MONTREAL - The Calgary Stampeders are the most outstanding team.
Henry Burris hit Brett Ralph for a 20-yard touchdown and Sandro DeAngelis kicked five field goals as the Stamps beat the Montreal Alouettes 22-14 in the 96th Grey Cup.
"To work our tails off for four years, it's special to be here now," said Burris. "We said before we came out there would be adversity, but we dealt with it all year."
Both Burris and DeAngelis were shut out of the CFL player awards this week, and both stepped up in front of 66,308 spectators at Olympic Stadium to prove voters may have made a mistake.
Burris threw for 328 yards and was named the game MVP, while DeAngelis went 5-for-5 on field goals to be named the most outstanding Canadian player.
"This is the greatest day of my life," DeAngelis said. "I worked my butt off to do what I do."
This is Calgary's first Grey Cup win since 2001, which was also played at Olympic Stadium.
The Alouettes have lost five of six championship games since 2000 and have a legacy as a team that can't finish. Their only win came in 2002 at Edmonton against the Eskimos.
"We're getting good at this aren't we?" said Als centre Bryan Chiu, who played in all six games. "It hurts, its not the way a story ends, but it did and life goes on, I mean, in the end, it's a game.
"There are a lot of other thing going on in this world that are a lot more serious and it's a game, it's what we do for a living, we just do it in the spotlight."
Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo, who won the most outstanding player award and was playing in his sixth Grey Cup, wasn't sharp in the second half, throwing interceptions to Shannon James and Dwight Anderson.
Calvillo didn't have a chance on the first one to Anderson, as Stamps defensive end Charleston Hughes was in the process of tackling him to cause a fluttering pass.
The Alouettes took a 13-3 lead in the first half with an Avon Cobourne touchdown run, but the Stamps cut that lead down when Burris hit Brett Ralph on a 20-yard touchdown pass just before halftime.
Stamps quarterback Burris was much more solid in the second half, using his mobility to tie the game midway through the third quarter.
He rushed for gains of 14 and 29 yards to set up a chip shot DeAngelis field goal.
Burris then hit Ken-Yon Rambo on a crossing route he took 35 yards to set up another DeAngelis chip shot.
The Stamps got in position for a DeAngelis 50-yard field goal just before the three-minute warning to take a 22-14 lead.
Then it was Calgary's defence that shined. JoJuan Armour sacked Anthony Calvillo and the Alouettes were forced to punt with 2:09 left.
"I wish it was a more solid hit, but a sack is a sack," Armour said. "I came to Calgary for a purpose, so to have that accomplished is something special."
It wasn't all smooth sailing for Burris in the second quarter as he threw an interception to Reggie Hunt that the Als turned into a quick seven points.
But that was the only mistake Burris made, and he finished 28-of-37 for 328 yards but he also had 79 yards rushing to lead the game in that category.
"Henry tucked the ball and ran, got some first downs from it," said Alouettes receiver Ben Cahoon. "It was his scrambling that did it. It's tough to defend an athletic quarterback."
