THE CANADIAN PRESS/ARGONAUTS.CA STAFF
CALGARY — SB/RB Chad Owens returned a Calgary punt 90 yards for a touchdown in his first game but it wasn’t enough to to record a season-opening win.
Henry Burris failed to reach a milestone in touchdowns, but Rob Maver converted five of six field goal attempts in his Canadian Football League debut to lead the Calgary Stampeders to a 30-16 win over the Toronto Argonauts on Thursday.
Joffrey Reynolds had a rushing touchdown for the Stamps (1-0), while Malik Jackson also scored when he recovered a fumble late in the game and ran it into the end zone.
Jeff Johnson caught a touchdown pass from first-year Toronto quarterback Cleo Lemon, who completed 16 of 28 passes for 192 yards. Chad Owens ran back a punt for a Toronto touchdown, while kicker Grant Shaw added a late field goal for the Argos (0-1).
Calgary quarterback Henry Burris completed 27 of 40 passes for 324 yards but failed to throw for a touchdown and remains one away from 200 for his career.
Neither side could get much going in the first game of the season for both teams until the Stamps threatened to score late in the first quarter. Burris threw a pass to receiver Nik Lewis at the goal-line, but the play was broken up due to a big hit by Toronto cornerback Samuel Joseph as time expired in the quarter.
Just 17 seconds into the second quarter, Maver kicked his first CFL field goal from 17 yards out to put Calgary up 3-0. The Stamps then increased their lead to 10-0 when Burris engineered a nine-play, 67-yard drive that culminated in a one-yard touchdown run by Reynolds.
The Argos then responded with a five-play, 85-yard drive that resulted in Lemon tossing a five-yard TD pass to Johnson. After failing to make good on the convert, Toronto trailed by four heading into halftime despite being dominated by Calgary in time of possession by more than a three-to-one margin.
In the third quarter the Stamps increased their lead to 14-6 thanks to a 31-yard field goal and a 48-yard single by Maver.
Early in the fourth quarter, Owens broke off a 90-yard punt return for a touchdown to pull the Argos within a point.
Thanks to a 43-yard punt return by Calgary’s Deon Murphy, the Stamps started their next drive with good field possession and cashed in with a 17-yard field goal by Maver, who added another one from 32 yards out a short time later.
After Shaw kicked a 32-yard field goal, Maver responded with a 14-yarder for Calgary.
Wes Lysack then sacked Lemon and forced a fumble which Jackson picked up and ran across the goal-line to put the game away.