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August 17, 2019

Overtime Heartbreaker

The heroics from Nick Arbuckle and Reggie Begelton were impressive.

But, unfortunately for the homeside, not quite enough.

The quarterback and his favourite target hooked up for four touchdowns but the Stampeders fell 40-34 in overtime to the visiting Montreal Alouettes at McMahon Stadium.

The Als scored 11 points in the final 38 seconds of regulation to force overtime and in extra time, got two touchdowns from pivot Vernon Adams Jr. on a pair of one-yard runs to break their 10-year drought in Calgary.

With the loss, Calgary fell to 5-4, while Montreal improved to 4-4.

Calgary had a last-gasp chance to score a major on their second possession of overtime (with a two-point convert after they could have won it as per CFL overtime rules), with Arbuckle hitting Eric Rogers with a toss to the back of the endzone, the receiver hauling it in but going out-of-bounds first.

Begelton had caught his fourth major of the night from Arbuckle on the Stamps first possession of OT.

Arbuckle – making his seventh start in place of the injured Bo Levi Mitchell – finished the night 31-of-36 for 370 yards and four majors, while Begelton’s stat line read eight catches for 173 yards.

After Montreal’s Boris Bede booted a 29-yard field-goal for the first score of the game, the Stamps Dynamic Duo hooked up on their first major of the night, Arbuckle tossing a short underhand pass to Begelton, who swept across behind the line of scrimmage and turned the corner for an eight-yard scamper to the endzone.

Arbuckle to Begelton: The Sequel, saw the pivot unload a bomb straight down the middle early in the fourth for a 56-yard touchdown.

Arbuckle to Begelton: Part III saw the duo hook up on another long fourth-quarter strike, this time a 69-yarder.

On the ensuing kickoff by Rene Paredes after the first Begelton major, the Als conceded the rouge.

Tre Roberson snagged his league-lead tying sixth interception as the first quarter wound to a close, running it out of the endzone to end a Montreal drive that was threatening to add some points for the visitors.

Adams connected on a 58-yard toss to DeVier Posey on the first play of an Als possession in the second quarter but thanks to a big stand by the Stamps, Montreal had to settle for a 18-yard field-goal from Bede to make it 8-6.

Following the three-minute warning before half, the Stamps appeared to add a major when Arbuckle hit Begelton in the endzone, but the receiver was stripped of the ball as he was tackled and the refs ruled no catch.

Paredes nailed a short nine-yard FG to round out the scoring for the half.

Montreal got the ball as time wound down but DaShaun Amos picked off Adams and the Stamps managed to make their way into field-goal range, with Paredes adding a 27-yard field-goal to round out the scoring in the half.

Just under five minutes into the third quarter, Adams capped off a five-play, 73-yard drive by hitting Jake Wieneke with a 15-yard TD strike.

Montreal tied the game up with a two-point convert hauled in by Eugene Lewis to tie the game up.

Bede later added another field-goal with 2:26 left in the third quarter for their second lead of the night.

Trailing 28-17, Lewis got his second TD of the night – a 23-yard catch – with 38 seconds to play. The Als nailed the two-point convert.

Montreal recovered the ensuing Bede onside kick which led to a 27-field-goal with two seconds left to tie the tilt.

After missing six games due to injury, running back Don Jackson  rushed for 77 yards on 13 carries, and caught six passes for another 28 yards. He surpassed the 1,000-yard rushing mark in his young career.

 

LEGACY NIGHT

The Stamps honoured Grey Cup winning alumni as part of Legacy Night at Saturday’s game.

The former players were introduced in a halftime ceremony that also included recognizing Jon Cornish for his recent induction into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. There were also No. 9 bobbleheads to honour Cornish.

The alumni in attendance included:

Jabari Arthur, Basil Bark, Randy Chevrier, Jon Cornish, Rob Cote, Bruce Covernton, Matt Finlay, David Heasman, Will Johnson, Jackie Kellogg, Stu Laird, Kenton Leonard, Wes Lysack, Jay McNeil, Greg Peterson, Jeff Pilon, Keon Raymond, Roger Reinson, Rocco Romano, David Sapunjis, Jim Silye, Peewee Smith, and Matt Walter.