To quote legendary sportscaster Al Michaels, “do you believe in miracles? Yes!”
The Calgary Stampeders looked down and out as they trailed by 15 points after the three-minute warning had been given in their CFL game against the B.C. Lions on July 29 at McMahon Stadium.
But the Stamps refused to bow down.
The fourth-quarter comeback was led by quarterback Bo Levi Michell, who threw for 364 yards, connecting on 29 of 44 passes, with three touchdowns.
Rapid fire touchdowns from slotback Greg Wilson – his second in the game – receiver Bakari Grant, and a two point conversion by Anthony Parker sent the Lions into a state of shock, taking the game into overtime tied at 41 and proving you never leave Stamps games early.
In extra-time, the momentum was completely in favour of the home side as kicker Rene Paredes slammed home his fifth field goal of the night, before defensive back Tommie Campbell outmuscled Lions’ Shawn Gore, coming up with an interception on a second-and-goal play to secure the epic win in what was the Stamps’ 1,159th regular-season game and their 622 victory since 1945.
Up until the fourth quarter however, it seemed this was a game going in one direction as the Lions stamped their authority on this battle of the top two teams in the CFL’s West Division, with former Stamps head coach and current Lions coach Wally Buono on course for victory in his first game at McMahon since Oct. 8, 2011.
The visitors began the game on a high note, scoring a touchdown early in the first quarter as running back Chris Rainey cut through the Stamps defence like a knife through hot butter with a 95 yard punt return.
Lions quarterback Jonathon Jennings then whipped a pass to Anthony Allen for the two-point convert giving the Lions an 8-0 lead early on.
Mitchell attempted to get something going for the home side with a long bomb to receiver Simon Charbonneau-Campeau but missed, bringing in Paredes to kick a 46-yard field goal giving the Stamps some early hope as they clawed back to 8-3.
At 7:08 in the quarter Jennings’ 40-yard bomb found Emmanuel Arceneaux on the Stamps five-yard line, but Calgary halted the drive in it tracks, proving why they’re one of the best defences in the league, as they shut the door on the visitors three plays in a row.
After that heroic effort, it appeared as though the balance of power had shifted in the Stamps favour but Lions’ Eric Fraser picked off Mitchell to bring the Lions back into the danger zone. Jenning then took matters into his own hands, punching into the end zone for a touchdown in a second quarter where the Lions asserted themselves taking a 16-3 lead.
Paredes added a 27-yard field goal to cut the Lions’ lead to 17-6 with eight minutes remaining in the first half before Wilson scored his first touchdown of the game (and first of his CFL career) to cut the visitors’ lead to 17-16, before Paredes again stepped up, this time with a 44-yard kick to head into half time one point behind at 17-16.
Early in the second half Jennings unleashed an inch perfect pass to Shawn Gore who managed to pull off a miraculous catch on the edge of the sideline in the Calgary end zone to extend the Lions lead to 24-13.
Jennings again stepped up later in the quarter, picking out receiver Bryan Burnham to take the Lions advantage to 34-19, before Calgary mounted a comeback with a 10-yard run from Tory Harrison cutting B.C.’s lead to nine with 13:52 left in the game before the impossible happened.
With that win, the Stamps currently side alone atop the West Division standings with seven points (3-1-1) and will look to take their home record to 3-0 when they face the Saskatchewan Roughriders (1-4 record) on Aug. 4 at McMahon.
Kick-off is 8 p.m.
