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It was a bit of a boring first quarter. The Stampeders struggled out of the gate yet again not registering their first first down in the second quarter. The early lead was only 7-4 for BC but you had a gut feeling things weren't going well.

Thankfully in the CFL 3 quarters is an eternity (as an aside, the games are too long), and Calgary had plenty of time to get the motor running--and run they did. Joffrey Reynold exceeded the combined yardage on the ground from the last three games with a solid 17 carries for over 130 yards.



Establishing the run game, coupled with some key stops by the defence in the second, stymied the BC offence. The scores started to come. Both Reynolds and Copeland had two TD's each (Cope with three but one overturned by the powers that be @ CFL HQ).

Henry Burris completed 15 of 28 passes for 159 yards which sounds small, and it is, but couple that with a ground attack and a fourth quarter mostly played by backup QB Nealy, and the numbers don't necessarily add up to 48 points.

The defence, after working out their rookie jitters, have come together to limit the opposing offense to single majors a game. Odell Willis continues to impress as he works on the end in a Cameron Wake of last year fashion. Credit them for reducing the BC offence to nothing in the last three quarters of the game. On average, BC scrimmaged from behind their own 20, while Calgary started in BC territory for most of the game.

Kinda sounds like Calgary v Montreal in Game 1. It also points out how the new rules of punting out of your own zone instead of conceding a safety are changing how teams play.

The bad news for the Stamps was a blown knee from Kenyon Rambo after he was horse collored. IN fact, the refs blew two huge calls, the non - penalty, and the Copeland catch no-catch. Rambo will be missed, and hopefully the rookies Ryan and Jackson will step up in his absence. Then again, we do have two Canadian wideouts to use so.....

All in all, a good test for Calgary albeit they still suffer from slow first quarters. They are coming together, and although not all the wrinkles have been ironed out, they've certainly improved miles since Game 1.

Notes: Jon Cornish also returned to the lineup tonight and played well. Tate and Anderson had a public shoving match on the field (they're on the same team, ours).