STAMPEDERS 36 BLUE BOMBERS 22

CFL/Larry MacDougal

CALGARY – The Calgary Stampeders haven’t started a season with two straight losses since 2009 and they weren’t about to do so with new coach Dave Dickenson at the helm.

After losing 20-18 last Saturday to the B.C. Lions on the road, the Stampeders rebounded to beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 36-22 in front of 26,815 fans at McMahon Stadium in their home opener on Friday.

“We were pissed that we didn’t get to do it last week,” said quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, who completed 24-of-37 passes for 309 yards and a pair of touchdowns. “It was good to come out and kind of get that vengeance and be able to give (Dickenson) that first one.

“When you have a guy that you knew played the game the way he played with heart and passion and now he’s coaching and he does the same thing here. You see it in his eyes. He wishes he could be that guy out there still throwing the ball. You always want to get out there and get it for him because we know he’s going to be the coach here for a long time.”

Simon Charbonneau-Campeau and Marquay McDaniel caught TD passes, while running back Tory Harrison and rookie quarterback Andrew Buckley, with his first CFL touchdown, also scored on the ground. Rene Paredes kicked three field goals and a single for the Stampeders (1-1).

After the game, players doused Dickenson with a Gatorade shower, which is something the former CFL quarterback had never experienced before.

“College, pro, it didn’t matter, I guess they didn’t like me enough, but now they know I actually can cut ’em that they’ll give me a Gatorade shower,” Dickenson said.

“It was a good win. We made it a little closer at the end than we needed to.”

Stamps running back Jerome Messam also had an impressive game as he carried the ball 16 times for 137 yards.

Winnipeg quarterback Drew Willy threw TD passes to Darvin Adams and Jace Davis in the fourth quarter, while his back-up Matt Nichols ran for a one-yard score in the second.

Justin Medlock added a single for the Blue Bombers (0-2), who have dropped 13 of their past 14 decisions to the Stamps at McMahon Stadium dating back to 2003.

“Just too many two-and-outs and not good enough execution on first down,” said Bombers running back Andrew Harris, who had just 13 yards on eight carries, although he also caught nine passes for 87 yards.

“We just got outplayed tonight. We’re shooting ourselves in the foot and that’s the frustrating part of it.”

Willy finished the game with 358 yards and completed 32-of-43 passes, but he did most of his damage in the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach.

“It’s something we obviously have to investigate, putting ourselves in that situation more throughout the game,” said Winnipeg coach Mike O’Shea.

(Canadian Press)