The Calgary Stampeders took sole possession of first place in the West Division with a 44-41 thriller over the BC Lions at McMahon Stadium on Friday night.

It was the second overtime game for the Stamps this season after settling for a tie on the road against the RedBlacks back on July 8.

After the Stamps offence was unable to move the chains on their opening possession, Rob Maver’s punt was returned 95 yards for a Chris Rainey touchdown. Travis Lulay then rolled out to find Anthony Allen for the two-point conversion and early 8-0 lead.

Rene Paredes’ 46-yard field goal on the subsequent seven-play, 45-yard drive was good with just over five minutes gone the first quarter.

The Lions were then able to pick up 40 yards on a completion down the sideline from Johnathon Jennings to Emmanuel Arceneaux, but were denied from the end zone shortly thereafter. On third-and-goal from the one, Rainey could not escape the Red and White defenders as BC came up empty-handed on the once-promising series.

Minutes later, a Riche Leone rouge upped the visitor’s advantage to six points.

When Bo Levi Mitchell returned to the field, he was dropped for a 12-yard loss on first down before throwing a costly interception over the middle on second down. Eric Fraser, a former  Stampeder safety, returned the ball to the Stamps one-yard line to set up a Jennings’ sneak as the second stanza commenced.

A pair of 18 yards via a Lemar Durant end-around and a Bakari Grant catch preceded a second consecutive Paredes field goal, this time from 27 yards out.

Leone was unable to match his counterpart with an eventual attempt of his own, allowing Roy Finch to scamper for 49 yards off the errant kick. On the very next play, Mitchell found a streaking Greg Wilson, and the speedy wideout could not be caught on the 75-yard heave to bring Calgary to within four.

Further narrowing the deficit was Paredes who then spilt the uprights from the 44-yard line.

Ja’Gared Davis’ forced fumble and Deron Mayo’s recovery gave the Stampeders a chance to move ahead of the Lions before the break, but the Red and White failed to capitalize on the opportunity.

To open the third, Jennings stood in the pocket and took a hit to complete a pass deep downfield to Arceneaux. The possession concluded with a Shawn Gore toe-drag for a 31-yard major as the Lions got off to a roaring second-half start.

Before long, another three points would be tacked on by Leone for a double-digit lead, but Paredes answered back, this time with a field goal of 32 yards.

The ensuing kickoff after a Bryan Burnham TD was returned by Finch to midfield before Tory Harrison galloped untouched across the goal line to conclude a five-play, 54-yard drive.

The game appeared to be put of out reach with less than five minutes on the clock after a seven-yard strike from Jennings to Geraldo Boldewijn for the receiver’s first career CFL touchdown. But Greg Wilson’s second score of the evening – a 42-yard touchdown – kept things interesting.

Ciante Evans picked off Jennings with under two minutes remaining, and Bakari Grant broke the plain for six more points, forcing a two-point conversion to tie things up. Parker secured the Mitchell pass, and the two sides were knotted up at 41 heading into overtime.

A 42-yard field goal concluded Calgary’s first possession, and Tommie Campbell intercepted Jennings in the end zone to seal the win for the Stamps in dramatic fashion.