Calgary Stampeders' Reggie Begelton, centre, makes a reception between B.C. Lions' Crezdon Butler (29) and Kevin Haynes (42) during first half CFL football action in Vancouver, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
VANCOUVER — The last time the Calgary Stampeders played in a Western Semi-Final was in 2015.
That year, they ended up defeating the BC Lions 35-9 but went on to lose to the eventual Grey Cup-winning Edmonton Eskimos in the Western Final.
The last time the Stampeders went all the way to hoisting the Grey Cup by way of the Western Semi-Final was back in 2001, defeating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Montreal’s Olympic Stadium 27-19.
Whether any of that means anything to Stamps’ head coach Dave Dickenson has yet to be determined.
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While his team did manage to pull out a win Saturday night in Vancouver, defeating the BC Lions 21-16 to earn themselves a home date in the Western Semi-Final against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, last year’s Grey Cup-winning coach is looking for the ‘right medicine’ in hopes of addressing issues within his lineup.
“I thought offensively, receiver-wise, there were a lot of assignment errors. Bo (Levi Mitchell) didn’t trust it after a while. We got really choppy. Our backend was so depleted, they were just holding on,” said Dickenson following the game. “You could see that bringing in a playmaker like Dexter McCoil, that was a big one for us. The interception there, obviously the game was in doubt until he made that play. We need to be better. We won’t win next week if we’re not better.”
Dickenson admitted that he didn’t think his receiving corp played well against the Lions.
“I think it was the worst game of the year for our receiving corp.”
Dickenson said the absence of Eric Rogers was no excuse for the overall performance out of the positional group. He further added his displeasure in leaning on rookie Hergy Mayala to make all of the offensive plays.
Mayala finished the game with five receptions for 103 yards and a touchdown off of seven targets.
Even defensively, Dickenson wasn’t impressed in the unit that allowed 345 yards after limiting the Lions to just 79 yards at halftime.
“I thought that our secondary was just barely holding together. I don’t really feel like that group will be playing next week, but it gives them experience and if they do get to play then hopefully they play better.”
It was apparent during his post-game scrum with media that Dickenson wasn’t pleased with his teams’ performance a week ahead of a playoff game.
“Trust me, we’re going to have a different roster next week.”
He added that his team is needing to find the right mix, however, they’re also needing to get some of their veterans back into the lineup ahead of their tilt against the Bombers next week at McMahon Stadium in Calgary.
“We need some of our horses back. Somehow I just have to find the right medicine, I got to get them back and we have to play.”
The Stampeders finished the season 12-6 and a 7-2 record at home.
