Sep
Copeland clutch in win over Lions
Courtesy Calgary Herald:
When the Calgary Stampeders need a touchdown in the worst way, when they need a spark to fire things up, there is one man who has stepped forward more than any other this season.
And he did it again Friday night at McMahon Stadium.
Jeremaine Copeland’s spectacular diving catch late in the third quarter — snagging a ball that was out of bounds by the full length of his body as he just managed to keep a toe planted on the green — stood up to a replay challenge and eventually gave the Stamps the winning margin in a 27-18 Canadian Football League victory on a spectacular early fall evening before 36,702 fans.
It was Copeland’s 12th touchdown catch of the season. More impressively, it was the eighth time he’s scored a touchdown that gave his team the lead in a game. And it also made Henry Burris the all-time team leader in touchdown passes with 141, breaking a tie with Doug Flutie.
“It’s turning into a patented catch for him,” said Burris, who finished 14-for-27 for 197 yards.
“He made the same catch here against Montreal in the first game.’’
‘‘Cope had great body position there. Cope’s a great basketball player. He just wants it down the wing. I put it there, and he made the play just like we knew he would.”
“It’s what we do,” added Copeland. “That’s what we make plays for. That’s part of football. You’ve got to make the big catches. That’s what we’re blessed to do. You just go out and perform the way you’re supposed to.”
The play came on the heels of another challenge flag, this one thrown by the Stamps when Nik Lewis made a catch at the B.C. five and had the ball bounce out of his hands as he hit the turf and into the hands of Lions safety Barron Miles. The Stamps won the challenge when Lewis was ruled down by contact, and they made it pay off with the Copeland touchdown a play later.
With the victory, Calgary improves to 7-5 and takes over sole possession of first place in the West Division pending the outcome of today’s Edmonton-Saskatchewan game at Commonwealth Stadium; both teams carry 6-5 records into that game.
The Lions, meanwhile, dip to 5-7 despite a wonderful 136-yard rushing game from presumptive rookie of the year Martell Mallett.
The Stamps managed to grind their way to a three-point halftime lead, but it was anything but pretty.
Calgary focused its attack on the ground, and aimed it directly up the middle at former Stampeder linebacker JoJuan Armour. And it worked, too. Joffrey Reynolds rushed for 76 yards (he finished a magnificent night with a season-high 151 yards, the sixth time he’s gone over the century mark this season and the 25th of his career), while Burris added 51 of his own, including both Calgary touchdowns.
The Lions, meanwhile, were moving the ball effectively most of the half, and also benefitted from a silly too-many-men penalty on a Lions’ punt that extended the B.C. drive, and eventually resulted in Mallett’s 25-yard touchdown run to open the scoring.
The Stamps struck back immediately, thanks largely to Demetris Summers’ 75-yard kick return, a play Calgary coach John Hufnagel considered a turning point in the first half; Burris finished off the drive with a pretty seven-yard quarterback draw.
“I think the biggest thing was that when we had some problems in the first quarter on offence, Demetris Summers’ kickoff return gave us some momentum and we scored some points on that,” said Hufnagel. “Every time they scored, we answered.”
The Lions took back the lead on Pierce’s 19-yard pass to Paris Jackson, who cleanly beat Stamps rookie halfback Dee Webb in his CFL debut, and then celebrated with a mock horse ride at the back of the end zone.
A disheartening 11-yard Sandro DeAngelis field goal — Calgary had the ball first and goal at the five and couldn’t punch it in — cut the lead, and then the Stamps got a big defensive stop and a short punt from B.C.’s Sean Whyte to get the ball back just inside the two-minute mark at their own 45.
Seven plays later, Burris snuck in for the touchdown to give the Stamps their first lead, and Charleston Hughes punctuated the issue with a thundering sack on Pierce on the final play of the half. Hughes added another sack in the second half.
Webb, who struggled in the first half, was replaced by Keon Raymond for the final 30, and Raymond picked up his first CFL interception to squelch a B.C. drive in the fourth quarter. That led to an insurance 39-yard field goal from DeAngelis.
“The more he (Raymond) plays, the more he shows he deserves to be on the field all the time,” said Hufnagel.
The Stamps are back in action a week from today when they play host to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in a 5 p.m. kickoff at McMahon Stadium (TSN subject to blackout, QR77 Radio).
