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July 22, 2017

Stamps dump Roughriders

The Stampeders maintained their winning ways at home with a 27-10 triumph over the Saskatchewan Roughriders Saturday night.

The Red and White improved to 3-1-1 on the season, while the loss dropped the Riders to 1-3.

Calgary has  not dropped a date in front of their fans since October 2015, and was led on this particular occasion by the likes of Jerome Messam (28 carries, 135 rushing yards) and Kamar Jorden (eight receptions, 88 yards).

“When you play with the lead you’re going to get more carries and that’s just the way it is,” said head coach Dave Dickenson post-game. “I think we’re a better team when we can be a little bit more balanced and take a little heat off our offensive line and make sure Bo doesn’t necessarily have to do anything more than just be himself.”

Bo Levi Mitchell’s 100th career touchdown toss – which was also Marquay McDaniel’s first trip to the endzone in 2017 – was the first of two major scores in the opening two quarters.

Other Stampeders to register TD’s were Lemar Durant on a picturesque corner route and Messam with a powerful plunge.

“I just knew we needed to get the lead and I knew we needed to kind of grind them down,” Dickenson explained. “I was hoping obviously our defence would step up like they did and they played well. Saskatchewan made a game of it and came back but it was nice to have the wind in the fourth quarter and we started making plays.”

Saskatchewan’s lone touchdown was recorded prior to Tyler Crapigna’s 27-yard boot through the uprights before the start of the final quarter.

Defensive lineman Charleston Hughes continued to close in on the team’s all-time sack record with three first-half takedowns of ex-Stampeder Kevin Glenn to help limit the opposition to just 62 yards of offence at the break.

Glenn, a 17-year veteran, would surpass the 50,000-yard mark for his career on a connection with Naaman Roosevelt.

“He played well, he really did,” praised Dickenson, when asked about the performance of his star pass-rusher Hughes. “He was motivated. Maybe I need to give him a couple weeks off more often. He was a catalyst for our defence and in the first half he was unblockable.”

A 23-yard field goal by Rene Paredes concluded Calgary’s initial offensive series before James Vaughters and Micah Johnson made back-to-back plays in the backfield on behalf of the defence.

Adding another three-pointer later on was Paredes, this time from the 47-yard line.