Stanback earns measure of redemption by leading Alouettes to 28-11 win over Stamps
CTV
After scoring a touchdown to put an exclamation point on a 28-11 win for his Montreal Alouettes over the Calgary Stampeders, William Stanback breathed a sigh of relief.
After scoring a touchdown to put an exclamation point on a 28-11 win for his Montreal Alouettes over the Calgary Stampeders, William Stanback breathed a sigh of relief.
The 29-year-old running back from Hempstead, N.Y., had reason to feel nervous before stepping onto the field at McMahon Stadium in front of 22,321 fans on Saturday afternoon.
After all, it was here where he broke his ankle in a season-opening 30-27 loss to the Stampeders on June 9, 2022, before subsequently missing the next 13 games.
“It feels great,” said Stanback, who caught a five-yard touchdown pass from starting Montreal quarterback Cody Fajardo to cap off an eight-play, 60-yard drive late in the fourth quarter. “It’s unbelievable. Individually, for me, it’s something that I have no words to really explain.
“Having the injury last year, being able to come back on this field with all the butterflies I had before the kickoff, I had a lot of things running through my mind — a little nervous, to be honest with you.”
In addition to catching four passes for 19 yards, Stanback was a force on the ground as he carried the ball 14 times for 81 yards.
“At the end, being able to find Stanback, he worked so hard all night and so to have it dialed up and for it to work out to get him a touchdown was big,” said Fajardo, who completed 22 of 29 passes for 252 yards.
