HAMILTON -- Rene Paredes booted a 17-yard field goal on the final play of the game to earn the Calgary Stampeders an exciting 28-25 win over a spirited Hamilton Tiger-Cats squad Friday night.
Paredes' field goal was set up by a pass interference call on Hamilton's Courtney Stephen. The 62-yard penalty put Calgary at the Ticats' 10-yard line.
Paredes' field goal came after Hamilton's Alex Green scored on a one-yard run with 36 seconds remaining that Kenny Allen converted. It was set up by a pass interference call on Calgary's Jamar Wall that put the Ticats at the Stampeders' one-yard line.
Green's TD came after Calgary' Bo Levi Mitchell hit Kamar Jorden with a 25-yard scoring strike, then on a two-point convert at 10:01 to put the Stampeders ahead 25-18.
Mitchell capped a 75-yard, four-play march with the toss to Jorden, who returned to the Calgary lineup for this game, to quiet a Tim Hortons Field gathering of 23,672. He then found a wide-open Jorden for the two-point convert to put the Stampeders ahead 23-18 at 10:01.
Calgary (13-1-1) improved to 16-0 coming off the bye and earned its 11th straight victory. The Stampeders will cement top spot in the West Division -- and host the conference final -- if the B.C. Lions beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Saturday night.
But this contest was in stark contrast to the last time the two teams met when Calgary throttled Hamilton 60-1 at McMahon Stadium on July 29. However, that was with Kent Austin as Ticats head coach and Zach Collaros the starter.
Hamilton (4-11) fell to 4-3 under interim head coach June Jones, whose first decision was to install backup Masoli as his starter. With the Ticats' loss, Toronto (7-8) clinched a playoff berth and will play one game at home.
If the Ottawa Redblacks (6-9-1) beat the Saskatchewan Roughriders (8-6) later Friday night, the Ticats will be eliminated from post-season contention. But the Hamilton loss also means the fourth-place team in the West Division will cross over and become the third playoff seed in the East.
Allen's 28-yard field goal at 7:56 of the fourth gave Hamilton an 18-17 advantage after Paredes connected from 37 yards out at 3:25.
Allen's 27-yard boot at 12:16 of the third put Hamilton ahead 15-14. It came after the Ticats blew a glorious scoring opportunity earlier in the quarter.
Don Unamba returned a Marquay McDaniel fumble 24 yards to the Calgary 22-yard line. Following an intentional grounding penalty, Masoli hit Luke Tasker on a 24-yard reception, setting up a third-and-one gamble.
But instead of lining up under centre and running the ball, Masoli was in shotgun and threw an incompletion to give Calgary the ball back at its four-yard line.
William Langlais had Calgary's touchdown. Paredes booted a convert, single and three field goals.
Green had another TD for Hamilton while Masoli also scored one.
Paredes' 18-yard field goal with 1:25 left in the second quarter staked Calgary to a 14-12 half-time lead. He capped a 66-yard, seven-play drive after Hamilton had taken a one-point lead.
Mitchell was just 7-of-17 passing for 120 yards and an interception as Calgary managed just 138 offensive yards. Hamilton not only gained 181 but also held the ball for 17 minutes 17 seconds.
Masoli was 10-of-20 passing for 136 yards and an interception.
Second-quarter rushing TDs by Green and Masoli put the Ticats ahead 12-11. Green's one-yard TD run at 7:45 cut Calgary's lead to 11-6 as the two-point convert was unsuccessful.
Masoli scored on a one-yard run at 11:15 after three Calgary penalties on a 22-yard Rob Maver punt gave Hamilton possession at the Stamps' 23-yard line. Again, the two-point convert was unsuccessful.
After Paredes' missed 36-yard field goal try went for a single at 3:18 of the first, Langlais put Calgary ahead 8-0 by recovering a punt blocked by Terry Williams and scoring his first CFL touchdown. Paredes connected from 38 yards out at 1:54 of the fourth.