On Saturday night at McMahan Stadium, the Calgary Stampeders took on the Toronto Argonauts for the second time this season. In their first meeting back in Week 11, Calgary edged Toronto 22-19. Calgary was looking to stay within striking distance of the BC Lions for second place.
In the first quarter, it was the defense that stood tall. Both offenses made little gains but neither generated a scoring opportunity. Late in the first quarter, Toronto linebacker Henoc Muamba intercepted Jake Maier’s pass, giving Toronto the ball to start the second quarter still scoreless.
Toronto went two-and-out, and punter Jake Haggerty punted the ball for 75 yards into the endzone for a single point, 1-0, with 14:47 left. Moving ahead into the action, Toronto quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson’s pass was intercepted by linebacker Jameer Thurman before being tackled at the Argonauts’ 23-yard line with 12:52 left in the second quarter.
Two plays later, Calgary quarterback Jake Maier threw a dart into the hands of Reggie Begelton for a 16-yard touchdown to go up 7-1 with 11:18 left.
On Toronto’s next drive, running back A.J. Ouellette had three carries for 27 yards to set up a 46-yard field goal for Boris Bede. However, Bede missed the field goal, but the ball went out of bounds behind the endzone for a single point, 7-2, with 8:01 left.
Calgary running back Ka’Deem Carey led the offense in the next series with four carries for 32 yards, and Jalen Philpot had a carry for 14 yards to get the Stampeders down to Toronto’s one-yard line. Then, third-string quarterback Tommy Stevens scored a touchdown with a quarterback sneak, making it 14-2 with 3:12 left.
Toronto had a couple of opportunities to cut Calgary’s lead but were unable to move the ball, and Calgary led 14-2 at halftime. Calgary quarterback Jake Maier was 8/12 for 85 yards, one touchdown, and one interception, while Toronto quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson was 7/16 for 85 yards and one interception.
In the third quarter, both offenses made some progress, but both ended up punting the ball. Late in the third quarter, Toronto quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson was sacked on their own 55-yard line by Isaac Berglund-Adeyemi, and Toronto punted the ball. They would get the ball back late in the third but punted it back to Calgary as the third quarter ended, with Calgary leading 14-2 heading into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Jake Maier’s pass was intercepted for the second time by Toronto linebacker Henoc Muamba. Unfortunately, Toronto could not take advantage of the turnover and punted the ball back to Calgary.
Late in the fourth quarter, Toronto quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson’s pass was picked off by Cameron Judge and returned for a pick-six 71-yard touchdown, extending Calgary’s lead 21-2 with 4:10 left.
Then, with under a minute left in the game, Calgary running back Ka’Deem Carey scored a one-yard touchdown with 22-seconds left to make it a 28-2 lead. On the kickoff, Calgary kicker Rene Paredes scored a single point when the ball went into the endzone and out of bounds for a 29-2 lead.
Toronto put in quarterback Chad Kelly in the last series, and Kelly’s pass was intercepted by Brandon Dozier, ending the game, and the Stampeders won their tenth game of the season with a 29-2 win. Meanwhile, the Argonauts are 8-6 with a one-game lead over Montreal for first place.
Calgary quarterback Jake Maier went 17/24 for 175 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. Running back Ka’Deem Cary had 14 carries for 92 yards and one touchdown, while wide receiver Reggie Begelton had four catches for 43 yards and one touchdown.
Calgary’s defense allowed 296 yards, 52 tackles, two sacks, one forced fumble, three pass breakups, and three interceptions. Calgary is off next week.
Toronto quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson went 19/38 for 194 yards and two interceptions. Running back A.J. Ouellette had nine carries for 66 yards, while wide receiver DaVaris Daniels had five catches for 51 yards.
Toronto’s defense allowed 336 yards, 51 tackles, one sack, two pass breakups, and two interceptions. Toronto hosts the BC Lions next Saturday at 4 pm on ESPN+.
