Stamps adjust strong to rally late for victory over visiting Argos

Defend the house.

Dave Dickenson preached it, and his Calgary Stampeders made it happen Sunday night at McMahon Stadium …

Literally.

With what seemed to be a textbook case of making adjustments at halftime, Dickenson’s charges did everything different — highlighted by a yeoman’s effort by the defence and then sudden execution from the offence — to storm back late for a 27-23 victory over the Toronto Argonauts.

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Bravo, Coach.

“Go ahead and write that … great ‘adjustments’,” said the Stampeders GM/head coach, only half-jokingly.

“Yeah … we made adjustments. But I can’t really take credit for that.”

Somebody should … because without them, it would’ve been a markedly different result — one that would’ve been blamed on an awfully ugly offence for nearly three quarters.

If not for the defence game-long and especially in the second half — when it held the Argonauts to just one point — their perfect record on home turf would have gone up in smoke to the team from The Big Smoke.

Instead, they now have a matching 4-4 record with the Argonauts, whom they rematch — on a short week — Friday at BMO Field in Toronto (5:30 p.m., TSN, QR Calgary).

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“It was a rough go there — 23-6 after three quarters,” Dickenson said. “But guys kept playing and kept believing and kept working. We got a lot of character in this room.

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“Told them (at halftime) to quit talking and just go fight. What happened was we didn’t get a great reception — boos — coming off (from the 19,914 fans in attendance), and we earned it. But everybody in the room got all upset about it.

“To me, it’s reality — we aren’t playing well. So quit talking and try to physically up your game.”

An attitude adjustment sent by the coach, to be sure.

And the defence responded with a physical adjustment, almost completely shutting down Argos QB Cameron Dukes, who torched the Stamps with his feet in the first half for most of his 95 rushing yards.

In fact, the Red and White had a season-high six sacks, including two from defensive captain Mike Rose — highlighted by his bulldog of an offensive lineman into Dukes with the Argos trying to answer with winning points in the final 90 seconds of the contest.

Two plays later, fellow d-lineman Julian Howsare knocked down a Dukes pass on third down to set up a 49-yard field-goal by teammate René Paredes — his fourth of the night and the insurance points for the Stamps.

“Once we schemed up some stuff at halftime, man, we just executed,” Rose said. “But sometimes it just comes down to winning your one-on-one matchups.”

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Calgary Stampeders all-star defender Micah Awe battles Toronto Argonauts’ Damonte Coxie in second-half CFL action at McMahon stadium in Calgary on Sunday, August 4, 2024. Darren Makowichuk/Postmedia Photo by Darren Makowichuk /DARREN MAKOWICHUK/Postmedia

Offensively, Dickenson admitted post-game he was concerned coming into the evening about having just one active running back in Peyton Logan.

Not only is Dedrick Mills away for personal reasons, but B.J. Emmons has been deemed unavailable by Dickenson for the rest of the season.

But the coach adjusted well to that concern by going more to short-yardage QB Tommy Stevens — who rolled up nine rushes for 23 yards — throwing wide-receiver screens to veteran Reggie Begelton, using Jalen Philpot for his trademark jet-sweeps and pitching the ball to speedy rookie Ishmael Hyman.

The small-ball strategy to complement Logan’s load, which was 36 yards on nine carries, certainly made a huge difference in the second half and — more emphatically — in the fourth quarter.

“Thought we really were working hard,” Dickenson said. “But nothing really came until the fourth quarter. Defence kept us in it, though.

“Then, when we turned around (for fourth quarter) and got the wind, too, that was big,” continued the coach. “It helps the field position, but it also felt like we were chucking the ball better. And we had a better fourth quarter.”

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Calgary Stampeders receiver Cam Echols catch for the TD against the Toronto Argonauts in second-half CFL action at McMahon Stadium in Calgary on Sunday, August 4, 2024. Darren Makowichuk/Postmedia Photo by Darren Makowichuk /DARREN MAKOWICHUK/Postmedia

Early on, it was former Stampeders doing most of the damage for the Argonauts.

Defensive back Royce Metchie was big in the secondary, including an easy pick-off of Stamps QB Jake Maier on a pass that should have never been thrown to truly turn the tide in the tilt. Metchie stepped in front of a deep ball, grabbed it and ran it back 32 yards to the Stamps’ seven-yard line.

One play later, fellow former Stampeders talent Richie Sindani was on the receiving end of an easy pitch-and-catch play into the endzone from Dukes for a seven-yard major.

The turnover and touchdown put the Stamps down 15-3.

Then after Paredes gave the home side new life with another field-goal — his second of the quarter and fourth-straight offensive score for the Red and White — it was Argos running back Ka’Deem Carey, who was a star for five years with the Stamps before parting ways with the club in the off-season, romping in for another Argos TD and a 22-6 advantage taken by the visitors into halftime.

In the second half, the Stamps defence did a spectacular job.

Timely sacks by Howsare and Clarence Hicks helped knock the Argos off-balance offensively. And QB Dukes wasn’t allowed to manufacture yards with his feet as he did in the first half.

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Offensively, it took a while for the adjustments to kick in.

But after a mostly sleepy third quarter — another frustrating frame played by Maier & Co. — the Stamps finally figured it out with the ball late in the stanza.

A strong drive was capped early in the fourth on Maier’s 15-yard strike to Marken Michel in the middle of the endzone.

Then came a two-and-out by the Argos and another scoring march for the Stamps, highlighted by Maier’s long pass just out of the reach of a defender and into the hands of receiver Cam Echols.

With a 100-yard Paredes’ kickoff single sandwiched between the two TDs scored just 100 seconds apart, it became a 23-21 tight one but still a lead for the visitors.

But more solid defence to get the ball back for a late drive that ended in Parades’ third field-goal of the evening — from 44 yards away — put the Stamps in the lead for the first time in the game and for good.

“We came in at halftime, and we all told each other we’ve got to be the engine,” said Stamps receiver Cam Echols. “We all put it on ourselves to go out there in the second half and just make some plays, make a spark and hope that we could put a spark in this team — and that’s what we did.

“It started in this locker room.”

A huge adjustment, for certain.

“We’ve had a hard time finishing in the fourth — offence, defence and special teams … everything,” added Rose. “We have had a tough time in the fourth quarter, and this is the first time we’ve looked like a full-form fourth quarter team.”

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