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Stamps Insider
Noel Prefontaine’s 28-yard field goal as time expired was the difference as the Calgary Stampeders dropped a 39-36 decision to the host Toronto Argonauts on Saturday at Rogers Centre.
The Stamps rallied from deficits of 15 and seven points in the second half to tie the contest but Toronto had the last word. Calgary (1-1) has lost four in a row against the Argos with the defeats coming by a total of just 10 points.
“We fought back in the game but give credit to Toronto,” said Stampeders head coach and general manager John Hufnagel. “They made the play at the end to win the game.”
Four turnovers and 10 penalties for 95 yards were a large part of the Stamps’ undoing on Saturday.
“Too much bad football,” said Hufnagel. “Even though I commend my team for hanging in there and making plays to stay in the game, we didn’t play enough good football to win. We need to get better.
“Whether we won this football game or lost it, my post-game speech would have been the same — we have to improve as a football team in the important areas.”
Larry Taylor had a great game in a losing cause for the Stamps racking up 441 all-purpose yards including 428 yards on returns. The highlight was a 125-yard missed-field goal return for touchdown in the fourth quarter.
“He had a tremendous game,” said Hufnagel. “He really kept us in the game in the second half.”
In addition to losing the game, Stamps starting quarterback Drew Tate left the contest in the first quarter after falling awkwardly to the turf and injuring his left shoulder.
Calgary’s day started well as the Stamps marched 69 yards on the first drive of the game to score a touchdown. The series was capped by a four-yard catch by Rob Cote.
The Argos answered with a nine-yard, 66-yard scoring drive that culminated with a five-yard run by Cory Boyd.
It was on the first play of the Stamps’ next possession that Tate went down. The Calgary defence stepped up at this point as safety Eric Fraser picked up an interception on a deflected Ricky Ray pass and ran it back 61 yards for a Calgary touchdown. That made the score 14-7 after one quarter of play.
The Argos took the lead with 16 unanswered points in the second quarter as Ray hooked up with Dontrelle Inman for a 56-yard touchdown pass while Prefontaine hit field goals of 18, 40 and 27 yards.
Prefontaine kicked field goals of 25 and 42 yards in the third quarter to extend the home side’s lead to 29-14 before the Stamps rallied to tie things up with 15 unanswered points.
First, Kevin Glenn hooked up with Nik Lewis on a 20-yard touchdown pass.
Then it was Taylor running back a missed field goal a major. The two-point conversion was successful as Glenn found Lewis in the end-zone.
Inman and Ray connected for the second time on the day, this time on a 15-yard strike, to give the Argos a 36-29 lead but a 61-yard punt return by Taylor set up a 25-yard touchdown catch by Lewis to knot things up with 1:08 to play in the fourth quarter.
The Stamps will complete their two-game Eastern swing on Thursday with a visit to the Montreal Alouettes. The team returns to McMahon Stadium on July 19 to play host to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
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