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Cornish leads Stamps over Eskimos

Sep 29, 2012 - 5:42 AM Calgary, AB (Sports Network) - Jon Cornish rushed for 180 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries as the Calgary Stampeders trounced the Edmonton Eskimos, 39-15, at McMahon Stadium on Friday.

Cornish reached 1,000 rushing yards for the season and became just the eighth Canadian player to accomplish the feat, joining Norm Kwong, Gerry James, Ron Stewart, Bob Swift, Orville Lee, Sean Millington and Jerome Messam.

Kevin Glenn threw for 292 yards and two touchdowns on 21-of-28 passing for the Stamps (8-5), who have won five of their last six and moved to within 1 1/2 games of the British Columbia Lions for first place in the West Division.

Joe West led the receiving corps with six catches for 135 yards, while Nikolas Lewis and Johnny Forzani caught touchdown passes in the triumph.

Matt Nichols got his first career CFL start at quarterback for the Eskimos due to injuries to starter Steven Jyles and backup Kerry Joseph. Nichols threw for 167 yards, one touchdown and one interception on 14-of-26 passing.

Nichols also rushed twice for 36 yards and a major, while Fred Stamps hauled in three passes for 61 yards and a score for the Eskimos (5-8), who have lost four straight to the Stampeders.

After a scoreless opening quarter, the Stampeders struck first with one big play.

Facing a first down at their own 37, Cornish got the Calgary offensive rolling as he broke through tacklers and scampered down the right sideline for a 73- yard score, and his first career 1,000-yard season.

After forcing a two-and-out, Calgary's offense got the ball back on its own 36 and took just two plays to score again. Glenn hit West on first down for 24 yards and then connected with a wide-open Forzani down the right sideline for a 44-yard touchdown strike and a 14-0 lead.

But the Eskimos got on the board on their next touch. Nichols hit Matt Carter for 34 yards on the first play of the drive, then unleashed a beautiful fade ball to the back right corner of the end zone intended for Stamps, who hauled it in along the sideline for the 18-yard major.

Rene Parades booted field goals of 11 and 28 yards within the final two-plus minutes of the first half to increase the Calgary lead to 20-7 at the break.

Edmonton picked up a single after Shaw missed a 46-yard field goal attempt, and the Stamps recorded a safety after bringing down Hugh Charles in the end zone to make it a 22-8 game with around 8 1/2 minutes to go in the third quarter.

Late in the third quarter, the Eskimos pulled to within 25-15 after Nichols finished a 9-play, 75-yard drive with a 17-yard sprint to the end zone.

Calgary responded with a 7-play, 71-yard drive culminated by a 1-yard touchdown push by Cornish, putting the Stamps ahead, 32-15.

The Stamps kept rolling on their next touch as Matt Walter rumbled for 20 yards to the Edmonton 25 on 2nd-and-6 and Glenn hit Lewis just inside the right pylon to extend the blowout margin to 39-15.

Game Notes

Edmonton has lost five straight overall ... Nichols was just 3-for-7 passing in his career prior to Friday's start. He threw for 12,616 yards during his tenure at Eastern Washington ... Edmonton fell to 0-5 this season when trailing after three quarters ... Cornish needed just 53 yards entering play to reach his milestone.