Rough Riders aquire Bishop from the Argo’s for a draft pick.
The Riders have tried all week to trade Crandell, but there were no takers. Crandell was made expendable with the acquisition of Bishop. So the Riders needed a scapegoat, and it Marcus Crandell. Marcus has not played that bad; in fact, he had several passes dropped when the Riders lost to the Eskimos. Crandell is one of the good guys. Here’s hoping he finds work elsewhere.
Randy
The Calgary Stampeders played a complete game for the first time this season. They were firing on all cylinders as the Stamps defeated the Lions 36-29 in front of a little over 34,000 fans in BC.
FIRST QUARTER
Before I sat down to watch the game, the Stamps scored on a two play drive. That is right, two plays; talk about proficiency! It was the quickest touchdown drive of the season. Burris threw a 31 yard pass to Thelwell, who found a hole in the zone coverage. Reyolds then exploded on a 45 yard run up the midde for 45 yard 7-0 Stamps.
The Lions were much more methodical in their drive on a 14 play drive, taking almost six minutes off the clock. Jackson looked great in this drive with quarterback naked runs. He and Logan got the Lions’ running game in gear; a very impressive drive which culminated with a one yard run to paydirt by Lumbala. Game tied at 7.
The quarter ended with a Sandro 34 yard field goal end of the quarter. 10-7 Stamps. A good first quarter by the Stamps with no early mistakes. The Stamps made a key move by Involving their running back, who was a major cog in the Stamps’ victory on Friday.
SECOND QUARTER
The defenses settle down and held the offenses down to field goals. Sandro kicked two field goals, both 27 yards. McCallum kicked a 44 yard field goal for the Lions. The Stamps had an excellent first half, leading 16 to 11 at the end of the half. The Stamps had an flawless first half. It was a major step in their success in winning this season.
THIRD QUARTER
The Lions scored early in the third quarter as Banks intercepted a pass and took it to the endzone. The Lions took the lead 18-16, Henry Burris was a different quarterback as he orchestrated a nice drive, which culminated with another field of 13 yards. Burris threw a terrific 18 yard pass to Lewis. The Lions countered with another late field goal by McCallum. 26-21 Stamps at the end of the third quarter. Jackson dislocated his finger and got replaced by Pierce.
FOURTH QUARTER
Sandro kicked an early field goal, to regain the 8 point lead. Stamps lead 29-21. Pierce orchestrated a touchdown with a terrific running play, dodging several tackles. The drive ends with three yard pass to Clermont. The Lions got a two point conversion with a pass to Logan. The game is tied at 29.
The Stamps came back with a long drive and used 6 minutes in doing it. By the way, Rambo made a terrific catch in this drive. One of his best this season. The drive really stalled, but for some reason, the refs decided that Banks has three hands, because his two hands didn’t lay a glove on Rambo, yet he got called for pass interference, which prolonged the drive. The next play was the five yard pass to Ralph. 36-29 Stamps.
LIONS PLAYER OF THE GAME
Logan was terrific this game. 11 carries for 95 yards. He was terrific all game. I love this rookie. There is a good reason why Smith is not playing.
STAMPS PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Reynolds/Labinjo
Reynolds ran for 124 yards He was a monster who could not be stopped. The Stamps need to involve Reynolds in order to win the game.
Labinjo was basically kicking the crap out of the Lions’ quarterbacks the whole game. It was his best game of the season, hence the dual winners for this game.
Randy
Changes in the Peg
The 1-6 Blue Bombers are changing quarterbacks going back to Kevin Glen against the Ticats. They have also signed receiver Jason Armstead who was released by Montreal three weeks ago. Jason seems to have 9 lives gets another chance with the Blue Bombers.
BC Lions
In an interesting move the Lions will go back to Jarious Jackson for the next start. Jackson was replaced by Buck Pierce in the win over Edmonton. They have apparently liked what they saw in Logan the rookie was fantastic in the win over the Eskies. Which means only one thing for the incumbent Joe Smith could be on his way out of Vancouver?
Legend Ron Lancaster diagnosed with cancer
This has been a rough year in the CFL. I am sure Ron will be this; he has done once before and will beat it again. My prayers will go out with him as he fights and beats the Cancer again.
Links on the Web
http://tsn.ca/cfl/
Calgary/BC
The Stamps have a week to prepare for there next tilt in Vancouver. As the west gets the week off. . They must put in a full 60 minute game in order to beat the Lions. Calgary Stampeders habit of taking a quarter off per game must stop in order for them to be successful. You may say that is obvious but the Stamps have not played a full game all season. The Stamps have not had all three aspects of their game meshing together. It seems one of the three takes a day off. In fact in the game against the Riders two aspects their game was weak in the fourth quarter. The Defense and special teams almost allowed the Riders to make an unbelievable come back falling short by only five points.
Edmonton/Sask
The west could really get interesting if the Eskies beat the Riders in two weeks. Ricky Ray has been fantastic all season as the Eskies high powered offense host the injury rattled Riders. The Riders will have to rely on a make shift line up as they have up count them 18 injuries on there reserve. Not sure how many will be back but the Riders will have to rely on their back ups to defeat the Eskies. The key point of the game is keeping Ray off the field. So Wes Cates will be vital in the Riders success. They will have to have a controlled run offense in order to defeat the Eskimos.
