Stamps survive against Lions and come away with a win

The Calgary Stampeders survived a scare Friday night as they headed into the Lions Den to face off against Wally Buono and the rest of a BC squad also looking to get their first win of the season.

The game was just as notable of the Calgary side of the ball as to who was missing from the lineup as LB Malik Jackson, WR Ken-Yon Rambo, and kicker Rob Maver were all sidelined with injury. Maver, as Stamps fans well remember, has a torn quad which helped contribute to a Stamps loss in Week 1 action against the Toronto Argos.

It was a tale of two games as the first half was dominated by both sloppy play by both offenses as well as some steller play from bith defenses that had the game sitting with a 7-6 score headed in halftime.

The lone touchdown in the first half came from Stamps QB Micheal Bishop (not a typo) who took the ball in from the one after a 27 yard drive set up by a 48 yard return from newly aquired Larry Taylor.

In the second half came the fireworks as both offenses woke up and combined for 53 points in the next two quarters.

Both the Stamps and Lions swapped touchdowns 3 times with the lead never changing hands but also never more than eight points.

The first touchdown of the second half came courtesy of a 11 yard catch and run by Jon Cornish who has in two games surpassed his touchdown totals from last year with 2 on the year so far.

Landon Talley and Nik Lewis were also on the receiving end of Henry Burris TD strikes with the Lewis majoe coming in typical Geronimo fashion with a short pass turning into a 61 yard rumble to the endzone after shedding a few tackles.

On the bright side for the Lions, the scoring drives engineered by Travis Lulay went for 70,75 and 78 respectively. This may mean that the QB hunt that has been going on in BC since the departure of Dave Dickensen may finally be over.

New Stamps kicker Rene Paradis showed some ice in his veins as he lined up for his first CFL field goal attempt which was a lifetime long of 50 yards. His previous high while kicking for Concordia was 48 yards. The second attempt was no easier as BC coach Wally Buono attempted to "ice" the rookie calling timeout right before the snap. Paradis showed no ill effects though and calmly booted it through the uprights again when it counted to put the Stamps ahead to stay.

The knuckles did get a little whiter on the final play after the Stamps commited their fifth turnover of the game due to a bad handoff between Joffrey Reynolds and Heny Burris set up a 57 yard attempt from BC kicker Paul McCallum that ended up wide and short.

Stamps fans were finally able to breate again after the ball was caught and taken out of bounds by Larry Taylor to secure the victory.

Henry Burris was quoted after the game referencing "too much drama" which certainly describes the Stamps season to this point with 2 consecutive games to open the season being decided in the final minute.

Next up for the Stamps are the 2-0 Winnipeg Blue Bombers led by a resurgant defense that will certainly cause fits for the young Stamps o-line who will get a boost of their own with the return of Dimitri Tsoumpas.

Quote of the week:

The Riders are 0-2? AHAHAHAHA

-Podcaster Ryan