High five: Calgary Stampeders secure season series with Saskatchewan smackdown

Photo courtesy: Arthur Ward/CFL.ca

For most of this 2026 season, I added a caveat to the Calgary Stampeders.

Their record was bad, but they hadn’t had the advantage of playing the Ottawa Redblacks, the free space on the bingo card that had already been cashed in by most of the teams they were chasing in the standings.

After getting two wins in a back-to-back against the team from the nation’s capital, Calgary stared down the rest of the schedule with an eye on controlling their playoff destiny.

Heading to Saskatchewan to face the defending Grey Cup champions, Calgary seized the opportunity. With a 37-31 win, they claimed the season series and tied the Riders and the B.C. Lions at eight wins apiece.

While those two teams still have a game in hand, Calgary have put themselves in a position where they could clinch a playoff spot as early as next week.

Here are the plays that defined the win for the Stampeders:

Jesulayomi Ojuta-lays out for fumble recovery — 13:21 left in Q1

The Calgary offence didn’t have the hottest start, quickly going two-and-out and needing to punt.

Mark Vassett sent the ball downfield towards Riders returner Quali Conley, who watched the ball bounce before attempting to settle under it, only to lose the handle.

Calgary’s Jesulayomi Ojutalayo, drafted in the third round of the CFL Draft before the season started, jumped on the ball and brought the rest of the offence back on the field with him.

Three plays later, Vernon Adams Jr. would find Clark Barnes in the back of the end zone for his first of four passing touchdowns in an efficient performance.

Adams would complete 22-of-29 passes for 242 yards and no interceptions.

The Moose gets loose — 6:03 left in Q1

Damien Alford sure seems to love playing in Saskatchewan.

Last season, it was in Mosaic Stadium that Alford had a coming-out party with six catches, 156 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

While not targeted nearly as often in this game, Alford made the most of his one opportunity, taking it to the house for a 48-yard score.

It was the first touchdown of the season for the first overall pick in the 2025 CFL Draft.

With only 14 targets in 10 games, Alford hasn’t been a standout for the Stampeders, but if he can become a downfield target for Vernon Adams in time for the playoffs, it would make Calgary that much more dangerous offensively.

Penalty negates sack — 9:32 left in Q3

The Riders had just cut into the Stampeders’ lead due to a Dawson Hodge field goal to cut the deficit to four points when Adams lined up to start the next drive on the 40-yard line.

He was promptly sacked by former Stampeder James Vaughters for an eight-yard loss.

That sack was negated by an illegal contact penalty on the Riders, which moved the spot of the ball from the 32-yard line and turned a second-and-18 scenario into a first down at the Calgary 50-yard line.

Calgary would score a field goal of their own on the drive, while killing more than five minutes off the clock.

More impactful may end up being an injury to offensive lineman Bryce Bell, who left the field holding his wrist.

The Stamps can ill afford any more offensive line injuries, with the Bombers lurking.

Choquette clears the lane — 14:48 left in Q4

The pressure was clearly on the Stampeders, and they rose to the occasion.

The play that exhibited this more than most was a 15-yard scramble from Adams Jr. to start the fourth quarter.

It wasn’t Adams that featured prominently in the play, but rather Stampeders running back Ludovick Choquette, who laid a massive block to spring his quarterback for an additional 10 yards on the second-down play.

When Adams ran out of bounds, it seemed like the entire bench erupted. They were all moving towards the running back, shouting words of praise and encouragement for selling out to make the block and keep the drive alive.

Choquette, along with Deonta McMahon and Tyreik McAllister, has been pressed into more offensive snaps since the injury to Dedrick Mills. His key block came on the fifth play of a 13-play touchdown drive that likely would have ended there without that contribution.

Dickenson gets an interception — 7:53 left in Q4

Dave Dickenson doesn’t have the best record when it comes to coaches’ challenges in his career, but he nailed this one in a big spot.

Ashton Miller-Melancon picked off Trevor Harris and ran the ball back deep into Rider territory before being pushed out of bounds.

It was the first career pick for the 2025 eighth-round draft choice, who went back for a final year of university before making his CFL debut this season.

There was a pair of flags on the field, however, as the official in the backfield saw what they thought was pass interference on Zy Alexander. After the flags were sorted, it was going to be the Riders’ ball near midfield.

Upon the challenge review initiated by the coach, the play was overturned, and the Stamps were awarded the ball at the Riders’ 21-yard line. The other penalty was on a Saskatchewan player for objectionable conduct, which added 10 yards to the interception return.

Five plays and 2:26 seconds later, the Stampeders were in the end zone again, scoring what would come to be the winning points in the contest.

Up next

Next in the line of must-win games comes the Blue Bombers in Winnipeg.

With the win, the Stampeders could clinch a playoff spot as early as next week, should the Alouettes beat the Bombers in later action.

The combination of the two wins between Montreal and Calgary would move the Stamps to nine wins and the Bombers to nine losses. Calgary owns the season series between the two.

Coming off back-to-back beatdowns at the hands of the Elks a few weeks ago, that looked nearly impossible. It turns out the Stamps just needed the same tonic every other team had already tasted: a pair of wins over Ottawa.