STAMPEDERS ROUT LIONS

After stumbling to a 0-2 record out of the gate, the Calgary Stampeders are starting to look more like the defending Grey Cup Champions.  On Friday night in Vancouver, the Stamps fell behind early and then rolled off 34 unanswered points en route to a 48-10 domination of the BC Lions.  With the victory, the Stampeders evened their record at 2-2 on the season having won their last two games by a combined 92-19 score.

Sports bettors who backed Calgary as a -2 road favorite easily cashed their tickets, though the total was in doubt until the very end of the game.  Ultimately, the 58 combined points managed to stay just UNDER the posted total of 59.  Much of Calgary’s recent success has been due to improved defense, indicated by two straight UNDER results after starting the season with two OVERS.  British Columbia dropped to 1-3 straight up and against the spread, with three of their four games going OVER the total.

Stamps’ QB Henry Burris threw for three TD passes and afterwards confirmed that the victory was pivotal for their season:

"That was huge. For us to come out and have a total team effort, especially in a tough environment, it was one of the most critical games for us."

Jermaine Copeland caught two of Burris’ scoring strikes and expressed surprise at the rout:

"You don't expect anything to be like that. We expected the game to go down to the fourth quarter."

Calgary coach/GM John Hufnagel expressed his pleasure with the win:

"I am very proud. We knew the chore at hand. We got the upper edge and kept it going."

In the BC locker room, the defeated Lions were looking for answers and finding none.  QB Jarious Jackson wasn’t in the mood to sugarcoat things after a game in which both he and starter Buck Pierce heard the boos of the home town fans:

"Plan and simple, they kicked our ass tonight. There was no excuse. We were in the game at the beginning. I think we had a couple of turnovers that kind of set us back. Once they took the reins it was pretty much over."

Lions safety Barron Miles made it sound simple:

"They had the ball and they were scoring, and we couldn't stop them from scoring. We've got to buckle down, come together as a team and just perform better."

After the beatdown, the Lions retreated to their locker room for a closed door team meeting followed by a players-only meeting.  In both situations, there was no comment publicly about what was said or the tone of the discussion.

Calgary will try to continue its winning form as they host Saskatchewan on Saturday night.  The Stamps have been installed as a -9’ home favorite with the total set at 61.  British Columbia heads to Hamilton for a Friday night contest against the Tiger-Cats.  BC is a -2’ road favorite there, with the total set at 50’.