CALGARY — The Calgary Stampeders stayed in the race for first place in the CFL’s West Division with a 32-15 win over the visiting Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday.
Jaylen Philpot, Daylen Baldwin and Erik Brooks each caught touchdown passes for Calgary (7-3-0) and Dedrick Mills contributed a rushing touchdown in front of an announced 28,295 at McMahon Stadium.
Rene Paredes kicked a 53-yard field goal late in the third quarter to give Calgary a 24-15 lead. Stampeders quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. threw for 222 yards and three touchdowns, and ran for a two-point conversion. Adams was intercepted twice.
Dohnte Meyers and Dhel Duncan-Busby had touchdown catches for the Roughriders (8-2-0) whose two losses so far this season have been to the Stampeders. Saskatchewan’s kicker Brett Lauther missed his lone field-goal attempt from 28 yards on the opening drive of the game.
Calgary swept the two-game season series against Saskatchewan after a 24-10 victory July 12 in Regina. The Roughriders lost for the first time this season when leading at the half.
Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris threw for 205 yards and two touchdowns and was intercepted twice. Calgary’s Clarence Harris recorded two of his team’s four sacks on Harris, who was also steamrolled by Shaun Peterson in the third quarter.
Harris continued to play, but was replaced late in the fourth quarter by backup Jake Maier.
Mills compiled 105 all-purpose yards and Philpot 82 for Calgary. Saskatchewan running back A.J. Ouellette totalled 90.
The hosts were up 14-2 early in the second quarter, but the Roughriders generated a pair of touchdowns inside the final three-and-a-half minutes of the first half to lead 15-14 at halftime.
It was all Calgary in the second half, however, with an 18-point burst.
The Stampeders regained the lead on their first drive of the third quarter, when back-to-back carries of 13 and 21 yards by Mills put the Stampeders in scoring range. Adams threw a 10-yard pass to Baldwin in the end zone for a 21-15 advantage after a Paredes convert.
With the Stampeders threatening again on their next possession, Jameer Thurman picked off an Adams throw that teammate Malik Carney tipped into the air. But Calgary countered on Saskatchewan’s subsequent possession when Godfrey Onyeka intercepted a Harris throw to Meyers. The Stampeders cashed that turnover with Paredes’ 53-yard field goal.
Philpot contributed 54 all-purpose yards to Calgary’s scoring drive capped by a Brooks’ 11-yard touchdown catch early in the fourth quarter. Adams ran the ball in for a two-point convert and a 32-15 lead.
Saskatchewan’s two-point conversion attempt on its second touchdown of the second quarter failed. Harris marched his offence 85 yards on eight plays, capped by Duncan-Busby’s 10-yard catch and carry to the end zone for his sixth of the season.
Harris scrambled late in the second quarter for a crucial first down on a five-yard carry, followed by a throw to KeeSean Johnson for a 62-yard gain, and a seven-yard touchdown throw to Meyers.
Philpot’s diving stretch for the end zone yielded an eight-yard touchdown and his first for Calgary this season, which Paredes converted for a 12-point lead early in the second quarter.
The clubs traded back-to-back interceptions late in the first quarter when Calgary’s Sheldon Arnold picked off Harris and Saskatchewan’s Rolan Milligan got his hands on an Adams throw. The latter turnover yielded a 62-yard punt single by Joe Crouch.
On Calgary’s first drive, Adams aired the football out to Baldwin for a 46-yard gain, followed by Mills’ six-yard dash for his league-leading eighth rushing touchdown this season.
Saskatchewan’s opening drive was eventful, but ultimately fruitless when Lauther missed a 28-yard field goal attempt to go 22 for 34 this season.
A Calgary misconduct penalty on the opening kickoff gave the visitors the ball on their own 50. Stampeder head coach Dave Dickenson then lost a challenge on pass interference.
Saskatchewan’s KeeSean Johnson dropped a pass in the end zone, which ultimately forced the unsuccessful field goal try.
UP NEXT
Roughriders: Host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (6-4-0) on Sunday, Aug. 31.
Stampeders: Host the Edmonton Elks (4-6-0) on Labour Day Monday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 23, 2025.
Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
