A Rene Paredes field goal with 30 seconds remaining in the game and a pair of Ka’Deem Carey touchdowns led the Calgary Stampeders to a 30-27 win over the Montreal Alouettes to open the CFL season Thursday.
Calgary’s Malik Henry had a touchdown catch. Paredes was good on all three of his field-goal attempts in front of an announced crowd of 21,139 at McMahon Stadium.
Stampeders quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell completed 21 of 34 passing attempts for 199 yards. Calgary’s starter threw a touchdown pass and was intercepted.
READ MORE: Bo Levi Mitchell optimistic about shoulder, Calgary Stampeders in 2022
Mitchell limping slightly as he headed to the sidelines in the fourth quarter, backup Jake Maier drew for Calgary’s final two drives.
Maier navigated the Stampeders to field-goal range for Paredes to finish the job from 38 yards out.
Montreal running back William Stanback, the CFL’s leading rusher last season, was carted off the field in the second quarter after his touchdown catch in the first.
Alouettes starting quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. scored a touchdown as did third-string pivot Dominique Davis on a short-yardage plunge. David Cote added a pair of field goals.
Adams Jr., completed 18 of 31 passes for 250 yards and one touchdown throw. He was intercepted twice in his first start since Oct. 11, 2021, when he sustained a season-ending arm injury in a game against Ottawa.
READ MORE: Adams gets starting quarterback job in Montreal, with Harris standing by
- ‘Blue Sky City’ unveiled as the new brand for the city of Calgary
- Southeast Calgary residents frustrated after strip mall parking lot potholes damage vehicles
- City buys back land after former Ernest Manning High School site sits empty
- ‘It is the love’: Wally the injured stray dog gets new ‘leash’ on life
The Stampeders (8-6-0) finished third in the West Division last season and lost the division semifinal in overtime to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
The Alouettes (7-7) were similarly third in the East Division and dispatched in the semifinal by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Carey ranked second in the league in rushing yards behind Stanback in 2021. His second touchdown on a five-yard carry and a Paredes convert to start the fourth quarter gave the hosts a three-point lead.
Cote pulled the Alouettes even, however, with his 23-yard field goal with 4:09 remaining in the game.
Paredes was good from 41 yards and 23 yards for Calgary to trail 24-20 heading into the fourth quarter. Calgary defensive lineman Mike Rose blocked Cote’s field-goal attempt in the final minute of the third.
READ MORE: CFL players to keep a close eye on during the 2022 regular season
Montreal scored 10 points in the last two minutes of the first half to lead 24-14.
Adarius Pickett picked off Mitchell to give the Als the ball at midfield after Cote’s 26-yard field goal. Adams Jr., ran the ball in from seven yards out and vaulted over Calgary defensive back Dionte Ruffin to get to the end zone.
Stanback suffered an apparent leg injury taking the ball to the one-yard line midway through the second quarter. Davis finished the drive after Stanback was driven off th field.
The East Division nominee for the league’s most outstanding player in 2021 totalled 11 yards on three carries before leaving the game.
Carey accounted for 38 yards, including a two-yard dash for a major, of Calgary’s 58-yard scoring drive in the second quarter to lead 14-7 after a Paredes’ conversion.
The team traded converted touchdowns in the opening quarter that ended 7-7.
Stanback capped a 74-yard drive with an eight-yard touchdown catch. Calgary scored first before the five-minute mark of the game when Rose picked off Adam Jr.’s first throw of the game.
From the 49-yard line, Mitchell engineered a six-play drive finished by Henry’s 10-yard touchdown catch. Henry dove and planted the ball in the just over the goal-line to score.
The Alouettes are in Toronto to face the Argonauts and the Stampeders travel to Hamilton to meet the Tiger-Cats in Week 2.
Comments