Clarke Barnes caught a five-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jake Maier in the fourth quarter and the Calgary Stampeders hung on for a 25-24 win over the visiting B.C. Lions on Sunday at McMahon Stadium.
Maier also threw a pair of touchdown passes to Reggie Begelton and Jalen Philpot, while Rene Paredes kicked a field goal for the Stampeders (3-3), who snapped a two-game losing streak. The Stamps also scored two points on a safety.
Stanley Berryhill III and Justin McInnis caught TD passes from B.C. quarterback Vernon Adams Jr., while Sean Whyte kicked three field goals 91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ” including a 52-yarder 91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ” for the Lions (5-2), whose five-game winning streak came to an end.
Stefan Flintoft kicked an 84-yard single with 1:53 left in the game to pull the Lions within a point, but that was as close as they could get.
After the Lions failed to get anything going on their first two drives of the game, Adams engineered a seven-play, 83-yard drive that he finished off by tossing a 14-yard touchdown pass to Berryhill at 10:14 of the first quarter.
On the drive, Lions running back William Stanback had three carries for 33 yards, while Stampeders defensive back Tyler Richardson took a costly pass interference penalty that moved the Lions up to the Calgary 20-yard line.
Calgary91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s Peyton Logan returned a punt 50 yards to the B.C. 30-yard line to start the second quarter. Three plays later, Maier threw a nine-yard TD pass to Begelton and after Paredes kicked the convert the Stamps tied the score at 7-7.
Congratulations ðŸ
91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ” BC LIONS (@BCLions)
Well deserved 🧡
Later in the second quarter, Logan has another great runback of 31 yards to give the Stamps great field position, this time at the B.C. 34-yard line. Once again, it took Calgary just three plays to score as Philpot did a great job to haul in a 23-yard pass from Maier, while getting a foot down in the end zone to put Calgary up 14-7.
Whyte then booted an 18-yard field goal with 1:25 remaining in the first half to pull the Lions within four points.
Richardson atoned for his earlier penalty by picking off an errant pass by Adams to end a B.C. scoring threat with 24 seconds left on the clock before the intermission.
After Paredes kicked a 43-yard field goal early in the third quarter, Adams responded by putting together an impressive eight-play, 70-yard drive that McInnis finished off by hauling in a nine-yard TD pass to tie the score at 17-17.
Maier responded by leading the Stamps on an impressive drive of their own that came up short when B.C.91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s T.J. Lee tackled Calgary receiver Marken Michel just short of the goal line for a turnover on downs as time expired in the third quarter.
On the first play of the fourth, Adams dropped back into his own end zone and attempted a pass to McInnis, but offensive lineman Tyler Packer was assessed a holding penalty which resulted in a safety for Calgary to give the Stamps a 19-17 lead.
Following a 23-yard field goal by Whyte to give the Lions their first lead of the game at 20-19, the Stamps answered right back as Barnes caught a five-yard TD pass from Maier to cap off a quick, three-play, 70-yard scoring drive. Calgary attempted a two-point convert, but Maier91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s pass to Philpot in the end zone was incomplete.
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After Whyte booted a 52-yard field to pull the Lions within two points, the Stamps went two-and-out on their next drive.
Calgary91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s Kobe Williams then intercepted a pass thrown by Adams to end another scoring drive by the Lions.
UP NEXT
Lions: Have a bye week, then visit the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2-5) on Thursday, Aug. 1.
Stampeders: Visit the Ottawa Redblacks (4-2) on Friday.
Laurence Heinen, The Canadian Press