Stampeders pound Eskimos on Labour Day

Buoyed by a raucous record crowd of 40,729 at McMahon Stadium, the Calgary Stampeders ran roughshod over the Edmonton Eskimos 32-8 on Monday night.

Led by Joffrey Reynolds, the Stampeders shredded Edmonton's run defence like confetti at a Labour Day parade.

Reynolds rushed 21 times for 116 yards and one touchdown, while backfield partner Jon Cornish gained 43 yards on five carries, including a 29-yard touchdown.

Reynolds also caught three passes for 58 yards.

"They ran the football and controlled the lines of scrimmage," Eskimos rookie head coach Richie Hall said.

"You have got to expect to win the game at home and do whatever it takes to make that happen — and we did," Stampeders quarterback Henry Burris explained.

Burris completed 19 of 27 pass attempts for 285 yards and a touchdown with an interception for the Stampeders (5-4), who moved into a three-way tie for first place in the CFL West Division with their fourth straight win and fifth in seven games.  

He also scrambled six times for 41 yards.

"In order for us to be in first place, we had to get this one," Burris said. "It was important for us to come out in front of a record crowd here at home in the regular season and put on a good show not only for them, but also for ourselves." 

Eskimos pivot Ricky Ray, the leading passer in the CFL, finished 27 of 39 for 274 yards but he couldn't solve Calgary's zone coverage.

Ray had a seven-yard TD toss to wide receiver Maurice Mann with 2:35 remaining, only to be sacked on the convert attempt by Stampeders lineman Malik Jackson.

As for the Stampeders' supposedly suspect run defence, it limited Ray and running back Arkee Whitlock to 53 rushing yards on 15 carries combined.

"We could not run the ball," Hall said.

Linebacker Tim Johnson, signed Aug. 22, led the Stampeders with eight tackles, while fellow newcomer DeVone Claybrooks shut down the run at defensive tackle.

"All I know is we're fitting in and the defence is getting a little better," Johnson said.

"To go against an offence led by Ricky Ray and for them to only put up eight points, that is remarkable output by our defence," Burris noted. "Those guys did a great job of getting them off the field."

'They were going crazy' 

Calgary took a 10-1 lead 9:41 into the second quarter when Reynolds rumbled untouched into the end zone for a one-yard touchdown, his sixth on the ground and eighth this season.

Calgary then recovered Whitlock's fumble and capitalized when Cornish took a pitch from Burris and raced down the right sideline for a 29-yard touchdown with 89 seconds left to intermission.

Noel Prefontaine countered meekly with a pair of singles off missed field goals in the first half for the Eskimos (5-4), whose two-game winning streak ended.

The Stampeders made it 24-2 a little over nine minutes into the second half when Burris lofted a 21-yard TD pass to wide receiver Jeremaine Copeland, who spun and snared the ball with his right hand as he fell backward.

"I really couldn't tell how good of a catch it was until I looked at my teammates' faces in the end zone and they were going crazy, so I knew it had to be pretty good," Copeland said.

Reynolds set up the major with a clutch 37-yard reception.

Prefontaine then conceded a safety, and Stampeders kicker Sandro DeAngelis sandwiched field goals around Ray's aforementioned TD toss to Mann to complete the scoring.

Titus Ryan of the Stampeders had a lengthy punt return for a touchdown called back because of an illegal block thrown by teammate Teyo Johnson, but by then, the damage was done.

"Their execution was better than ours," Hall said.

The rivalry resumes Friday at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium (8 p.m. MT).