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 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 — including a 52-yarder — 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.
Calgary’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.
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.’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 Maier’s pass to Philpot in the end zone was incomplete.
After Whyte booted a 52-yard field to pull the Lions within two points, the Stamps went two-and-out on their next drive.
Calgary’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.
