Friday CFL Preseason Round-Up

WINNIPEG – Quarterback Jake Maier was glad the Calgary Stampeders had something to cheer about after an emotionally tough week.

Campbell Fair’s five field goals helped lift the Stampeders to a 31-10 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in CFL pre-season action Friday.

Running backs Peyton Logan and LeVante Bellamy recorded touchdowns for Calgary in a match that was delayed a half hour because of severe weather in the area.

The Stampeders had two receivers go down with serious injuries in practice on Tuesday. Star receiver Malik Henry requires season-ending surgery after tearing his patellar tendon in his knee. He had been making a comeback from an Achilles tendon tear early last season. Receiver Auden Tate suffered a torn Achilles during the same practice.

“In terms of the competitiveness, in terms of an assignment-sound type game, I felt like we were there tonight,” Maier said.

“And when you have those two things going for you, man, you can really live with anything that happens. They’re going to do everything they can and we’re going to be ready to go this year.”

Winnipeg is auditioning punt and kick returners this season as the team couldn’t afford to keep veteran Janarion Grant, who signed with the Toronto Argonauts.

Chris Smith made coaches take notice when the Blue Bombers running back took a punt return 109 yards for a touchdown.

Smith’s score at 12:38 of the second quarter had 24,297 fans cheering for the Kansas product at the newly renamed Princess Auto Stadium.

Winnipeg also got points from a Sergio Castillo 42-yard field goal.

The Stampeders dressed a number of offensive and defensive starters, while the Bombers sat most of their regulars.

Winnipeg sat offensive stars such as quarterback Zach Collaros, all four of its starting receivers and running back Brady Oliveira, who missed training camp because of an injury but is expected to play in next week’s season opener.

Fair made field goals from 30, 34, 27, 15 yards and 18 yards and was good on two converts. Calgary also notched a safety.

Stampeders receiver Cam Echols topped all pass catchers with eight receptions for 160 yards.

Calgary head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson said Echols likely separated himself from the pack.

“We were looking for somebody to take the lead on that. I thought he did,” Dickenson said. “Overall, I thought we looked pretty fast.”

CFL teams have to cut down their rosters by 10 p.m. ET on Saturday.

“That training camp went by fast,” Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea said. “I mean, sure, we got a bunch of answers and we’ll pour through it tonight and again (Saturday) morning and making sure we’re trying to give the most to these guys, in terms of evaluation. They deserve it.”

UP NEXT

Bombers: Host the Montreal Alouettes on Thursday in their season opener.

Stampeders: Host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats next Friday in their season opener.

VANCOUVER, BC – The B.C. Lions brass weren’t expecting to get a lot of sleep Friday night. 

A decisive 29-6 win over the Edmonton Elks in pre-season play had just made some looming cuts to the team’s roster all the more complicated. 

“There’s going to be hard decisions. It’s not all cut and dry,” head coach and co-general manager Rick Campbell said after the game.

B.C. fielded the more veteran lineup and dominated the game both on the ground and in the air, amassing 315 passing yards to Edmonton’s 153 and 113 rushing yards compared to 44 for the visitors.

The Elks also struggled with discipline, taking 11 penalties for 107 yards. 

“It’s meant to be an evaluation. It’s a pre-season game,” Edmonton head coach and general manager Chris Jones said ahead of Friday’s game. 

“We’ve got some very talented guys here and guys that we feel do have some traits that are necessary to be a pro-football player. Now it’s a matter of putting them out there against a good B.C. team.”

B.C. turned to three quarterbacks Friday, including starter Vernon Adams Jr., who connected on 7 of 9 attempts for 116 passing yards and a touchdown. 

Friday marked Stanback’s first game action with the Lions after signing as a free agent following a Grey Cup win with the Montreal Alouettes last year.

Adams was swapped out for Jake Dolegala midway through the second quarter and the Central Connecticut State University alum put up 118 passing yards with one TD and two interceptions. 

“Getting live reps is always fun,” Dolegala said. “There are a couple of throws I’d like back, but as whole, it was a successful camp and I was proud of the way I played.”

Chase Brice took over for the Lions late in the third quarter and finished with 81 passing yards.

Jarret Doege made good on 8 of 10 passing attempts for the Elks, contributing 66 yards and a touchdown before Edmonton turned to Malik Henry. The rookie QB hit 7 of his 15 attempts for 87 yards.

Friday’s result gave B.C. a 1-1 split in their pre-season games, while Edmonton fell to 0-2 after dropping a one-point decision to the Saskatchewan Roughriders last week.

UP NEXT

The Elks open their regular season on June 8 when they host the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The Lions kick off their campaign with a visit to the Toronto Argonauts on June 9.

OTTAWA, ON — Lewis Ward helped the Ottawa Redblacks complete a perfect 2-0 pre-season Friday with four field goals in a 19-13 win over the Montreal Alouettes.

Ward also converted the only touchdown of the game to account for 13 Ottawa points, including a 17-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter.

Dru Brown started at quarterback for the Redblacks and completed 20 of 33 pass attempts for 247 with one interception.

Dustin Crum played the fourth quarter in relief of Brown and was three-for-four and 44 yards.

Former Redblack Caleb Evans started behind centre for the Alouettes, who finished the pre-season 1-1, and completed four of six passes for 32 yards. James Morgan took the majority of snaps and was a respectable 13-for-17 and 134 yards and one interception.

Morgan did have a one-yard run for a touchdown, and after the Jose Maltos extra point, the Alouettes trailed 19-13 with less than three minutes to play in the game.

“We’ll go back tonight and watch the tape with a very critical eye and make our decision going forward,” Redblacks coach Bob Dyce said about finalizing their roster heading into the regular season.

“I told everyone in that locker room that they should be proud of themselves because they continue to get better every week. They’ve put us in a situation where we’ve got some tough decisions to make.”

UP NEXT

The Redblacks have a bye in Week 1 and will host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in their season opener on June 13. The Blue Bombers will host the Alouettes in Week 1.

GUELPH, ON — The Toronto Argonauts may have found their next top receiver.

Kevin Mital, the fifth overall pick in this year’s CFL draft, caught five passes for 104 yards and a touchdown as the Argonauts beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 25-14 in the teams’ final pre-season game on Friday at Alumni Stadium in Guelph, Ont.

Mital’s biggest play of the game came in the third quarter when he broke free down the sideline, caught a deep pass from quarterback Bryan Scott and broke a tackle en route to an 82-yard touchdown that gave Toronto a 19-3 lead.

Toronto took control of the game through the opening 20 minutes.

Presumptive Week 1 starting QB Cameron Dukes led the Argos on the first drive of the game, converting a critical second-and-10 with a 22-yard scramble before stalling out at the Ticats’ 10. Kicker Lirim Hajrullahu made a 17-yard field goal to give Toronto a 3-0 lead.

The offence was again forced to settle for a Hajrullahu field goal, a 29-yarder, on its second drive.

But Dukes finally got into the end zone on the following drive after defensive lineman Jared Brinkman recorded a sack-fumble against Ticats QB Taylor Powell and recovered on Hamilton’s 12-yard-line. Two plays later, the QB ran in untouched from the five for the first touchdown of the game.

The 25-year-old American is set to step in as lead pivot for an Argos team that’s missing 2023 CFL Most Outstanding Player Chad Kelly, who was suspended for both pre-season games and at least the first nine games of the regular season for violating the league’s gender-based violence policy.

“You always got guys coming in to take your job, and coaches are always looking for guys to come in and take the job, so we have that mindset of workers’ mentality. We come in, we’re focused on getting better every single day,” Dukes said.

Harrison Frost took over at QB after a starter Taylor Powell fumble, and a pass to receiver Kaylon Geiger Sr., about halfway through the second quarter marked the first time the team moved the chains for a first down. Marc Liegghio punctuated the drive with a 36-yard field goal.

Frost played the rest of the game after replacing Powell and completed 24-of-32 passes for 222 yards as top QB Bo Levi Mitchell, along with many other starters, sat out.

UP NEXT

The Tiger-Cats open their season with a Week 1 game in Calgary next Friday, while the Argonauts host the B.C. Lions on Sunday.