Critical Coverage

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07/02/2024 06:25 PM

It was a game that came down to the wire.

Thanks to the trusty leg of Rene Paredes, the Stamps topped the Blue Bombers 22-19 in overtime to improve their record to 2-1 and keep their divisional opponents at the bottom of the West.

But the significant special teams plays didn't stop there.

Ninth-year CFL vet Adam Konar, who exchanged the green and gold for red and white this off-season, came up clutch for his new team in Saturday's outing.

"He made three critical second-level tackles for us," said special teams coordinator and assistant head coach Mark Kilam, 'and we're going to need him to continue to do that moving forward."

Without Konar's quick work in coverage, the Blue and Gold's shifty return-man Chris Smith could have snuck his way all the way to Calgary's end zone on a few occasions.

And Konar's production is no surprise to ST guru, Kilam.

"He's been a great addition to our group," he said.

"He brings leadership, he brings experience, he's played in a couple different systems and understands the game. He knows what we're trying to accomplish and those are just the intangibles that he brings."

As any true gritty special-teamer, Konar credits his game-saving stops to business as usual.

"It's kind of just the way the game went," he explained. "I think if you're doing your job the right way all the time in the right spots those plays are going to come to you and they just so happened to come to me that game.

"In other games, there's going to be other guys making those tackles, but this game it just happened to me, so I was happy those chances came and happy I was able to make them."

When playing for a coach like Kilam, who enters his 20th season coaching in the CFL, Konar says it's easier to take the big hits.

"Kilam is a great coach. He's the type of coach you want to go play for; you want to put your body on the line for.

"It was definitely easy for me to come into the system, pick it up super quick, and when you have a coach like that, that you want to go play for, then it makes it a lot easier to do."

The former University of Calgary Dino was rewarded for his pivotal performance post-game when Kilam awarded him the special teams game ball and fireman helmet.

"It was awesome," said Konar. "It's always nice to get a little treat like that after a game, but then you got to reset your focus and get ready for the next game."