CALGARY – The Calgary Stampeders lost starting quarterback Kevin Glenn to a leg injury early in Monday’s Labour Day game and then almost lost the game itself to the visiting Edmonton Eskimos in a 37-34 victory.
The Stampeders (7-2) continue to chase the Saskatchewan Roughriders (8-1) atop the Canadian Football League. The Eskimos (1-8) lost their seventh in a row and reside in the West Division basement.
The Stampeders quickly built a 17-0 lead after the opening quarter, but their momentum stalled momentarily when Glenn left the game in the second.
His leg buckled after a snap and while he managed to complete the pass, Glenn immediately limped off favouring his left leg and was replaced by Bo-Levi Mitchell. Glenn competed eight of 11 pass attempts for 108 yards and a touchdown pass.
Glenn, 34, was also unable to finish Calgary’s previous game against Toronto, when a fourth-quarter head injury forced him to the sidelines to comply with the CFL’s concussion protocol.
Mitchell was 11-for-18 in passing for 226 yards and two touchdowns passes in relief of Glenn.
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Cary Koch, backup quarterback Kerry Joseph, John White, Matt Carter and Fred Stamps had touchdowns for Edmonton, whose 27 points in the fourth quarter made for a wild finish.
Maurice Price led Calgary with a three touchdowns in the receiver’s first game since injuring his hamstring in Week 3. He finished with 165 receiving yards on five receptions.
Mitchell ran for a short-yardage touchdown before replacing Glenn in the second quarter. Calgary kicker Rene Paredes had three field goals for the hosts in front of 32,217 at McMahon Stadium.
Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly was sacked seven times. He was 16-for-34 in passing with a pair of interceptions.
Little went right for the Eskimos for three quarters when the offence mustered just 86 yards. But Reilly threw touchdown passes of 35, 18, 35, and seven yards to Carter, White, Koch and Stamps respectively starting at 6:52 of the fourth quarter.
Up until that point, Calgary led 37-7 on Price’s 66- and 42-yard touchdown receptions in the fourth and third quarters.
The Stamps recovered Edmonton’s second-half kickoff when Deante Purvis couldn’t corral the football. The drive ended with a 14-yard field goal from Paredes, who added another from 24 yards later in the quarter to make it 23-7.
After Glenn’s departure in the second quarter, Edmonton’s Joe Burnett returned the subsequent punt 78 yards to Calgary’s 13-yard line. Joseph was inserted for Reilly to run for both a first down and a two-yard touchdown at 10:01.
Fred Bennett’s interception set up Calgary’s second touchdown of the first quarter. He snared a pass intended for Esks receiver Nate Coehorn and returned the ball 47 yards into Edmonton territory.
Glenn connected with Price in full sprint and the receiver raced the ball 33 yards to score at 12:09.
Calgary scored 10 points on their first two possessions of the game. Mitchell finished an eight-play, 76-yard march with a one-yard dive at 3:23 of the opening quarter. Paredes was good from 41 yards away at 6:42.
The Labour Day rematch is Friday in Edmonton.
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