Rod Pedersen
The Saskatchewan Roughriders hosted the BC Lions in the 2013 CFL Western Semifinal at a frigid Mosaic Stadium Sunday afternoon. Both teams concluded the regular season at 11-7 and the Riders won the season series 2-1. The winner would travel to Calgary for the West Division Final November 17. Here’s the game log from the broadcast booth:
– It was sunny and minus-11 degrees Celsius at the 3:30 pm kickoff. There was a north wind at 22 km/h making the windchill minus-20.
– The scratches for the Riders from their 46-man reserve roster were LB Diamond Ferri, OL James Lee, OL Corey Watman and DL Jermaine McElveen.
– The Riders wore their retro green home uniforms with green pants and helmets while the Lions were in their road whites with orange pants and white helmets.
– BC won the coin toss and deferred. The Riders elected to take the football, defending the north endzone in the opening quarter.
– The Riders’ first series began at their 32 with Darian Durant at quarterback after a squibbed Paul McCallum kickoff. They got to the BC 48 before punting. They had two first downs.
– Lions’ first series began at their 20 with Travis Lulay at QB. They were 2-and-out.
– The Riders’ second series began at the BC 38 after a no yards “in the air” penalty on the Lions’ cover unit. After two plays they attempted a 38-yard Chris Milo field goal. However he hit the upright for a dead ball. No points so it was still 0-0 with 8:50 to go in the quarter.
– BC took it at their 25. Tailback Andrew Harris was responsible for two first downs before they punted from the Rider 54.
– Saskatchewan’s third series began at their 32 with 5:43 left in a scoreless opening quarter. A 54-yard gain by WR Taj Smith set the Riders up at the BC 20 but they had to settle for a 40-yard Milo field goal making it 3-0 Saskatchewan with 2:50 left in the first period.
– BC took it at their 35. The series carried over into the second quarter.
AFTER ONE: RIDERS 3 LIONS 0
– On the first play of the second quarter Lions running back Stefan Logan ripped off a 14-yard touchdown run for a 7-3 lead at the 0:17 mark. It was a 6-play, 75-yard drive taking 3:10 off the clock.
– The Riders’ Jock Sanders returned the ensuing kickoff 56 yards to the BC 26. Again, Saskatchewan had to settle for a Milo field goal, this one from 29 yards, making it 7-6 BC with 13:06 to go in the half.
– BC took it at their 29 after a Ricky Schmitt kickoff. Again they had little trouble moving it downfield and ended the drive with a 2-yard Stefan Logan touchdown run. 14-6 BC with 4:26 left in the half. It was an 11-play, 81-yard drive by the Lions.
– Riders’ next series began at their 44. A screen pass to tailback Kory Sheets netted the Riders 61-yards to the BC 4. On the next play Durant tossed a TD pass to Weston Dressler in the left corner of the endzone. 14-13 BC with 2:41 to go in the half. It was a 4-play, 66-yard drive.
– With 2:33 left BC took over at their 37. They ended the series with a 29-yard Paul McCallum field goal. That’s 33 in a row for McCallum since his overtime miss for the Riders in 2004.
– Riders took over at their 35 with 1:13 left in the half. A 43-yard Durant toss to Taj Smith set ‘em up at the BC 5. On the final play of the half, Milo hit a 10-yard field goal.
AT THE BREAK: LIONS 17 RIDERS 16
– BC took the ball to start the second half at their 33 yard line. They moved it downfield again with ease and capped the drive with one-yard TD run by third-string QB Thomas DeMarco. 24-16 BC at the 4:28 mark. It was a 77-yard, 7-play drive taking 4:27 off the clock.
– Saskatchewan’s first series began at their 31. 2-and-out.
– With 8:57 left in the third, BC got it at their 40. They got to the Rider 51 before punting.
– Rider ball at their 29 with 5:00 to go in the third. They turned it over on downs at their own 51-yard line on a shotgun draw to Kory Sheets. Turnovers: 1-0 in BC’s favour.
– BC was 2-and-out after the turnover and punted from the Rider 45. It ended up as a 52-yard punt single by McCallum. 25-16 BC with 1:03 left in the third quarter.
AFTER THREE: LIONS 25 RIDERS 16
– A 16-yard rush by Durant on the final play of the third quarter set the Riders up 1st-and-10 at the BC 45 to open the fourth. A couple plays later Durant romped 35 yards to the BC 10. Two plays later Durant found Dressler in the back right corner of the endzone at the 2:45 mark. It was a 6-play, 75-yard drive.
– BC took over at their 36 with 13:02 to go. They got to the 55 before punting.
– Durant and company got it back at their 23 with 10:01 to go, down 25-23. Back-to-back first downs on Kory Sheets carries to the BC 52 with 7:34 left. They ended up attempting a 45-yard Milo field goal. IT WAS GOOD! And the Riders led 26-25 with 4:57 left.
– BC ball at their 35. A broken play ended up in Travis Lulay rushing 23 yards to the Rider 52. They ended up punting with 3:07 left thanks to a Ricky Foley pass knockdown.
– Rider ball at their 22 with 2:56 to go. On 2nd-and-10 Durant rushed 28 yards to the Rider 51. A head tackle on BC gave the Riders 15 more yards to the BC 42. A 14-yard Durant rush got ‘em a first down to the BC 26 with 1:18 left. They ended the drive with a 28-yard Chris Milo field goal with 0:28 left.
– BC took over at their 35 needing a touchdown to win. They ended the play on a rugby-style lateral series but were intercepted by Rider safety Tyron Brackenridge! Turnovers: 1-1
GAME OVER!: RIDERS 29 LIONS 25
POSTGAME NOTES/QUOTES FROM RIDER COACH COREY CHAMBLIN
– That was a very tough game. BC had a helluva game plan but we held on and figured it out.
A couple were called by George but a couple were Darian himself. Their QB made some rushes too but in the end we prevailed.
– It ignited the crowd. The guys came together in the fourth quarter. We couldn’t stop them early, but later on we did. The best teams are in the playoffs but at the end of the day it came down to us and we won it.
– The best thing about is we won against a very good football team today. They gave us their best and it prepares us for the West final. They were in the finals last year and the Grey Cup two years ago. This time it was our night. Nobody said it was gonna be easy and it wasn’t.
– Dwight Anderson’s hit on Arceneaux was huge. We could have cracked, that’s what pressure does, but we came together. He was one of the keys we brought in and I said ‘Make a play’ and he did. When it was tough, like last year we didn’t make it out, today we did.
– You could feel the energy a little bit earlier. It was a little frayed, and a lot of little things were happening but you could just feel our guys didn’t teeter. We had some good veteran guys who knew what we needed to do but we got it done.
– The turning point for me was one of those magical moments only the coaching staff understands. We saw some things in the game that gave us faith and confidence.
– It takes four quarters. In football each game will be different. By BC doing what they did, it will allow us to go forth and know how to stay tough. Everything goes out the window in the playoffs; stats new things for us so we’ll have to be ready. They’ll be a different team.
– Chris Getzlaf has progressed everyday. He’s got some extra days off so hopefully he’ll be able to go.
*The Roughriders visit the Calgary Stampeders in the West Division Final next Sunday on TSN and the CKRM Rider Radio Network.
