Stamps without Vernon Adams Jr., but get Mills and Paredes back for playoff-implication game
Maybe there’s an element of payback, but it’s small and quite secondary to the larger goal.
“We’ve just gotta win,” emerging Ticat weak-side linebacker Jordan Crook says of Saturday afternoon’s (Ticat Audio Network, TSN, Y108, 3 p.m. ET) visit to Calgary and the Stampeders, who are equally as victory-hungry as the Ticats.
“Just having that fire from the first game into the second game, knowing what type of ball we have to play out there. Being in the right zones, play fast, play physical and come out with the W. It’s the second game against the same team, and I’d be lying to you if I said we didn’t want the win.”
On Saturday, the 4-7 Ticats arrive at the two-thirds pole of the 18-game regular season, two points back of the Toronto Argonauts for second place after a disastrous second half in a 39-20 loss to Toronto last weekend. The Argos also have a game in hand in the race for an Eastern home playoff berth with the rubber match of the season’s series set for the Labour Day Classic. Only then will they get a breather from their long, hot summer, which, by the time they have a week’s bye after the Classic, will have reached 10 games in 10 weekends.
Calgary, which sits last in the West at 4-6 but could be challenging for a playoff spot in both divisions, is coming off a bye week, with 15 days between their 44-20 loss to BC and Saturday afternoon’s kickoff.
“It came at the right time,” Calgary linebacker Derrick Moncrief said. “We had a long stretch of games. Lost some close ones. Won a couple there. It was just what we needed at the right time of the year, at that juncture of our schedule.”
But it wasn’t quite enough to rehabilitate some of their key wounded, as Vernon Adams Jr., who suffered a head injury against BC and was “trending positively” during practice, shifts to the reserve roster. Second-year CFLer Josh Love, whose 10 passes this season all came in relief in that game, gets the start.
And star receiver Reggie Begelton also will spend at least another week on the injury list.
But powerful running back Dedrick Mills, the linchpin of the Calgary run-pass-option and play-action sets, has recovered enough from the head injury he incurred against BC to get the start. And Rene Paredes, who has the fourth-leading field goal success percentage in CFL history, also returns from injury, which should augment a Stamps offence which leads the league in most important offensive categories, including points scored and TD-drive percentage.
In a year of stupendous scoring in the CFL, the Stampeders top the CFL, averaging nearly 40 points (378) per game—although that was with Adams at the helm—while, conversely, surrendering 33 points per game with a defence that ranks second-to-last league-wide in several categories ahead of only Ottawa. But they somewhat balance that by being second in sacks and interceptions.
Across the league, every game the two teams involved were combining for an average of nearly 800 yards of net offence over the first third of the season and while that dropped to 743 over the second third of the schedule, it’s still more than 10 percent higher than last year. And points per game and touchdowns are way up, too. They’ve dropped in August as the defences, which were altered by free agency arrivals and departures, have begun to solidify, but not nearly as much as most insiders anticipated. Offensive drives which result in touchdowns are up over 15 percent, and big plays are up around 10 percent.
Amidst this ravenous outburst, triggered by Adams and Mills and backed by an injury-depleted but still talented receiving corps, the Stampeders top most offensive charts, just ahead of the Alouettes.
In a win over Toronto a few weeks prior to beating Hamilton earlier this month, Adams tied the single-game franchise record—and the Stamps are steeped in quarterback-development history—for touchdown passes while becoming just the fifth player in CFL history to throw for at least 400 yards and six touchdowns without an interception in the same game.
So, obviously his absence will be keenly felt in Calgary, and it’s likely the Stamps will rely even more on the run with Love under centre. There’s a limited sample size, but he’s more of a pocket passer than Adams and Mills can relieve some of the defensive pressure on him. He’s already rushed for 759 yards, including 21 dashes of 10 or more yards.
“He’s probably one of the best running backs in the league,” says Ticat defensive tackle Miles Fox. “You know he runs hard. He brings his pads behind him every single run. And we’ve just got to be able to stop that, because that’s what gets them going.
“We can stop the run. We feel pretty good about them.”
Scott Milanovich had his team preparing for both Calgary quarterbacks this week and emphasized that no matter who the pivot was going to be, the defensive priority was going to be the same.
“Stop the run,” he said. “Get them in second-and-longer. Push the front. Make it hard for him. Push the pocket back. Get them off the spot. I mean that’s not just with Vernon. That’s every quarterback. You start by moving guys off the spot or getting pressure on the interior.”
The Cats will start Tre Ford at quarterback, coming off the highest-yardage total of his career, and Milanovich feels that despite certain metrics, the Stampeder defence is formidable.
“I think they’re a better team than their record,” he said. “I think we’re a better team than our record too, so it should be a good matchup.
“They force a lot of turnovers. They rush the passer.
They’ve got a plus-10 turnovers in the last five weeks. So that’s how you win football games.”
It’s no secret that the Ticats’ offensive line did not play well last week. They need better protection for Ford, who may be able to exploit the explosive, but sometimes gambling, Calgary secondary if he has time. Last week, he hit four completions of 40 yards or more. His running becomes a factor both for the freeze-frame hesitation it can place in the defence’s collective mind but also to elude tacklers and giving receivers more time to enter “scramble drill” mode.
And they need a better running game of their own. Larry Rountree III had only nine carries last game for a meagre 32 yards, a full quarter of those on a touchdown scamper. And the Calgary defence, while essentially tied for last in giving up passing yardage, ranks second in rush defence.
“I think they’re an explosive defence,” Ford says. “They take the ball away. They get turnovers whether that’s picks or fumbles. I mean they stripped me last time, and they do get after the quarterback.”
With the season’s final third starting on Labour Day, prime standings real estate is at a premium. The Cats aren’t quite in desperation or must-win territory, but they’re approaching it every week. Milanovich preferred to use the word “urgency” and that’s probably the right description, after the backslide in Toronto last weekend.
It will likely take eight wins, perhaps nine, to guarantee a playoff spot which, if correct, would mean four or five victories in the remaining seven.
“Obviously it’s the next game which is the biggest,” Crook stressed. “And that’s the mindset we’re going into it with.”
CATS CLAUSES
Kendricks Jr returns to lineup
The Ticats have made three changes to the game-day roster from last week’s game in Toronto.
Rookie offensive lineman Jonathan Dennis, the fifth overall draft choice, who started the last four games, is on the one-game injured list, and Nate Dumoulin-Duguay moves back to starting at right guard. Brayden Szeman, taken by the Cats from the Calgary Dinos in the fifth round of this year’s CFL draft, gets his first game uniform as the backup offensive lineman.
Defensive tackle Mario Kendricks Jr returns from injury to join the interior rotation with Miles Fox and Charbel Dabire, replacing De’Jon Benton, who goes on the one-game injury list.
Hakeem Harris, the 25-year-old wide receiver from Markham who was signed earlier this week, dresses for his first Ticat game. He played college at Davenport University, a relatively new (2016) NCAA Division II team in Michigan, and was drafted 26th overall in 2025 by the Montréal Alouettes and dressed in 12 games for the Als last year. He comes onto the active roster for former McMaster star Tyson Middlemost, who has been placed on the six-game-injured list.
Praise from the opposition
Derrick Moncrief, Calgary’s veteran SAM linebacker and captain, told the Calgary Herald this week that the Stamps respect the Ticats’ roster strength. They’ve got two young good quarterbacks,” said the two-time West All-Star. “One is more of a dual threat in Tre Ford, and the other guy (Harrison Frost), man, he can make some throws.
“They have a dynamic receiving corps. I mean, also their running back (Larry Rountree III). And their defence is good. They can blitz. They can stop the run, too.”
Moncrief, middle linebacker Marquel Lee, who ranks eighth in the CFL with 54 tackles, and WILL backer Kyle Wilson, who spent 2021-25 as a Ticat, form one of the strongest linebacking corps in the league.
NOTES AND QUOTES
Ticats’ SAM linebacker Reggie Stubblefield leads the league with 59 defensive tackles. Braxton Hill is 2ndon the team with 40 … S Stavros Katsantonis is tied for the CFL lead with 5 interceptions. Calgary’s Ben Labrosse and Edmonton’s Tyrell Ford also have 5 … in the last 2 games. WR Keric Wheatfall has caught 12 passes for 232 yards and a TD … QB Tre Ford is 2-2 against Calgary in his career. He passed for a career-high 356 yards, including four 30+ yard completions last week … Isaiah Wooden Sr. ranks 5th in all-purpose yards … Kiondré Smith leads the Cats with 649 receiving yards after a season-high 111 in Toronto … Since 2017, Calgary is 5-1 in the teams’ matchups at McMahon Stadium … Stamps DE Clarence Hicks has four sacks in his last five games … Calgary’s Jesulayomi Ojutalayo (20) and Kelon Thomas (17) top the league in special teams tackles … QB Vernon Adams Jr. is 8-4 in his career against the Ticats. He was in Hamilton’s 2018 training camp behind Jeremiah Masoli, Johnny Manziel and Dane Evans … Calgary GM and head coach Dave Dickenson needs one win to become the 11th CFL coach to reach 100 wins … former Ticat Tyreik McAllister is third in all-purpose yardage and has returned a punt and two missed field goals for touchdowns … Jalen Philpot tops the Stamps with 609 receiving yards … Quincy Vaughn, the Stamps’ short-yardage quarterback, has 8 TDs this year. Vaughn, who played at Hamilton’s Sir Allan MacNab then for former Ticat QB Larry Jusdanis at Football North is the son of former Ticat Michael Vaughn, and brother of Justin Vaughn, a defensive lineman for the Cats in 2017-18 … McMahon Stadium will host November’s Grey Cup but has become outdated and needed expensive water and sewage upgrades this year, and the City of Calgary announced this week that it wants to launch a study on the feasibility of a new stadium … Off a bye, the Stampeders are 3-4 since 2024, including 0-1 this season. They lost 2 straight heading into the bye that ends on Saturday.
Tiger-Cats Depth Chart and Roster
Stampeders Depth Chart and Roster
