5 Takeaways as tired-looking Calgary Stampeders fall to Montreal Alouettes on late 58-yard field goal
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Another K.O. of a contender for the Canadian Football League belt.
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But after handling everything the three-down circuit has thrown at them, it didn't go their way Thursday night in a 23-21 loss to the Montreal Alouettes at McMahon Stadium.
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Despite two touchdowns and a pile of yards from running back Dedrick Mills and a gutsy effort amid a bunch of games in a short period of time, the host Stampeders were dropped by the 2023 Grey Cup champions, who have been championship calibre for the past few CFL campaigns.
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'Effort was good on our end,' said Stampeders GM/head coach Dave Dickenson. 'We had the lead most of the game. It was a hard-fought game. I think both teams were digging deep on their roster.
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'We kind of ran out of some people there, and we were trying to adjust. And I just didn't think we played winning football. We took too many penalties, and obviously, ball security (was a problem), as well. We had our chances — we just didn't get the job done.'
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It didn't help that Stamps QB Vernon Adams Jr. was ineffective for long stretches of the game and then was lost to them for the fourth quarter, when he was sidelined presumably by a CFL spotter for a concussion check.
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The end result kept the Stamps from climbing into top spot all by themselves in the CFL. Instead, the 5-2 record matches them with the Alouettes and leaves them behind the first-place 5-1 Saskatchewan Roughriders.
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'Hard-fought game — we knew it was going to be a hard-fought battle,' said Stampeders receiver Dominique Rhymes. '(Maltos) made a 58-yarder. Hats off to them. That's a great team. It was a battle. It was what we expected.'
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