Burris, Stampeders overwhelm Roughriders

Calgary Stampeders quarterback Henry Burris rebounded from a bad first half to spearhead a convincing 40-20 blowout victory over the previously undefeated Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday at McMahon Stadium.

Burris threw for 285 yards and four touchdown passes, propelling the Stampeders (3-1) into a first-place tie with the defending West Division champion Roughriders (3-1).

Burris, who tossed a career-tying four interceptions in a loss to the Toronto Argonauts last week, looked ready to repeat his struggles.

Two more first-half picks by Burris against Saskatchewan killed Stampeder scoring drives. But the defence saved its starting pivot, allowing only seven points through the first two quarters.

Burris recovered in the second half, throwing three touchdown passes to lead Calgary's 33-point scoring barrage.

Receiver Romby Bryant was terrific in the victory, catching seven balls for 116 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Joffrey Reynolds chipped in with 93 rushing yards and one score.

"It feels good to finally beat them," Bryant said. "Since I came here last year, we haven't beat them. Even when I think I was in Winnipeg, I didn't beat them, so this is my first time beating them."

Saskatchewan's Darian Durant, one of the best quarterbacks in the CFL this year, couldn't match his season success against the Calgary defence.

Durant threw for 354 yards but was also picked off three times and only found the end zone once during a meaningless final drive. Calgary opened the scoring at 8:26 of the first quarter when Burris connected with receiver P.K. Sam on an eight-yard touchdown pass.

"Turnovers are always frustrating," Durant said. "You don't give your team a chance to win if you turn the ball over and as you can see we lost."

The Roughriders tied the game 7-7 early in the second quarter. After receiver Prechae Rodriguez extended the drive with an acrobatic 34-yard catch, running back Wes Cates darted in for a 16-yard scoring dash.

Easy interception

The Stamps had a glorious chance to regain their lead minutes later. With Calgary at the Rider 10-yard line, Burris expected receiver Bryant, who broke off his route, to keep going up-field.

The miscommunication allowed Saskatchewan safety James Patrick to make the easy interception in the end zone. The turnover didn't hurt Calgary as Riders kicker Luca Congi missed on a 43-yard field goal attempt.

"I was frustrated a little bit there, especially those couple of interceptions down by the end zone," Burris said. "You never want to have that happening because it takes points off the board. I learned some things in those two situations there."

Burris cost his team at least three points with more than a minute remaining in the first half.

Instead of taking what the defence gave him in order to protect a field goal attempt, Burris decided to air out a throw, only to have Patrick make his second end-zone interception.

However, the veteran regained his composure and gave Calgary a 14-7 lead at 12:37 of the third quarter. Burris calmly threw a dart to Bryant, who flew by Saskatchewan cornerback Omarr Morgan for a 67-yard TD reception.

"I'll tell you, Romby's a guy who can motor," Burris said. "He's a guy when you get the ball in his hands, he can make things happen."

The Riders cut the lead to 14-10 on their next drive when Congi hit on a 17-yard field goal.

On Calgary's next third-quarter drive, Rob Maver restored the Stampeders' seven-point advantage with a 21-yarder. A safety then extended Calgary's lead to 19-10.

Bryant scored his second touchdown of the game early in the fourth quarter, taking a short pass from Burris before beating Morgan again for 10 yards.

The big play of the drive was running back Jon Cornish's 50-yard run, setting up Calgary deep in the Roughriders' end.

Reynolds and receiver Nik Lewis continued the onslaught with touchdowns before Saskatchewan slotback Weston Dressler finished the scoring late in the fourth quarter.