Well, that was an exciting opener.
It wasn’t pretty in the middle of the game but the Stamps found a way to battle back from a 24-14 third quarter deficit and defeat the Montreal Alouettes 30-27.
There was definitely some mistakes Coach Dickenson and the team will want to correct but big plays turned the tide in favour of the Stamps.
Ka’Deem Carey had a huge game with 60 yards on the ground and two touchdowns to go along with 30 yards through the air.
Defensively Mike Rose made a couple of big plays intercepting Vernon Adams Jr. and blocking a field goal in the third quarter. He also added two tackles to his stat line.
On the second play from scrimmage the Stamps got their first big play of the season as Mike Rose picked off Vernon Adams Jr. off of a deflection. Calgary immediately drove a short field, finishing off the drive with Bo Levi Mitchell tossing a 10 yard strike to Malik Henry for a touchdown.
It was however, a short lived lead.
Adams Jr. found Eugene Lewis for 55 yards before feeding William Stanback in the flats for a 10 yard score.
The first quarter was finished off with a big sack from Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund to halt an Alouettes drive.
Calgary started the second quarter the same way they did the first, with a touchdown. It was the Ka’Deem Carey drive as he caught a 28 yard pass, then two back to back runs from inside the 10 yard line got him the score.
Once again the Alouettes immediately returned fire on a drive aided by a 40 yard pass interference call. Dominique Davis punched it in from the one yard line after a nine yard William Stanback run that ended with Stanback injured. He did not return to the game.
After the two teams traded punts it was Montreal taking the lead on the back of a 70 yard run by Stanback’s replacement, former Dino Jeshrun Antwi. The run set up a 26 yard field goal for the Alouettes, they led 17-14.
On the first play after the field goal Bo Levi Mitchell was picked off. The Alouettes made quick work of the short field ending the drive with a seven yard Vernon Adams Jr. touchdown run. It was 24-14 Alouettes heading into the half.
Folarin Orimolade got the Stamps great field position early in the third quarter with a sack deep in Montreal territory which would lead to a 41 yard Rene Paredes field goal.
Paredes would push through another field goal with 4:42 left in the third to make it a 24-20 Alouettes lead.
The Alouettes managed to put themselves in field goal range on their next drive, but a huge block by Mike Rose continued to push the momentum in the Stamps favour. It was 24-20 heading into the final quarter.
The Stamps held momentum into the fourth, Ka’Deem Carey continued his stellar night capping off a nine play drive with a five yard touchdown run.
It wasn’t until the 4:09 mark that the game became tied once again thanks to a 10 play drive by Adams Jr and the Alouettes capped off with a David Cote field goal to make it 27-27.
Jake Maier came into the game for the last couple of drives due to what looked like a Bo Levi Mitchell injury and performed very well.
He began a drive with under two minutes to go at the Stamps 39 yard line and found Richie Sindani with a couple of passes and then found Colton Hunchak for eight yards to set up Rene Paredes for a 38 yard field goal with 45 seconds left. The Stamps took a 30-27 lead.
Vernon Adams Jr. did some scrambling at midfield with no time left on the clock and heaved one into the end zone but Tre Roberson was there to seal the Stampeders victory with a knock down.
THEY SAID:
NEXT UP:
The Stamps are back in action Saturday, June 18 in Hamilton.
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