Here’s a closer look at the Stamps’ 22-8 victory over the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday evening at McMahon Stadium:

Rookie record-breaker

On an uncharacteristically quiet night for the Calgary attack — it was first time since Aug. 13 the Stamps failed to score at least 30 points — team captain Rob Cote nevertheless found a worthy recipient for the offensive game ball.

The prize went to head coach Dave Dickenson, who set a CFL record with his 14th win in his rookie season on the sidelines.

Dickenson had previously shared the mark with three men including his current general manager John Hufnagel, who went 13-5 in 2008 during his first season as the Stamps’ head coach.

Adam Rita (with the Toronto Argonauts in 1991) and Mike Benevides (with the BC Lions in 2012) are the other coaches who won 13 games as rookie bench bosses.

Quick starts

The Stamps on Saturday ever-so-modestly continued their trend of taking early leads.

Calgary held a mere 1-0 advantage through 15 minutes of action against the Alouettes and the Stamps now hold an impressive 73-17 scoring advantage in first quarters over the past seven games.

For the season, the Stamps have outscored rivals 127-51 in opening quarters.

Calgary has the edge in all other 15-minute segments — 157-97 in the second quarter, 90-62 in the third and 150-115 in the fourth — as well as a 23-14 advantage in overtime.

Welcome to the party

The Stampeders punched their ticket to the 2016 playoff party a month ago with a home-field win over the Ottawa RedBlacks, but the Red and White’s latest victory also had a bearing on next month’s post-season tournament.

Not one but two other CFL clubs clinched berths with Saturday’s result.

In a strange twist, the Stamps’ rivals to the north — the Edmonton Eskimos — clinched at least a crossover position in the East Division thanks to Montreal’s loss.

In addition, the RedBlacks not only clinched a playoff position but will also host a post-season game for the second season in a row.

Marquay does it again

For the third time in four seasons, Marquay McDaniel has surpassed the 1,000-yard mark in receiving.

The veteran slotback achieved the milestone on his very first catch Saturday and the only season he has missed out on 1,000 was in 2014 when he missed six games with an arm injury.

McDaniel is the Stamps’ leading receiver and his 83 catches are good for fifth in the CFL. He also continues to show a knack for clutch catches as he’s second in the league with 35 catches to convert second downs.

Bo 50 and 5K

Bo Levi Mitchell’s 256 passing yards on Saturday were his lowest total since a season-opening loss to BC but it was still a memorable night for the Stamps signal-caller.

For starters, he became the first QB in league history to win 13 consecutive starts. He had entered the contest tied for the record of 12 straight wins with Winnipeg’s Ken Ploen, who set the mark back in 1961.

In addition, Mitchell threw his 30th touchdown pass of the season and surpassed the 5,000-yard mark for the year.

Mitchell now has a league-leading 5,127 passing yards this season, the best total on franchise history for any quarterback not named Doug Flutie.

His TD toss was the 90th of his career and gives him sole possession of fifth place on the franchise’s all-time list. Mitchell had been tied at 89 with Jerry Keeling.

Saturday was also Mitchell’s 50th career start and the Texas gunslinger now owns a career record of 42-7-1.

The aforementioned Ploen was 42-8 after his first 50 starts and no other QB had more than 38 victories at this stage of their careers.

“D” bears down

The Stamps and Alouettes are the only teams in the CFL who have surrendered fewer than 400 points so far this season so it should come as little surprise Saturday’s contest was a defensive battle.

This was the second time season the Stamps kept the opposition in single digits on the scoreboard — they handed BC a 37-9 loss in Week 9 — and Calgary has allowed a league-low average of 21.1 points per contest.

Since a crazy 44-41 overtime win over the Lions in Week 6, the Stamps have allowed the opposition 20 or fewer points on five occasions and only once has Calgary given up more than 28 points.

Two more for Hughes

Defensive end Charleston Hughes recorded his second consecutive two-sack game on Saturday as the Stamps got to Alouettes quarterback Rakeem Cato a total of seven times.

Micah Johnson also bagged Cato twice while Ja’Gared Davis, Cordarro Law and Derek Wiggan had one sack apiece as the Stamps boosted their league-leading total to 48.

As for Hughes, he’s now tied with former teammate Shawn Lemon for the league lead with 14 sacks this season. It’s the second-highest total of Hughes’ career — he had 18 sacks in 2013 — and the Saginaw native has a total of 61 sacks since the start of the 2012 campaign.

Hughes is tops in the CFL over that five-year period as he leads runner-up John Bowman of the Alouettes by five. John Chick (45), Odell Willis (44) and Lemon (36) round out the top 5.

Here’s more coverage from Saturday’s game:

Articles

Game story
Locker-Room Blog: Micah Johnson
“D” looking for perfection
Marquay McDaniel milestone

Stamps TV

Highlights
Post-game wrap-up
Game balls
PinkPower moments
Rocky Mountain Equipment Dependable Play of the Game

Photos

Action photos
PinkPower fan photos

Also

Stats