WINNIPEG — The Calgary Stampeders continued their dominance of the CFL on Friday night.
Quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. completed 16 of 24 passes for 267 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Stampeders to a 41-20 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Calgary improved to 5-1 and sits alone atop the CFL's West Division. Winnipeg dropped to 3-2 before a sold-out crowd of 32,343 at Princess Auto Stadium, an eighth straight full house.
“It feels great but the work’s not done,” said Adams, who also threw one interception. “We’ve got to get back tomorrow, watch the film, learn from the mistakes. I know I had quite a few out there, so I’ve got to get better from that and get back to work.”
Calgary, however, has posted three straight dominant wins.
“Yeah, we’ve got confidence, for sure,” Adams said. “We know we’re a good team but we’re not going to stop working. We’ve just got to keep working.”
Adams completed TD throws of 37 and 42 yards to Damien Alford before finding Dominique Rhymes with a three-yard toss.
Calgary's defence also picked off Winnipeg's quarterbacks four times, with Damon Webb intercepting a Chris Streveler pass and returning it 15 yards for a touchdown. The convert gave the Stamps a 38-13 lead early in the fourth quarter.
“The defence, man, they’ve done such a great job all year,” Adams said. “I keep telling myself, if I can take care of the ball, they’re going to give me a chance. They’re gonna give us a chance to win.”
It was the second time the Stamps stomped Winnipeg in the last three weeks. They beat the Bombers 37-16 in Calgary on July 3.
Backup quarterback Quincy Vaughn also scored on a one-yard touchdown run.
Rene Parades kicked field goals of 32 and 37 yards, and converted all five majors.
Winnipeg quarterback Zach Collaros exited in the second quarter with an apparent head injury after falling to the field from a big hit.
“None of us like to see that,” said Stamps head coach/GM Dave Dickenson, a former CFL QB. “I’ve never coached him but I really like the way he plays. I get nervous for him. I’ve been there … You never like to see other quarterbacks go out with head injuries. I know that affected their team.”
Bombers coach Mike O'Shea said he had no update on Collaros after the game.
Before leaving, Collaros completed eight of 11 passes for 151 yards and a four-yard touchdown to Nic Demski, with two interceptions.
Streveler then completed 16 of 25 passes for 130 yards and one late eight-yard touchdown to Kody Case, with two picks. Sergio Castillo kicked field goals of 46 and 58 yards, and converted both TDs.
“Losing never feels good, especially in front of our home fans,” Streveler said. “We’ve got the best fans in the league and we didn’t play up to our standard today. But we’re going to use this feeling to fuel us to have a good week of preparation next week.”
The momentum switched after Adrian Greene picked off Streveler in the red zone with the Bombers threatening early in the third quarter. The Stamps scored on the ensuing drive to take a 24-13 lead.
“Obviously, you can’t throw picks in the red zone, right?” Streveler said. “So, we’ve got to take care of the ball, especially in a close game like that. That’s on me, I gotta be better.”
The Bombers got beaten badly by the Stamps in two straight games.
“It's ugly,” said Bombers running back Brady Oliveira, who rushed for 68 yards on 15 carries. “I'm not even sure about this one. It feels a little weird because it was so close. It's not like the last outing with them where it really got out of hand quickly into the game. But we're in it. We knew we had to go into the second half and fight, but it just got away from us.
“We need to give credit to Calgary. They've been playing really good ball the last number of weeks. And they were the better team out there tonight. It's unfortunate to have a result like that in front of our home crowd. We're so much better than that. I don't care what everyone else thinks, but deep down I know we're so much better than that. The only way you get out of hard times is work.”
WELCOME BACK
Fans welcomed Bombers legend Milt Stegall back with a standing ovation before the game. Stegall, who was on the sidelines, returned to the TSN panel this weekend for the first time since the sudden death of his son, Chase.
“That (tribute) was amazing,” Dickenson said. “I actually had a tear in my eye.”
UP NEXT
The Bombers travel to Toronto to take on the Argos in a Grey Cup rematch on Saturday.
The Stampeders return to Calgary to host the Montreal Alouettes on Thursday.