Joe West, Calgary Stampeders open CFL season with 44-32 win over B.C. Lions

CALGARY – Joe West caught two touchdown passes and Jon Cornish ran for two more as the Calgary Stampeders opened the 2013 CFL season with a 44-32 win over the visiting B.C. Lions on Friday.

Cornish, who pledged to donate $10 for every yard he gained in the game to the Canadian Red Cross for the flood relief efforts in Southern Alberta, finished with 172 yards rushing and 20 more through the air.

Maurice Price also had a touchdown catch for the Stamps (1-0), while Rene Paredes kicked a pair of field goals. Quarterback Drew Tate completed 19-of-27 passes for 237 yards and three touchdowns.

B.C. quarterback Travis Lulay threw three touchdown passes to Emmanuel Arceneaux, Courtney Taylor and Shawn Gore. Cord Parks also returned an interception for a touchdown for the Lions (0-1), while Tim O’Neill kicked a field goal and a single.

On Calgary’s first possession, Tate engineered a nine-play, 75-yard drive that culminated in an 11-yard touchdown pass to Price.

Later in the first quarter, the Stamps took advantage of a costly turnover by B.C. when Lulay couldn’t handle a hard snap by centre Matt Norman. The ball bounced off of Lulay’s leg and into the hands of Calgary linebacker Juwan Simpson, who recovered the fumble to give the Stampeders possession on the Lions’ 32-yard line.

Three plays later, Tate tossed a perfect 12-yard pass to West in the end zone to give Calgary a 14-0 lead.

Another botched snap by B.C. led to a safety for the Stampeders before the end of the first quarter. With the Lions in punt formation, Tim Cronk snapped the ball over O’Neill’s head. O’Neill raced back to recover the ball and then kicked it out of his own end zone.

The sloppy play continued early in the second quarter when Calgary defensive back Derrius Brooks picked off an errant pass by Lulay before B.C. safety J.R. Larose responded a short time later by recovering a fumble out of the hands of Calgary receiver Nik Lewis.

Lulay then tossed a 53-yard touchdown pass to Arceneaux before O’Neill missed the convert.

The Stampeders capped off a seven-play, 73-yard drive with a one-yard TD run by Cornish.

Late in the second quarter, Larry Taylor had an impressive 34-yard punt return to get Calgary back into Lions’ territory. B.C.’s Rolly Lumbala also took an unnecessary roughness penalty on the play to give the Stampeders a first down on the Lions’ 14-yard line.

Two plays later, Tate threw a 12-yard TD pass to West to give Calgary a 31-6 lead heading into the half-time intermission.

Lulay started the second half in fine fashion by leading B.C. on an eight-play, 82-yard drive that culminated in a 17-yard TD pass to Taylor.

Parks then intercepted an errant pass by Tate and ran it back 45 yards into the end zone to cut the Stampeders’ lead to 31-21.

On Calgary’s next drive, Cornish ran the ball five times for 36 yards including an 11-yard sprint into the end zone for his second touchdown of the game.

O’Neill kicked a 40-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter before Paredes responded with back-to-back field goals from 39 and 27 yards respectively.

Lulay tossed a seven-yard TD pass to Gore with one second left in the game before Nick Moore caught a pass from the B.C. quarterback in the end zone for a two-point convert to round out the scoring.

Notes: Canadian Red Cross representatives collected donations for the flood relief effort at the game, while Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi was on hand during the pre-game ceremonies to recognize the work of volunteers and first-responders during the crisis. … Calgary linebacker Keon Raymond missed the game with an ankle injury. … While the Lions won two-of-three games against the Stamps in the regular season, Calgary responded with a 34-29 road win over B.C. in the CFL’s West Final on Nov. 18.