SATURDAY SPORTS PAGE: STAMPEDERS BOUNCE ARGOS 20-7

CFL

CALGARY – Desperate for both a win and a home win, the Calgary Stampeders ground out a 20-7 victory over the defending Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts on Friday.

Toronto’s streak of six wins to start the 2023 CFL season halted in Calgary, while the Stampeders (3-5) picked up their first victory at McMahon Stadium.

“We needed it bad,” Stampeders quarterback Jake Maier said. “We executed a game plan damn near to perfection.

“First night all year offensively we didn’t turn the football over. Lo and behold, we give ourselves a great chance to win.”

Maier was a tidy 22-for-24 in passing for a 91.7 completion rate, and for a conservative 149 passing yards with no interceptions.

Calgary instead rushed the ball a season-high 168 yards, with Dedrick Mills accounting for 137 on 27 carries, against an Argonaut defence ranked second in the CFL at stopping the run.

“When you play a team that leads the league in interceptions, that’s a problem. That’s how they win football games, right?” Maier said.

“I think the mentality tonight was take care of the football at all costs. If you have opportunities, take them. But man, we were running the ball so well that you just felt like as the game went on, we can really lean into that.”

Tommy Stevens and Michael Griffin scored Calgary’s touchdowns. Rene Paredes kicked field goals from 42 and 45 yards and contributed a pair of convert points in front of an announced 19,234 at McMahon Stadium.

With Argonauts starter Chad Kelly limping in the second quarter, Cameron Dukes drew in to play the remainder of the game.

Cam Phillips caught a touchdown pass from Kelly with Boris Bede adding a convert point in the first quarter.

Kelly completed four of six passes for 96 yards and a touchdown pass during his quarter and a half of work.

Dukes was 8-for-15 in passing for 63 yards and one interception in relief.

Argonauts defensive lineman Jared Brinkman and defensive back Adarius Pickett also left the game with injuries.

Toronto head coach Ryan Dinwiddie indicated post-game that while Brinkman could be out of commission for awhile, he felt it was possible Kelly and Pickett could play next week.

“I could kind of tell in warm-ups there was no energy there,” Dinwiddie said.

“Guys were feeling pretty good about themselves. It was good we got punched in the mouth and we’ve got to learn from it.”

MORE CFL

The Canadian Football League (CFL) announced on Friday:

• BC Lions quarterback Dane Evans and wide receivers Jevon Cottoy, Keon Hatcher, Alexander Hollins, Lucky Whitehead and Justin McInnis have been fined for violating the league’s security protocol by entering a designated fan-only area in a visiting stadium.
• BC Lions defensive lineman Amir Siddiqi has been fined for an unnecessary hit on Edmonton Elks linebacker Eli Mencer.
• Montreal Alouettes offensive lineman Pier-Olivier Lestage has been fined for striking Calgary Stampeders linebacker Micah Awe.
• Montreal Alouettes defensive lineman Mustafa Johnson has been fined for a low hit on Calgary Stampeders quarterback Jake Maier.

As per league policy, the amounts of the fines were not disclosed.

A game-winning three by Isiah Osborne in transition gave the Edmonton Stingers a 87-81 win over the Winnipeg Sea Bears on Friday night in the western conference play-in round at the Canada Life Centre.  The win punched their ticket to the western conference semi-final—setting up a battle of Alberta in Calgary on Sunday evening. 

An historic performance from Cat Barber powered the Scarborough Shooting Stars to a 98-74 win over the shorthanded Brampton Honey Badgers on Friday night to open the CEBL Playoffs at Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre. Scarborough has a ticket to the Eastern Conference Semifinals where they will face the Ottawa BlackJacks at the arena at TD place in Ottawa this Sunday.

MLB

The visiting Toronto Blue Jays hit five home runs tonight, including one by Davis Schneider in his first major league at-bat, en route to an important 7-3 win over the Boston Red Sox. Alek Manoah (mah-NOH’-ah) got the win for the Jays, pitching 6-and-two-thirds innings. The Jays, who started the night two games ahead of the Red Sox for the third and final wild-card playoff berth, will play Boston tomorrow and Sunday before moving on to face the Cleveland Guardians.

PGA

Russell Henley of Georgia is used to leading the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina. His goal is to be leading after Sunday. He carded a 66 today for a one-shot lead over Billy Horschel of Florida and two-shot lead over Adam Svensson of Surrey, B-C, and three others. It’s the fifth time in the last 10 rounds at Sedgefield Country Club that Henley has been leading.

Argentine golfer Angel Cabrera was released from jail on parole Friday after he completed two years in custody over gender violence cases against two of his former girlfriends. Judge Cristobal Laje Ros of Cordoba province released the golfer after psychological tests on the 53-year-old. Cabrera was the 2007 U-S Open champion and 2009 Masters winner.

WORLD UNDER-18’s

Canada has a shot at a 24th gold at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. Berkly Catton scored twice and added an assist as Canada’s under-18 men’s hockey team routed the United States 7-2 in the semifinal of the international tournament in Slovakia. Canada will play Czechia in tomorrow’s final.

NFL

New Orleans Saints star running back Alvin Kamara and Indianapolis Colts defensive back Chris Lammons each have been suspended for three regular-season games by the N-F-L because of their involvement in a February 2022 fight in Las Vegas. The N-F-L released its decision today. Kamara and Lammons each pleaded no contest to misdemeanour charges last month in a deal with prosecutors that avoided trial and potential jail time.

(The Canadian Press)