Photo courtesy: Leah Hennel/CFL.ca
The Calgary Stampeders throttled the Argonauts to capture their second straight Stampede Bowl on Thursday night, winning 58-36 as Vernon Adams tied a Stampeders single-game record with six touchdown passes and rushed for another score.
Since switching to this format this season, choosing five plays from each game that ultimately decided the contest has been relatively simple. A touchdown here, a turnover there, a penalty of dire consequence that enabled, or negated, either of those two things.
That said, how do you whittle down a game that featured a combined 94 points into just five plays?
Like this!
Alexander takes it away one-handed — 2:57 left in Q1
Both teams traded punches early in the game, and Toronto was driving again, looking to take the lead late in the first stanza.
Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly dropped back and floated a pass towards his receiver, and that’s when the eyes of Zy Alexander lit up.
“I was in zone coverage, just reading the quarterback’s eyes. He threw it up, and I was like, ‘No way he threw this!’ So I just went up and got it,” the rookie defensive back recounted post-game.
Get up and get it he did, with a one-handed stab that led to a 13-yard return and killed the Argos’ momentum.
“In my career, I have four or five (one-handed interceptions), so this isn’t anything new,” he said of the spectacular nature of this takeaway.
Alexander would add another interception before the game was over, giving him three in just two career CFL games. He started the season on the practice roster and was elevated due to injuries in the Stampeders secondary. I think it’s safe to say he may be earning himself a few more reps with his ballhawk production.
The interceptions were a bright spot in the secondary, but they were two of only a few, as the Argos quarterbacks, Kelly and a late replacement, Nick Arbuckle, combined for nearly 400 passing yards and four touchdowns, doubling the two interceptions.
Jalen Phil-pots his second — 1:57 left in Q2
Fresh off the news that his brother, Tyson, has been named the CFL’s top player for the first month of the season, Jalen Philpot reminded the league that there is a West Division twin that also deserves your attention.
Having already corralled a touchdown pass on the first drive of the game for the Stampeders, Philpot was once again a target for Vernon Adams in the second quarter. He collected the pass in the end zone, but was on a comeback route and hadn’t secured the ball in the eyes of the official before going back across the goal line, where he fell to the ground.
The former University of Calgary Dino seemed to then crawl across the line army-style for the score. That crawl was then duplicated by Vernon Adams in the celebration that followed.
Another Jones jailbreak — 0:25 left in Q2
Another week, another huge Tevin Jones touchdown.
Last week, the B.C. Lions tackled themselves off of Jones, who danced his way to the end zone for a score. This week, an objectively weak tackle attempt left Jones standing on the sideline with no one between him and paydirt.
Jones would scamper 73 yards to the house for the Stampeders’ second touchdown in 90 seconds before heading into the half, negating a solid Argos touchdown drive in between the two Calgary scores. The Red and White extended their lead to 11 before heading to the locker room at halftime.
Jones would also have a massive gain off a tipped ball as part of his team-leading 139 yards. It’s something that comes naturally due to extra practices the receiver group hold as a unit.
“After practice, we throw balls to each other, and we practice these types of catches. We do over-the-shoulder and tip catches, so that when that comes up in a game, we’ve been there before and it is not a surprise,” Jones said of the unit.
Vernon ties the record — 8:54 left in Q4
When your name is added to a list that includes only Peter Liske, Doug Flutie, Jeff Garcia, and Dave Dickenson, you know you have accomplished something special.
With the pocket collapsing around him and a defender dragging him down, Vernon Adams Jr. flipped the ball left-handed to Dejon Brissett, who would turn around and fight his way in for a touchdown. That effort put Adams into the record books with his sixth touchdown pass, tying the franchise’s single-game high.
Adams did fall short of the total touchdowns record, though, as Doug Flutie had two rushing scores to go with his six passing touchdowns in 1994 against Winnipeg, which is also a league record.
VA is a victim of circumstance here in my mind, as the game has evolved to take quarterbacks out of short-yardage packages. This meant that Quincy Vaughn took a rushing touchdown out of Adams’ stat line with a one-yard plunge in the third quarter.
Adams was humble after the game, crediting his offensive line and his group of pass catchers for making the plays to get him there. However, he also offered a sly smile when asked about why he was still in the game while leading by 28 with five minutes to go in the fourth quarter and if it was an attempt to see if he could get the passing record to himself.
“You just want to finish what you start,” the veteran said, with his smile indicating that may have been a little added motivation beyond just getting to the next week.
Run, Chad, run — 7:45 left in Q4
In what would prove to be the final play of Chad Kelly’s night, the Toronto pivot scrambled towards the sideline and threw a weak pass to no one that was flagged for intentional grounding. It put an exclamation mark on the day for a defensive line whose one official sack woefully underrepresents their impact on the game.
Kelly was consistently and constantly on the run as his pocket collapsed around him, needing to roll out and escape pressure from the multi-headed hydra of defensive line talent headed his way.
Given how the season has played out so far from an injury perspective, this revamped D line has looked impressive against two very mobile quarterbacks in Nathan Rourke and Chad Kelly. Both sit ranked as numbers two and three behind Vernon Adams Jr, who leads all quarterbacks with 91 rushing yards.
Once the team gets to play QBs that are more comfortable in the pocket and don’t have that scrambling ability, it could be time to pile up those stats.
Next up
The challenges keep coming for this team, as they now head into a back-to-back with the Montreal Alouettes. Kickoff goes from Montreal at 7:00 EDT on Saturday, July 11.
