Wire To Wire: Stamps Grind Out Ticats For Sixth-straight Win

CALGARY — Two CFL titans did battle on Sunday night, and they didn’t disappoint.
The Calgary Stampeders held off a furious comeback attempt by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, en-route to a 30-24 win at McMahon Stadium to close out Week 10 in the CFL.
Bo Levi Mitchell put together a workmanlike performance, completing 27 of his 37 attempts for 323 yards and a touchdown in the win, while DaVaris Daniels hauled in five receptions for 108 yards and a TD. He also blocked a punt in the first half.
The Ticats received another noteworthy outing from their QB, as Collaros racked up 432 yards through the air, throwing three touchdowns in the process.
Sunday night’s game marked the first ever live mic broadcast on TSN.
Earlier this week, Mitchell was excited at the thought of getting CFL fans more engaged in the action on the field.
“It’s going to be fun for the fans to get inside the huddle, and inside me and Dave talking,” said the Katy, Texas native.
Early on, however, all the talking on the field was done by Calgary’s special teams unit.
First, Stampeders receiver Daniels came up huge on third down, blocking a Brent Maher punt to set up Mitchell and the offence with excellent field position on Hamilton’s 43 yard line.
Then, after Mitchell took two shots at finding the endzone to no avail, kicker Rene Paredes tallied the first points of the game, splitting the uprights from 13 yards out.
But Calgary’s lead was short-lived, as Collaros wasted no time responding for the visitors.
In a penalty-marred drive for both teams that saw the Ticats hang onto the ball for almost seven minutes, spanning 13 plays and 90 yards, Collaros managed to find Terrence Toliver in the corner of the endzone for a touchdown, givng the Stamps a 7-3 lead in the process.
Collaros, however, wouldn’t have much time to recuperate from his lengthy scoring drive, as Mitchell responded in a hurry, hooking up with Daniels on the first play of the possession for a 76-yard touchdown.
The score was Daniels’ first in the CFL.
As much as the offence controlled the pace of the game during the first quarter, it was the defence that stood tall in the second frame, with the only points arriving by the foot of Paredes on a pair of field goals from 17 and 41 yards out respectively.
The Stampeders would take a 16-7 lead into the break. Statistically speaking, it was a virtually identical half for Mitchell and Collaros. Collaros completed 14 of his 21 passes for 184 yards and a touchdown, while Mitchell connected on 15 of his 20 passes for 185 yards and a major of his own.
One area where the Stamps completely dominated the game, however, was in the penalty department, as the Stamps took just three penalties for 12 yards, while the Ticats were flagged on 11 occasions, costing them 95 yards in the process.
The defensive trend continued into the third quarter, as both offences were unable to put together any sustainable progress while they were in possession of the ball.
But thanks to a botched punt by Maher that saw the kicker’s 29-yard offering flagged for an illegal punt, the Stamps were granted fortuitous field position late in the third quarter.
It was then that Mitchell proceeded to complete three consecutive passes to Bakari Grant, Lemar Durant and Marquay McDaniel twice for gains of nine, 13, five and 24 yards respectively.
Two plays later, Jerome Messam pounded his way into the endzone for the touchdown. Mitchell would then find McDaniel again for two points, extending Calgary’s lead to 24-10.
The Stamps had another chance to find the endzone on their next possession, but some strong defensive play by the Ticats limited them to a 14-yard field goal by Paredes.
With just under five minutes remaining in the game, the Ticats would find the endzone for the first time since the first quarter, as Collaros completed a 26-yard touchdown pass to Toliver for his second score of the game.
Then, following another two-and-out by Mitchell and the Stamps, the Ticats had a chance to make things interesting, and nearly saw their drive come to a grinding halt thanks to a 115-yard pick-six by DB Tommie Campbell.

However, Kent Austin successfully challenged the play for illegal contact, giving the Tabbies new life.
Two plays later, Collaros found Luke Tasker in the endzone to cut Calgary’s lead to five. He then found Tasker on the two-point conversion attempt to bring them within a field goal.
But the Ticats couldn’t recover the ensuing onside kick, giving Calgary the ball with time winding down.
Paredes connected on a 45-yard field goal with 32 seconds later, registering their league-best seventh win of the year in the progress.
Next week, both teams will host their respective Labour Day Classics, as the Stamps welcome the Eskimos, while the Ticats will duke it out against the Argonauts.