THE CANADIAN PRESS
HAMILTON, Ont. — Rob Maver kicked a 23-yard field goal with 10 seconds to play Saturday as the Calgary Stampeders edged the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 23-22.
The Stampeders kicker was good on all three of his field goal attempts in front of 25,248 at Ivor Wynne Stadium.
The decisive kick came one minute after Hamilton’s Sandro DeAngeleis had put his team ahead 22-20 with a 21-yard field goal. But Calgary responded with a 59-yard scoring drive, highlighted by a third-and-one conversion at midfield.
It was good enough to help Calgary improve to 2-0. Hamilton fell to 0-2.
Marcus Thigpen had another two touchdowns for the Ticats, including a 93-yard punt return on the first possession. Romby Bryant and Nik Lewis each scored for the Calgary.
Stampeders QB Henry Burris threw both of those touchdown passes and had one fumble and one interception. Hamilton QB Kevin Glenn threw completed one TD pass.
DeAngelis made just two of his five field-goal attempts, hitting from 42 and 21 yards. He missed from 35 and 42 yards and had a 59-yarder blocked with two seconds remaining.
Special teams played a central role in the game. Thigpen scored on a 93-yard punt return on Hamilton’s first possession of the game and Markeith Knowlton blocked and recovered a punt at the Calgary 25-yard line to set up a field goal. Lewis’s 15-yard TD was set up by Deon Murphy’s 105-yard return of a missed field goal.
Thigpen’s punt return was his third special-teams TD in two games.
Down 19-13 at the half, it looked like Calgary was going to score on its opening drive of the third quarter, but Hamilton defensive back Jason Shivers intercepted Burris on the goal-line and returned it 52 yards.
That led to a 42-yard missed field goal at the other end by DeAngelis that was returned by Murphy. Burris’s 15-yard TD strike to Lewis gave the Stamps their first lead of the game at 20-19.
Hamilton had a first-and-goal on the two-yard line midway through the fourth, but couldn’t convert its 72-yard drive when Arland Bruce III failed to nab an endzone pass on third down. That proved pivotal in the outcome.
