SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 14, 2013
Stampeders 26, Tiger-Cats 22: Marquay McDaniel's 15-yard touchdown catch with less than two minutes remaining helped host Calgary rally past Hamilton.
After a Luca Congi missed field goal at the other end of the field, Calgary quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell marched his team 70 yards on seven plays before finding McDaniel just short of the end zone on second-and-10. The veteran wideout eluded a pair of tackles before lunging into the end zone to lead Calgary (9-2) to its fourth straight win and sole possession of the top spot in the West Division.
Mitchell was 20-of-30 for 257 yards and two scores, including an 80-yard touchdown pass to Maurice Price in the second quarter. Henry Burris completed 26-of-39 passes for 408 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the Tiger-Cats (5-6), who failed to draw even with Toronto for first place in the East.
Burris was a buzzsaw early on, throwing for 220 first-half yards as the Tiger-Cats enjoyed a 15-13 lead at the break. He needed less than two minutes to cap Hamilton's 79-yard opening drive with a 37-yard scoring strike to Andy Fantuz, then finished off an 87-yard march in the waning moments of the second quarter with a 6-yard TD pass to Onrea Jones.
A Hamilton interception early in the third quarter set up another long Tiger-Cats drive that ended with C.J. Gable's 5-yard touchdown run. Back-to-back field goals by Rene Paredes made it a three-point game early in the fourth, and the Calgary defence held firm with a pair of interceptions in the quarter - the second coming on Burris' Hail Mary pass with no time left on the clock.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Burris reached the 50,000-yard plateau on the second-quarter scoring pass to Jones, becoming just the fifth quarterback in CFL history to achieve the feat. The 38-year-old joins Anthony Calvillo, Damon Allen, Ron Lancaster and Danny McManus in the exclusive club. ... Gable - who finished with 161 all-purpose yards - gashed the Calgary defence for a 40-yard run just past the midway point of the fourth quarter, but Congi hit the upright from 30 yards out to give Calgary life. ... Jon Cornish led the Stampeders' rushing attack with 13 carries for 72 yards.