Thankfully, the show went on.

And the defending Grey Cup Champion Stamps picked right up right where they left off.

Backup quarterback Nick Arbuckle ran in a one-yard touchdown, Rene Paredes booted a 14-yard field-goal, and Griff Whalen caught an 18-yard TD as Calgary leads the visiting Saskatchewan Roughriders 17-1 at halftime during the first pre-season tilt for the West rivals.

The smothering smoke that enveloped the city yesterday from the Northern Alberta wildfires left the game in limbo, before the wind changed direction and cleared the sky, delaying the 7 p.m. kickoff a half-hour.

Grey Cup MVP Bo Levi Mitchell played the first two possessions of the game, the gunslinger coming out and showing off his accuracy early.
He hit Reggie Begelton for a 39-yard pass on his first toss, finding the same target for 26 more yards on his next throw, taking the Stamps down to the Riders 11-yard line.

Markeith Ambles then ran for three yards before being upended, followed by a Mitchell pass just above the fingertips of Juwan Brescacin at the back of the endzone, which brought Paredes in for the field-goal.

After a quick Roughriders possession, Mitchell threw another precision toss – this time to Ambles for 19 yards – to start Calgary’s second possession.

Terry Williams had a short run before an incomplete Mitchell pass to Eric Rogers, bringing in Rob Maver for a long punt that pinned Saskatchewan deep in their zone.

After a three-and-out for Saskatchewan on the next series, Arbuckle came in and hooked up with Brescacin on 38-yard throw to start a long possession.

Unable to score, a pass interference call gave Calgary a fresh set of downs. They were again stymied by the Roughriders defence, but an offside call gave them three more cracks, with Arbuckle scoring his major.

Global player Oscar Hugo Silva missed the extra point but later got a single on a kickoff.

The second quarter was back and forth, before Arbuckle finished off a late six-play, 48-yard drive by hooking up with Whalen with just 2:22 left to play in the half.

Felix Menard-Briere missed a field-goal as time ran down but got a point.