SATURDAY IN THE CFL: STAMPS, ARGOS WIN
VANCOUVER – Calgary Stampeders rookie Jalen Philpot seized the moment in his CFL debut in his hometown stadium.
On a Saturday night that was short on offence, Philpot hauled in a 54-yard reception shortly before halftime in Calgary’s 25-11 win over the Lions at B.C. Place.
That set up a three-yard run for a touchdown conversion by Ka’Deem Carey – the only major in the first 57 minutes of the game.
The Stampeders (9-5) failed on their two-point convert attempt. Peyton Logan added a 19-yard touchdown run with 1:57 left in the fourth quarter, and Dominique Rhymes caught the lone touchdown pass for the Lions (9-4), from Antonio Pipkin with 29 seconds remaining. Pipkin carried the ball across the one-yard-line for a successful two-point convert.
Calgary’s field-goal kicker Rene Paredes was good on four-of-five attempts, from 39, 33, 31 and 33 yards. He added a convert for 13 total points.
Sean Whyte extended his successful field-goal streak to 13 with a 34-yard kick with 24 seconds left in the third quarter – B.C.’s first points of the game.
“Offensively, we never got any type of flow,” said Lions head coach Rick Campbell. “We made a few plays here and there but never got into the flow offensively. So, not a fun game for home fans.”
Paredes kicked wide to the right on his first field-goal attempt of the game. That came just 2:08 into the contest – the Stampeders had marched down to the B.C. 41-yard line after opening the first quarter by recovering Paredes’ 11-yard onside kick.
“We were aggressive,” said Dave Dickenson, who improved his record as Calgary’s head coach to 70-28-2 in his 100th career game as head coach of the Stampeders. “We started with the onside kick. We basically ran all the plays we could, all the aggressive-type plays. Some worked, some didn’t. But I liked what I saw.”
In his first home start at B.C. Place after being acquired in a trade with the Montreal Alouettes on Aug. 19, quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. was 12-for-24 in the air for 151 yards. He added 11 yards on the ground. Anthony Pipkin stepped in under centre late in the fourth quarter, going 4-for-6 for 66 yards and one touchdown throw.
With the win, combined with losses this week by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Ottawa Redblacks, Calgary clinched its 17th-consecutive CFL post-season berth on the night. Despite the loss, B.C. also clinched its first playoff spot since 2018.
After the Lions won both matchups at McMahon Stadium for the first time since 2010, the Stampeders extended a winning record at B.C. Place that stretches back to 2016.
FOOT NOTES: Stampeders’ veteran offensive lineman Derek Dennis was taken off the field on a cart late in the first quarter after suffering a leg injury … Injured B.C. wide receiver Josh Pearson led the crowd in the singing of `O Canada’ before the game … The B.C. Football Hall of Fame inducted its Class of 2022 before Saturday’s game … The Lions also held their Salute to Amateur Football … Next week, the Lions will host the Ottawa Redblacks on Friday, while the Stampeders will be back at McMahon Stadium to take on the Toronto Argonauts on Saturday.
OTTAWA – A playoff berth was on the line Saturday for the Toronto Argonauts, and they claimed it with authority.
McLeod Bethel-Thompson threw three touchdown passes and the Toronto defence intercepted Ottawa quarterbacks five times as the Argonauts clinched that CFL playoff berth with a 45-15 win over the Redblacks Saturday.
“That’s why we do this. Your first goal is to get in the playoffs and then you have other goals outside of that,” Argos coach Ryan Dinwiddie said.
“We just want to get in and potentially get a chance to play for a Grey Cup. One of our goals got accomplished tonight.”
The Argos (8-5) scored 20 fourth-quarter points as Bethel-Thomson threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Markeith Ambles before the defence got two pick-six scores as Maurice Carnell (35 yards) and Chris Edwards (89 yards) intercepted Caleb Evans to complete the CFL rout. Boris Bede converted two of the three scores.
Bethel-Thompson completed 21 of 29 passes for 245 yards. He did throw an interception.
“They’re the best defence in the league. I can play a better game. I cannot throw an interception and play better, but they are the best defence in the league. We see them everyday in practice and they’re lights out,” Bethel-Thompson said.
Evans started the second half in relief of Nick Arbuckle. Evans threw three picks before Arbuckle came back in late in the game and got a meaningless one-yard score with three minutes left. The two-point conversion was unsuccessful.
The loss for the Redblacks (3-10) was the 21st in their past 22 home games.
“It was a tough way to lose, especially with the position that we’re in where we really need to win some games and we can’t afford to drop that many,” Arbuckle said.
“Unfortunately we put ourselves not just in a bad position with the loss, but losing like that is hard to come back from. But we’ve got to be pros and we have to flush it.”
(Canadian Press/Photos: CFL, CGY Stampeders)
