The Calgary Stampeders will be playing from behind to start the second half of the West Semi-Final and they’ll have to do so without the services of one of their best players.
Veteran defensive end Shawn Lemon, who leads Calgary with eight sacks on the year, has been ejected from the remainder of the contest after a heated scrum after Riders quarterback Cody Fajardo knelt out the clock to end the first half.
Lemon appeared to strike star receiver Duke Williams with a two-handed punch to the facemask. He was assessed a 25-yard penalty to be administered at the start of the third quarter and disqualified. No other players were penalized for the incident.
Lemon is one of the most prolific pass rushers in CFL history and sits inside the top 25 in all-time CFL sacks. However, he has not always been every team’s cup of tea. The journeyman has bounced around the league and was most recently cut by the Edmonton Elks during training camp.
Despite the 10-year CFL veteran’s consistent production, former Elks general manager Brock Sunderland felt Lemon was “outplayed” by younger players like Canadians Kwaku Boateng and Mathieu Betts. Earlier in camp, now fired head coach Jaime Elizondo had called out Lemon for not putting forward the same consistent effort as the 2019 third-overall CFL Draft pick.
The Stampeders made the easy decision to bring in Lemon and boost their defence. That has benefitted them all season, but it may cost them in this do or die scenario.
