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CALGARY — The Saskatchewan Roughriders walked into their locker-room with 21 points at halftime and would need every last one to hold off the Calgary Stampeders for a 22-21 win Saturday night.
Stampeders kicker Sandro DeAngelis missed a 54-yard field goal with no time remaining on the clock as the Roughriders held on for the win.
Saskatchewan kicker Luca Congi missed his first field goal of the season at 12:36 of the fourth quarter, but his 46-yard single stood up as the game-winning play.
Rookie receiver Adarius Bowman caught a 12-yard touchdown pass, Wes Cates recovered a fumble and ran for a 12-yard touchdown, Congi kicked a pair of field goals, while punter Jamie Boreham had a 46-yard single for the Roughriders (6-0), who kept their perfect record this season in tact.
Saskatchewan Roughriders' Denetay Heard intercepts a pass intended for Calgary Stampeders receiver Brett Ralph during the first half in Calgary on Saturday. (Todd Korol/Reuters)
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Nik Lewis caught a 22-yard touchdown pass, while DeAngelis kicked four field goals to account for the rest of the scoring for the Stampeders (3-3).
Early on, things didn't go as planned for the Stampeders, who were looking to start strongly against the defending Grey Cup champions.
After Burke Dales kicked a 68-yard single, Calgary linebacker JoJuan Armour was ejected from the game just two plays into Saskatchewan's first drive after being flagged for physical abuse of umpire Bill Hagans.
Afterwards, Armour told TSN that he accidentally ran into Hagans and knocked him to the ground.
"It's the second play of the game," Armour told TSN. "You have to be realistic. I have nothing against this guy. It's nonsense." The Stamps were penalized 25 yards on the play. Five plays later, Congi kicked a 12-yard field goal to give the Riders an early 3-1 lead.
DeAngelis responded with a 26-yard field goal for the Stamps before the Riders rallied for a three-play, 78-yard drive which culminated with Crandell tossing a touchdown pass to Bowman. The Stamps ran into more penalty trouble on the drive after Dwight Anderson was flagged for piling on Cates after a 36-yard run by the Saskatchewan running back.
The Riders then took a 14-4 lead after a 39-yard field goal by Congi and a 46-yard single by Jamie Boreham.
DeAngelis pulled Calgary to within seven points with a 37-yard field goal before Cates scored a late touchdown in the first half to put Saskatchewan up 21-7.
It was an alert play by Cates, who picked up a loose ball and ran it 12 yards into the end zone after receiver Matt Dominquez fumbled the ball following a 28-yard catch.
Neither team could get much going in the third quarter until Marcus Howell returned a punt 36 yards to give Calgary good field position on the Saskatchewan 43-yard line.
Five plays later, quarterback Henry Burris fired a 22-yard strike to Lewis in the end zone to pull the Stamps within seven points once again.
DeAngelis then booted field goals from 43 and 37 yards out in the fourth quarter before Congi missed a 33-yard field goal and had to settle for a single to give the Riders a 22-20 lead.
The Riders then made a great defensive stand late in the fourth quarter to hold onto a 22-20 win over the Stampeders.
The Stamps were facing a third-and-one situation on the Saskatchewan 45-yard line when Burris handed the ball off to Reynolds, who ran into a wall of Rider defenders and came up short of the first down. Linebackers Renauld Williams and Maurice Lloyd did a good job of standing up Reynolds before tackling him.
Calgary managed to get the ball once again and Burris completed a 50-yard pass to Jeremaine Copeland to set up the last-ditch effort by DeAngelis to win the game for the Stamps.
The same two teams will play the second half of the home-and-home series next Thursday at Mosaic Stadium in Regina (8 p.m. MST).
Notes: Former Calgary quarterback Doug Flutie, defensive back Frank Andruski and offensive lineman Rocco Romano were honoured during a half-time ceremony and their names were unveiled on the club's Wall of Fame . . . Congi had kicked 15 straight field goals to start the season until missing in the fourth quarter . . . With 71 yards receiving, Lewis passed the 5,000-yard mark for his career.
