STAMPEDERS MOVE INTO FIRST PLACE

Saturday, July 24, 2010 – 10:27 PM

The Calgary Stampeders took over first place in the West Division with a convincing 40-20 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders at McMahon Stadium on Saturday.

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The Stamps and Roughriders both sport 3-1 records but Calgary gets the edge thanks to the head-to-head result.
“It was a good win,” said Stampeders head coach/GM John Hufnagel. “We knew coming into this game that to do what we wanted to accomplish this year, we would need to beat Saskatchewan. We need to keep level heads — it’s only one game of the season and there’s a lot of football left to play — but I thought our team took a step to get better tonight.”

The Stampeders took the lead for good on their first drive of the second half as Henry Burris hooked up with Romby Bryant for a 67-yard scoring pass that snapped a 7-7 tie.

The rest of the scoring in the third quarter featured an exchange of field goals — 17 yards by Saskatchewan’s Luca Congi and 21 yards by Calgary’s Rob Maver — and a safety conceded by the Roughriders.

Bryant found the end-zone again in the fourth quarter as a couple of shifty moves turned an apparent short passing gain into a 10-yard score. Joffrey Reynolds extended the home side’s lead with a six-yard touchdown run. Nik Lewis completed Calgary’s second-half onslaught with a touchdown catch.
Weston Dressler scored a late Saskatchewan touchdown to make the final score slightly more respectable for the visitors.

There was just one touchdown apiece in the first half as tough defence and turnover difficulties slowed the offensive pace.

Calgary found the end-zone first as Burris connected with P.K. Sam from eight yards out in the opening quarter. It was former Argonaut Sam’s first touchdown in a Stampeders uniform.

The Roughriders answered in the second quarter as Wes Cates scored on a 16-yard run. Saskatchewan had a chance to take the lead later in the quarter but Luca Congi’s 43-yard field-goal try struck the upright and stayed out.

Meanwhile, a pair of promising Calgary drives were halted by end-zone interceptions by James Patrick.

Lewis achieved a milestone in the first half. With his second catch of the evening, he surpassed Travis Moore, who had 470 receptions, for third place on the Stampeders’ all-time list.

The Stampeders’ next action is Saturday, July 31 when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers visit McMahon Stadium.
STATISTICS
PASSING
Cgy: Burris 22-33-285-4-2; Ssk: Durant 22-37-354-1-3

RUSHING
Cgy: Reynolds 15-93-1, Cornish 5-77, Tate 2-42, Burris 3-35; Ssk: Cates 16-83-1, Durant 4-28

RECEIVING
Cgy: Bryant 7-116-2, Sam 5-54-1, Lewis 5-50-1, Murphy 2-25, Cornish 1-20, Reynolds 1-14, Forzani 1-6; Ssk: Dressler 9-125-1, Fantuz 3-68, Bagg 3-61, Getzlaf 4-56, Rodriguez 3-44

NOTABLES
Cgy: Simpson 6 TKL 2STT 1 SK, Raymond 5 TKL 1 STT 1 INT 1 KD, Collins 4 TKL 1 FF 1 INT, Browner 5 TKL, McCune 2 TKL 3 STT 1 SK; Ssk: Patrick 8 TKL 1 STT 2 INT, Simpson 5 TKL, Lucas 4 TKL 1 FF, K.Jones 1 TKL 1 STT 1 SK