The Calgary Stampeders (3-5) hosted the Toronto Argonauts (6-1) on Friday night at McMahon Stadium. Toronto was looking to keep their undefeated streak going but Calgary plays well against them and this game proved how badly they wanted the beat them.
In the first quarter, Calgary’s offense used a combination of short-yard passes and several rushing yards to get to the Argonauts’ one-yard line. Then, the offense was lined up in a quarterback sneak position when Tommy Stevens ran to his left side and scored a touchdown for a 7-0 lead with 5:40 left.
On the second play for Toronto, Calgary’s defense was set to blitz Chad Kelly. Kelly spotted it and snapped the ball anyway. The mistake Calgary’s defense made was not covering Cam Phillips, whom Kelly quickly threw the ball to for a 76-yard touchdown that tied the game 7-7 with 4:45 left.
For the rest of the first quarter, both defenses held the fort down. Toronto punted the ball on third down and the Stampeders were going to start the second quarter on their 29-yard line with the game tied 7-7.
Calgary’s offense did not get far to start the second quarter and punted the ball back to Toronto. Later in the second quarter, Calgary quarterback Jake Maier and running back Dedrick Mills led the offense down to Toronto’s 42-yard line. Then, kicker Rene Paredes converted a 45-yard field goal to take a 10-7 lead with 5:17 left.
The second quarter was not kind to Toronto. Early in the second quarter, they lost defensive back Adarius Pickett to a lower-body injury. Then, on the first play, quarterback Chad Kelly completed a four-yard pass to Kurleigh Gittens Jr. However, when Kelly planted his right foot to throw the ball, it looked like he twisted his right ankle and limped off the field.
Cameron Dukes went in for Toronto. The Argonauts reached Calgary’s 22-yard line thanks to a face mask penalty on Calgary. However, Calgary’s defense came up with a huge play when Dukes tried to throw the ball to Javeon Leake and Jonathan Moxey made an interception by extending his arms to catch the ball.
The turning point of the game happened with ten seconds left in the half. Calgary punter Cody Grace punted the ball for 52 yards into the direction of Javeon Leake. Leake did not catch the ball and it bounced into the endzone. There was a brief scramble before Michael Griffin jumped on the ball and Calgary scored a touchdown. It was now 17-7 at halftime.
Calgary had 159 yards on offense. Quarterback Jake Maier completed 14 of 16 passes (88%) for 96 yards, and two carries for eight yards. Running back Dedrick Mills had ten carries for 51 yards and two catches for four yards. Wide receiver Tommylee Lewis had five catches for 32 yards. Calgary’s defense had a great half. They did a nice job containing the Argonauts’ receivers. They did a good job breaking up plays and Toronto did not do much on offense.
Toronto had 130 yards on offense. Before the ankle injury, quarterback Chad Kelly completed 4 of 6 passes (66.7%) for 94 yards, and one touchdown.
The running game was not effective in the first half. A.J. Ouellette had three carries for 11 yards, and the rushing game had seven carries for 27 yards. Wide receiver Cam Phillips had four catches for 94 yards and one touchdown. Toronto was making a lot of mistakes. They were penalized four times for 30 yards, and not covering the receivers.
In the third quarter, Toronto’s offense struggled. A couple of times in the game, Toronto did put together a drive but Calgary’s defense was all over them. Also, rain began to fall heavily on the field making conditions worse for the passing games. The majority of the second half was running plays.
With 7:43 left, Calgary extended their lead to 20-7 on a 42-yard field goal by Rene Paredes. Calgary led 20-7 heading into the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter, Toronto quarterback Cameron Dukes and A.J. Ouellette tried to get something going but Calgary took away the passing game leaving Dukes and Ouellette to run with little to no success.
Late in the fourth quarter, Toronto’s special teams came up with a big play when Dejon Brissett punched the ball out of punt returner Tommylee Lewis’s hands and the Argonauts recovered the ball. However, they went two-and-out. Calgary’s offense killed the rest of the clock and secured a 20-7 win over the Toronto Argonauts. There are no more undefeated teams in the CFL.
Calgary’s offense had 305 yards. Quarterback Jake Maier put together a good game completing 22 of 24 passes (91.7%) for 149 yards and two carries for eight yards. Running back Dedrick Mills had a great game with 27 carries for 137 yards.
Wide receiver Tommylee Lewis had nine catches for 58 yards. Calgary’s defense had 27 tackles, three sacks, one interception, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery.
Toronto’s offense generated 202 yards. Quarterback Cameron Dukes completed 8 of 15 passes (53.3%) for 63 yards, one interception, and four carries for 18 yards.
Running back A.J. Ouellette had seven carries for 32 yards, and wide receiver Cam Phillips had four catches for 94 yards and one touchdown. Toronto’s defense had 63 tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery.
The big question is how Chad Kelly’s ankle is feeling and whether or not he will play next week. While not the circumstances Toronto had in mind, Cameron Dukes was decent out there getting his feet wet in the CFL. However, Dukes is inexperienced and Toronto needs to get a veteran quarterback.
There is a quarterback out there who is a free agent and knows the Argonaut’s playbook. That guy’s name is McLeod Bethel-Thompson. He would be a nice backup quarterback to Kelly should Kelly suffer another injury.
Next Saturday, the Stampeders take on the B.C. Lions from B.C. Place at 7 pm on CBS Sports Network, and the Argonauts host the Ottawa Redblacks on Sunday at 7 pm on CFL+. Subscribe to Fubo to watch all of the 2023 CFL Season. Purchase CFL tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
