Game Summary

Both teams entered this game fresh off one-point defeats during week one. The Stamps dropped a 23-22 decision to the Edmonton Eskimos, while the Lions fell 24-23 to the visiting Saskatchewan Roughriders. 17,206 Lions faithful turned out to see these two division rivals do battle. The Stamps got on the board first at 4:34 of the first quarter when QB Jeff Garcia hooked up with WR Travis Moore for a 23-yard TD strike. K Mark McLoughlin added the convert giving the Stamps an early 7-0 lead. McLoughlin would add to this lead at 10:23 of quarter #1 when his 44-yard FG attempt went wide and the Lions conceded the single point. The score after one period of play favoured the Stampeders by a 8-0 margin. The Stamps increased their lead to 10 when Lions QB, Damon Allen, fumbled the ball in the end zone surrendering a safety touch. It wasn’t until 6:00 into the second quarter when the Lions got on track as K Lui Passaglia connected on a 35-yard FG attempt. McLoughlin would counter with a 41-yard effort of his own to make the score 13-3 Calgary after one half of play. The only scoring of the third quarter came at 4:19 when McLoughlin booted his second FG of the evening, this one from 32 yards away increasing Calgary’s lead to 16-3 after three quarters. B.C. Place came alive, as did the Lions offence, at 3:53 when Allen found RB Cory Philpot open for a 7-yard major. Passaglia added the convert cutting the Calgary lead to 6. The Lions comeback continued and at 13:18 Allen took matters into his own hands plunging into the end zone from 1-yard away. The Passaglia convert gave the Lions a slim 1-point lead with just 1:42 seconds remaining. With precious seconds remaining, the Stampeders marched down the field and gave McLoughlin a chance to win the game with a 45-yard FG. Unfortunately, for McLoughlin and the Stamps, the kick was wide and Lion return man, Al Shipman, was able to run the ball out of the end zone preserving the 17-16 victory.