Better late than never.
The usually high-octane Stampeders offence – held in check over the first 45 minutes Monday in Montreal – finally found its footing in the fourth quarter, as Calgary improved to 12-2 with a 12-6 win over the Alouettes.
The victory broke a four-game losing skid to the Als at McGill Stadium.
It also clinched a home playoff game for the Red & White.
Terry Williams broke two tackles to bulldoze his way into the endzone with a six-yard run just seven seconds in the final frame and with the extra point, the Stamps took the lead with their first points of the Thanksgiving Day matinee affair.
The major capped an eight-play, 107-yard drive.
Midway through the fourth, Rene Paredes split the uprights with a 49-yard field-goal to increase the visitors lead, and later Rob Maver added a rouge.
Head coach Dave Dickenson said the game wasn’t pretty but “we gotta take the two points and move forward.”
“We just keep fighting, keep slugging,” he said of the tilt. “I think we did alright early and then we just couldn’t get out of our own way. I mean, it seemed like a million penalties, lots of turnovers, dumb stuff going on.”
Bo Levi Mitchell completed 20-of-34 passes for 199 yards but was intercepted three times.
For the Als, Johnny Manziel went 17-of-28 for 244 yards, with one pick.
The Montreal QB was also sacked three times, with the Stamps putting relentless pressure on him for much of the second half.
“It says a lot about our defence,” said Mitchell after the win. “They played a great quarterback tonight, a guy who in his entire career has made a lot of great plays. And that’s tiring for the defence because he can run around with the best of them and really wear the D-line out.”
Montreal put up 337 yards of offence while Calgary had 306.
“Our D-line, like I said, and defence did carry us and kept them out of the endzone, which was big,” said Dickenson. “Ultimately we did just enough to win.”
The Als lead the Stamps 6-0 at halftime thanks to a pair of field-goals by Boris Bede.
He booted a 44-yard field-goal with 2:49 left in the second quarter to put the first points of the game on the board, and then kicked another one from 41 yards as time expired in the half.