoming to the team.”

Leader, Canadian Michael Domagala and American Seth Small all made field goals for Hamilton. Leader knew after Small’s 48-yard field goal at 12:20 of the fourth gave the Ticats a 22-15 lead he’d be next if another field goal was attempted.

Jalen Morton’s 10-yard run put Hamilton ahead 16-15 at 7:01 of the third but the sophomore quarterback was stopped short trying to run in the two-point convert. Domagala’s 49-yard field goal at 11:57 boosted the Ticats’ lead to 19-15 at Tim Hortons Field.

“Hey, it’s going to be a battle and they all know that,” Hamilton head coach Orlondo Steinauer said of the club’s kicking competition. “We have a lot of practices in-between and then we’re going to play another game.

“I hope the decision is extremely tough because that’ll mean they’ll have done a great job.”

While Hamilton converted all four field-goal tries, Ticats punters struggled. Incumbent Joel Whitford, an Australian, averaged 33.3 yards on his three attempts while fellow global kicker Blake Hayes punted twice for 54 yards (27-yard average).

“I don’t think we punted the ball exceptionally well … but obviously we were able to put the ball through the posts field goal-wise and that was important,” Steinauer said.

Morton, the third of four Hamilton quarterbacks to play, finished five-of-eight passing for 52 yards while rushing for a team-high 52 yards on four carries.

Former Alouette Matt Shiltz had Hamilton’s other touchdown. Domagala also booted a convert while Small made two field goals.

Reggie White Jr. scored Montreal’s other touchdown. David Cote added three field goals.

(Canadian Press/Photos: Calgary Stampeders, Andrew Nielsen)