Calgary Stampeders sweep Edmonton Eskimos in Battle of Alberta

EDMONTON — Bo Levi Mitchell threw a pair of touchdowns and DaShaun Amos scored a pick-six to lead the Calgary Stampeders past the Edmonton Eskimos with a 33-17 win on Saturday night. Mitchell set a franchise record for most wins by a quarterback with the victory, and the Stamps are now second in the West with a 7-4 record.

The Esks took an early lead after an interception from Don Unamba on Calgary’s opening drive led to a short touchdown pass from Trevor Harris to Tevaun Smith. The Stamps cut into the lead later in the first quarter with a short field goal from Paredes, and they pulled ahead early in the second quarter when Mitchell threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Begelton.

Edmonton was faced with a major challenge when Harris left the game with an upper body injury. Backup Logan Kilgore led Edmonton to a game-tying field goal later in the second quarter while completing his first nine passes, but the Stamps pulled ahead before the end of the half with a touchdown pass from Mitchell to Eric Rogers after a successful fake punt pass extended the drive.

Three straight field goals from Paredes set the Stamps up with a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter, and Calgary went up 33-10 after a 79-yard pick-six from Amos.

Kilgore gave Edmonton momentum by scoring a touchdown on a quarterback sneak with under five minutes to play, but Calgary’s defence prevented the late comeback.

Mitchell threw for 254 yards while completing 25 of 40 passes. Begelton caught seven passes for 88 yards and now leads the league with 930 yards.

The Esks’ defence notched an early takeaway when Unamba picked off Mitchell to put an end to Calgary’s first drive. Unamba cut underneath Michael Klukas’ route to intercept the pass before returning the ball 28 yards to set the offence up inside the 30-yard line.

Harris capitalized on the turnover by throwing an eight-yard touchdown pass to Smith three plays later, and Sean Whyte kicked the extra point to give Edmonton an early 7-0 lead.

The Stamps were marching down the field on the next drive with Mitchell spreading the ball around to different receivers and moving the chains with intermediate throws. But the Esks’ potent defence came up with a big stop and forced Calgary to settle for a 18-yard field goal from Paredes.

Calgary took a three-point lead early in the second quarter when Mitchell threw a 25-yard touchdown strike to Begelton near the left sideline. The Esks were dealt another blow when Harris left the game with an upper body injury, leading to Kilgore taking over under centre.

Kilgore led the Esks to a game-tying field goal later in the quarter after four straight completions from the backup set up a 10-yard field goal from Whyte. Kilgore connected with Greg Ellingson three times for a pair of first downs before the drive came up short.

Josh Johnson intercepted Mitchell in the second quarter, but the Esks were unable to convert the turnover into points.

Calgary got back on track in a big way with an eight-play, 92-yard touchdown drive that was extended with a successful fake punt pass, as Rob Maver completed a short pass to Ante Milanovic-Litre who then gained 25 yards for a fresh set of downs.

Mitchell finished the drive off by connecting with Rogers on three consecutive plays, including an 11-yard touchdown pass that gave Calgary the lead late in the half. Paredes kicked the extra point to put the Stamps up 17-10 heading into the third quarter.

Paredes booted a 46-yard field goal early in the second half to extend Calgary’s lead to 10 points, and he added a 27-yard field goal later in the quarter to give the Stamps a 23-10 lead after the Esks’ defence stifled another promising Calgary drive.

Paredes kicked a 43-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to give Calgary a 16-point lead.

Edmonton came up with another takeaway on defence when Monshadrik Hunter intercepted Mitchell, but the Stamps quickly grabbed momentum back when Amos picked off Kilgore and returned the interception 79 yards for a touchdown. Paredes kicked the convert to put Calgary up 33-10 with 10 minutes to play.

Kilgore then led an eight-play, 83-yard drive that saw the backup complete a 27-yard pass to Ellingson to help set up a one-yard quarterback sneak touchdown, but it was too little too late to come back against the Stamps.

The Calgary Stampeders will host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats next Saturday in Week 14 action, while the Edmonton Eskimos will get a bye week before hosting the Ticats in Week 15.

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