Toronto Argonauts' Jimmy Ralph, left, looks on as Calgary Stampeders' Tre Roberson, picks up a fumbled ball and runs it in for a touchdown during second half CFL football action in Calgary.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Juwan Brescacin hauled in a pair of touchdown passes from quarterback Nick Arbuckle to lead the Calgary Stampeders to a 26-16 win over the Toronto Argonauts at McMahon Stadium on Thursday.
Tre Roberson also ran back a fumble for a touchdown for the Stampeders (3-2), who bounced back from a 30-23 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats five days earlier in Hamilton.
Rene Paredes kicked a field goal and Rob Maver, who was playing in his 150th career CFL game with the Stamps, had a single.
Armanti Edwards and James Wilder Jr. caught touchdown passes from Toronto quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson, while Tyler Crapigna had a field goal for the Argonauts (0-5).
After a slow start for both teams, Crapigna opened the scoring at 9:28 of the first quarter when he kicked a 50-yard field goal.
Brandon Smith picked off an errant pass by Bethel-Thompson to give the Stamps great field position late in the opening quarter. Arbuckle then completed three straight passes, including a 20-yard touchdown strike to Brescacin with 55 seconds to play in the first to give Calgary a 7-3 lead.
The Stamps extended their lead to 11-3 thanks to a 31-yard field goal by Paredes and a 65-yard single by Maver.
Arbuckle then led Calgary on an extended drive before being picked off in the end zone by Toronto’s Alden Darby.
Bethel-Thompson took advantage of the timely turnover by engineering a seven-play, 85-yard drive that was capped off by an 11-yard touchdown pass to Edwards with no time left on the clock in the first half.
The Argos missed out on a great opportunity to record a two-point convert after Calgary’s Mike Rose was penalized for roughing the passer on Toronto’s first try. Given a second chance, Bethel-Thompson wasn’t able to find an open receiver in the end zone.
Early in the third quarter, Calgary linebacker Cory Greenwood laid a big hit on Edwards to force the fumble that Roberson picked up and ran back 93 yards into the Toronto end zone.
Arbuckle then completed a short pass to Reggie Begelton for a two-point convert to extend Calgary’s lead to 19-9.
Turnover troubles continued for the Argos in the third quarter as Calgary’s Raheem Wilson picked off another errant pass by Bethel-Thompson for his first-career CFL interception.
Four plays later, Arbuckle tossed an eight-yard TD pass to Brescacin to cap off a 46-yard scoring drive.
Undeterred by his earlier miscues, Bethel-Thompson led the Argos on an eight-play, 94-yard drive that culminated with him throwing a 15-yard TD pass to Wilder Jr. at 11:47 of the third quarter.
After Micah Awe intercepted a pass by Arbuckle late in the third, the Calgary defence answered right back as Greenwood picked off a wayward throw by Bethel-Thompson.
Greenwood continued his strong defensive performance in the fourth quarter when he recovered another turnover, this time a fumble by Wilder, on Calgary’s 24-yard line.
After Robertson Daniel intercepted another errant pass by Bethel-Thompson, Arbuckle took a knee to run down the final five seconds on the clock.