{"id":206229,"date":"2025-10-11T23:48:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T23:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/206229\/"},"modified":"2025-10-11T23:48:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T23:48:07","slug":"stampeders-step-closer-to-cfl-playoffs-with-37-20-win-over-ticats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/206229\/","title":{"rendered":"Stampeders step closer to CFL playoffs with 37-20 win over Ticats"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Hamilton Tiger Cats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell is pressured by Calgary Stampeders’ Vyshonne Janusas during Saturday’s match.Peter Power\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Canadian running back Ludovick Choquette immediately thought of his grandmother after celebrating his first career Canadian Football League touchdown on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old Calgary Stampeders rookie and his backfield mate Dedrick Mills, with two rushing majors, helped the visitors to a 37-20 win against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats before 22,313 at Hamilton Stadium and a step closer to securing a CFL playoff spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy grandma did everything for me,\u201d Choquette said. \u201cShe used to drive me to practice an hour-and-a-half away, and we used to come home at 10 p.m. or so. Just seeing how hard she worked showed me the ropes of what I have to do to be a great player and a great leader for this team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still learning. But I\u2019m very honoured to be part of this amazing team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Choquette\u2019s mother, Claudine, died when her son was seven. Choquette was never close to his father, so his grandmother stepped in as his caretaker growing up in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe made so many sacrifices for me,\u201d Choquette said.<\/p>\n

His grandma was also supportive when he was given an opportunity to leave Quebec to play high school football at Clearwater Academy at age 16.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe trusted me and always was there with an encouraging word whenever I was down,\u201d said Choquette, who battled his way through the Ticats\u2019 defence for 44 yards and his first touchdown in the second quarter of a game the Stampeders led from wire-to-wire.<\/p>\n

He went from Clearwater to a scholarship at Western Illinois University two years later. In his senior year, he was named an honourable mention for the Missouri Valley Football Conference All-Academic team.<\/p>\n

Undersized at 5-foot-9 and 209 pounds, the Stampeders drafted Choquette in the sixth round. He was no shoo-in to make the team out of training camp, but his work ethic drew the attention of head coach Dave Dickenson.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Hamilton Tiger Cats wide receiver Tim White fends off Calgary Stampeders’ Adrian Greene.Peter Power\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

\u201cI liked him from the first interview, basically as soon as I talked to him,\u201d Dickenson said. \u201cI felt he would make any team better.\u201cListen, he\u2019s still undersized, and he\u2019s not the fastest guy. Maybe other backs have more talent, but nobody has that heart and plays harder than him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Choquette remarked he benefited from a strong game from Mills, who rushed for 105 yards on 17 carries. But Choquette enjoyed a fine outing too, with 73 yards on seven rushes.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been a really good addition to our team,\u201d Dickenson said. \u201cHe\u2019s a team-first guy, a very unselfish player. He does what we asked him to do. But he has a big heart. He plays extremely hard, and he does a lot on special teams, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rene Paredes kicked five field goals and Mills rushed for two touchdowns to help the Calgary Stampeders halt a four-game losing streak.<\/p>\n

Calgary could clinch a playoff berth if the Edmonton Elks lose their game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers later on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Paredes nailed his final field goal from 37 yards out with 6:55 remaining. Mills rushed for his second TD with 2:03 left for his 10th of the season.<\/p>\n

Stampeders quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. was an efficient 16 of 23 for 257 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. His Hamilton counterpart, Bo Levi Mitchell, was good for two touchdowns, completing 25 of 39 for 306 yards and two interceptions.<\/p>\n

Hamilton (10-7) missed a chance to clinch top spot in the East Division. The Ticats pulled to within 27-20 at the 2:38 mark with a 31-yard touchdown pass from Mitchell to Jevoni Robinson.<\/p>\n

On Hamilton\u2019s second possession of the second half, Mitchell marched the Ticats 61 yards, resulting in a 10-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Lawler. It was his 14th scoring reception of the season, one shy of Tony Champion\u2019s club record set in 1989.<\/p>\n

The Stampeders, however, answered right back with a three-yard touchdown run from Mills to increase Calgary\u2019s lead to 27-13.<\/p>\n

Calgary enjoyed a strong afternoon running the ball with 211 yards, led by Mills (105) and Choquette (73).<\/p>\n

The Ticats suffered a blow with an illegal procedure penalty as the third quarter ended. The infraction turned the ball over at the Calgary six-yard line.<\/p>\n

The visitors enjoyed a 20-8 lead at halftime, with a good portion of the 22,213 at Hamilton Stadium booing the Ticats off the field.<\/p>\n

Paredes booted three field goals of 42, 32 and 42 yards in the first quarter, and added a 13-yard chip-shot in the second quarter. Paredes missed a 54-yard attempt, short and to the right, in the second quarter.<\/p>\n

The Venezuelan\u2019s second field goal was set up by Adrian Greene\u2019s fifth interception in 2025. Paredes was put in position for his fourth three-pointer with a 31-yard scamper from running back Mills.<\/p>\n

The Stampeders finished off the second quarter with a hard-nosed 44-yard run from Ludovick.<\/p>\n

The Stampeders will host the Toronto Argonauts on Saturday, Oct. 18, and the Tiger-Cats will host the Ottawa Redblacks on Friday, Oct. 24.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Hamilton Tiger Cats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell is pressured by Calgary Stampeders’ Vyshonne…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":206230,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,521,875,522,520,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,82,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-206229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadian-news","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}