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September 17, 2016

Dual-threat Durant

Receiver Lemar Durant during a game against Ottawa on Sept. 17, 2016 (Photo by Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh)

For the fourth time this season, Lemar Durant made his presence felt in more ways than one as a valued member of the Stamps offence.

The second-year receiver picked up 35 yards through the air and seven more on the ground in the Stampeders’ 48-23 triumph over the visiting Ottawa RedBlacks on Saturday afternoon.

“That’s always been my thing,” stated Durant, a six-foot-two, 230-lb. Vancouver native. “When I was younger, I played running back and I’m a lot bigger than most of (our) receivers. Anytime I can get the ball in my hands, I like it. I’m just really doing what the team wants me to do, just sticking to the process. It’s working great right now, so anytime I get (my number) called, I just try to make the most of the opportunity.”

The Stampeders scored six touchdowns in the Week 13 matchup, two of which came from the Red and White’s defence. Jamar Wall returned an errant Trevor Harris toss to the end zone following a 60-yard return and a fourth-quarter strip-sack by Micah Johnson was recovered for a 13-yard major by Ja’Gared Davis.

“That was nice for sure,” Durant stated in reference to the pair of defensive scores, “especially the one at the end of the half with J-Wall. We just knew we needed one more score to make it a big half. We were expecting the offence to do it, but once the defence does it, we can just chill and relax and watch them play. It’s nice to have a solid defence.”

Having last dropped a game way back on June 25, the Stamps have strung together nine straight victories since a tie against these same RedBlacks in early July. And as long as the Stampeders maintain their winning ways, the Simon Fraser alumnus will never concern himself with the fashion in which it’s done.

“Some people, they don’t understand why the Stampeders keep winning,” explained the 24-year-old. “There are a lot of games they feel we should have lost, but that’s one of the things with our group of guys we’ve got – we’re an explosive team. There are times, even this game when we put up 40-something points, we could have put up 60. And if we get into tight games, we can also win those nitty-gritty ones.”

And while outsiders may believe it’s only a matter of time before Calgary comes out on the losing end, Durant sees no reason for concern going forward, even with the upstart Blue Bombers on the horizon.

“That will be a pretty fun game,” Durant commented when asked about facing a team next week that has strung together seven consecutive W’s of their own. “They’re playing really well. We got them earlier in the year a couple times, but after that, they’ve just been on a roll. But with this team we’ve got right now and the way we fight, honestly I don’t see us losing if we play the way we can play.”