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July 29, 2017

Record performance by Stamps

History was made at McMahon on Saturday night.

And Quick Six was one tired horse when the evening was over!

On Legacy Night in celebration of the 1992 Grey Cup champions, the 2017 version of the Stampeders scored their most points in a single game since 1994 and recorded the largest margin of victory (59) since the team was founded in 1945.

“Obviously it was a good win for us,” said Dave Dickenson. “We thought it was a good opportunity in front of us. We had our ’92 team here and we wanted to put on a show and I thought our guys played well.”

All three units – offence, defence and special teams – put majors on the board for the Red and White as the hometown Stamps dominated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for a 60-1 victory.

A total of 10 Calgary players made a reception and six different Stampeders ran the ball.

“I don’t know if I can remember that nice of a performance,” Dickenson confessed. “I’m a perfectionist and I didn’t feel like we had great energy at first and then when we started making plays, the guys started building off of it. Every single person played on our team. Everybody that put on a uniform not only played special teams, but played what they like playing on offence and defence and they played well.”

Roy Finch, Jerome Messam (with three majors), Shaquille Richardson, Marken Michel, Ante Milanovic-Litre and Anthony Parker were the six Stamps players who notched the six-point scores.

A lack of offensive production for both sides was the story early on until Rene Paredes opened the scoring with three minutes remaining in the first quarter of action with a field goal.

Stampeders quarterback Andrew Buckley, right, hands the ball off to running back Ante Milanovic-Litre during second half action against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Saturday. (Jeff McIntosh, The Canadian Press)

The game’s first touchdown came when a booming 57-yard boot courtesy of Sergio Castillo was returned 97 yards by an untouched Finch. Prior to tonight, the former Oklahoma Sooner had not made a trip to the endzone since last year’s Labour Day Classic against the Edmonton Eskimos.

Shortly thereafter, Messam’s big body powered across the goal-line for a one-yard plunge on the same series as a season-long 28-yard run from the eight-year veteran.

“I thought we actually blocked pretty well tonight, too,” offered Dickenson. “I think last week Jerome was doing a lot of it on his own but I think the offensive line was moving people. I saw some pretty big holes in there, so usually when your run game is going like that obviously the big guys are doing a good job and that’s big for us. If we can be balanced, we’re a good team.”

Messam’s major, which extended the lead to 15, immediately preceded offensive lineman Spencer Wilson leaving the line of scrimmage to make a wide-open reception on the two-point conversion.

It was the defence’s turn next as Richardson jumped in front of a Zach Collaros pass intended for Kevin Elliott midway through the second stanza and ran it back 47 yards to pay dirt.

Hamilton backup pivot Jeremiah Masoli coughed up the other interception for the Ticats when Joe Burnett came up with a turnover in the final minutes.

Second-year Stamp Michel made a pair of key catches prior to halftime before he himself put points on the board with an incredible 45-yard touchdown grab of his own. His 190-yard performance tied him for 12th all-time on Calgary’s single-game receiving list.

In the third frame, Messam registered his third TD of the night and 2017 draft pick Milanovic-Litre tallied both his first career rushing attempt and touchdown No. 1 of his CFL career. Fellow fullback William Langlais then made his first catch as a pro.

Rounding out the scoring was Andrew Buckley’s TD throw to Parker. Buckley, who left the game after going 10-for-10 on pass attempts, would pave the way for Ricky Stanzi to make his league debut midway through the fourth.

With the win, Calgary moves to 4-1-1 on the season while Hamilton is now 0-5.