The Calgary Stampeders extended their unbeaten streak to nine in a row with a 45-24 win over the Edmonton Eskimos in Monday’s Labour Day game.
The Stampeders (8-1-1) haven’t lost a game since their season-opener against the B.C. Lions. A three-game winning streak ended for the Eskimos (5-5).
The Stampeders have won seven of the last eight Labour Day games against Edmonton, including five in a row.
Calgary quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell compiled 380 passing yards to join Edmonton counterpart Mike Reilly with over 3,000 passing yards this season.
READ MORE: Top quarterbacks to go head-to-head in Alberta’s Labour Day Classic
Mitchell improved to 36-7-1 as a CFL starter and 17-3 at McMahon Stadium. He threw touchdown passes to Anthony Parker and Bakari Grant in front of an announced 31,440 for an afternoon kickoff.
Jerome Messam rumbled for a pair of rushing touchdowns late in the fourth quarter and Roy Finch returned a punt to score for the Stampeders.
Rene Paredes booted field goals from 21, 33 and 24 to get to 31 successful attempts in a row. The Calgary kicker is pursuing his own record of 39 consecutive set over the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
READ MORE: Paredes, Calgary Stampeders beat Saskatchewan Roughriders 19-10
Reilly ran 19 yards to score with just over three minutes remaining in the game and threw a touchdown pass to Derel Walker.
Kenny Ladler ran an interception back for an Edmonton touchdown. Reilly totalled 217 passing yards.
Messam scored rushing touchdowns of 47 and nine yards in the final six minutes and has at least one in each of his last five games.
Jamar Wall picked off a Reilly pass intended for Adarius Bowman in the end zone in the first minute of the quarter.
Mitchell faked a hand-off to Messam before throwing to a wide-open Grant for a 21-yard score and a 30-17 lead at 11:34 of the third quarter.
Little went right for the visitors until late in the first half, when Reilly connected with Walker for a 36-yard pass and Ladler ran an interception back 65 yards in the final three minutes.
Shaw added an 84-yard punt single to pull the Esks within a converted touchdown, but Calgary led 24-17 at the half.
Reilly was sacked on back-to-back plays during Edmonton’s opening drive and intercepted by Wall again in the second quarter. The Eskimos lost a coach’s challenge and thus a timeout in the first quarter.
Shaw’s short punt gave Calgary the ball on Edmonton’s 52-yard line. The Stampeders capitalized with their first offensive touchdown of the game.
Calgary’s Finch recovered his own fumble on a punt return and ran for an 85-yard score to end the opening quarter. Mitchell was stopped running for an attempted two-point convert, but his team led 18-0 after the first quarter.
With Eskimos defensive end Odell Willis on his heels, Mitchell got a 17-yard touchdown pass away to a sliding Parker in the end zone at 13:35.
The hosts converted a two-point convert on Mitchell’s subsequent three-yard toss to Grant. Calgary immediately picked up another single point on a 93-yard kickoff by Paredes.
Comments