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June 28, 2018

One Play To Rule Them All

When backed up as far as is allowable, it reminds you – this defence – of the wizard Gandalf in the first Lord of the Rings movie, defying the mighty Balrog in the Mines of Moria with the defiant admonishment:

“You … shall not pass!”

“Our goal-line,’’ said Stampeders’ DB coach Josh Bell in summation late Thursday night, “is our forcefield. We protect it the way a lion protects its young.

“You do not cross this threshold. Uh, uh. No sir. Strictly off limits.

“That play, that’s Stampeder football right there. (Patrick) Levels is inside, Ciante (Evans) is outside. We practice that all the time.

“Those guys had a will, a determination. They were not going to let him get into that endzone. Those plays are almost normal to us.
“We expect them.

The decisive, fish-or-cut-bait moment in a 24-14 Stampeder victory over the invading Ottawa Roadblocks that runs their record to 3-0 wasn’t difficult to pinpoint:

Second snap in the fourth quarter in the pelting rain at McMahon. Ottawa second-and-goal from the four-yard-line. Calgary clinging to a 10-7 lead in a decidedly scrappy, but sloppy and penalty-riddled affair. Redblacks’ QB Trevor Harris on a half-roll to his right, flicks the ball to wideout Diontae Spencer at the three, he turns in search of the endzone, only a couple of strides from pay dirt, and … is fiercely bulldogged down on a Stampede Sunday-worthy takedown by all-star corner Ciante Evans short of the promised land.

Energized by that single act of competitive determination, a play later the defensive front along with a hurtling linebacker Alex Singleton smother short-yardage quarterback Dominique Davis on third-down from the one. Change of possession.

A 35-yard Bo Levi Mitchell-to-DaVaris Daniels collaboration on the very next play, and the Stamps are out of a hole – and trouble.

“A huge play,’’ lauded veteran defensive back Brandon Smith of the Evans’ stop. “HUGE. Could’ve easily shift the momentum of the game. But around here, we play the whole field.”

When asked if perhaps there should be some sort of warning sign for any foolish offences with an eye to infiltrating the Stampeder endzone, Smith laughed.

“Yeah,’’ he said. “No Admittance! Or: Visitors Not Welcome!

“Something like that. We take pride in it. It’s family here, so we all leave it on the line. We all have the same mindset.

“When opponents score on us, we don’t like it. And we’ll do everything in our power to prevent it.”

The impact of that stop by Evans – limping and hurting at game’s close due to minor rib and ankle injuries – could be felt all the way round McMahon.

“At the that moment, the flags stopped flying,’’ said Mitchell. “Not because of the refs. Because of us. Just bad football all around when it came to penalties.
“When the energy is not there, and I didn’t think it was from the beginning of the game, you tend to have those things happen.
“But when the defence made that play, man, it seemed like it gave us a little bit of life.

“I don’t want anybody to get too happy, too complacent, on 3-0 because that’s not a great football win. But I’ll take the win and never apologize for it.”

Coach Dave Dickenson could feel the wave of positives vibes shift on the goal-line stand, too.

“Ciante’s not a big guy but he’s just really fearless,’’ praised the boss. “I ask a lot of these guys to dig really deep and give what they’ve got to the team.

“Our defence really got fired up after Ciante made that big hit, was able to keep ‘em out on third-and-one. The offence didn’t do great but to get us out that hole was huge, Bo makes a perfect throw on a double move.

“So we did some good things. We got the win. I’m happy. But as a perfectionist who wants to see production and solid football … that wasn’t happening tonight.”

What was happening, again, was solid, unbreakable, there-when-it-mattered-most defensive resistance.

And one play, among the many on this night, stood out above all the rest.

“If I had a nickel to bet on Ciante, or any one of the guys on our back end, making that play against any of their receivers to get in the endzone,’’ said Bell, with a cat-lapping-up-the-cream expression, “well, I’d win all the time.

“I’d have myself a piggy bank full of nickels.”