ROB VANSTONE: Mace’s defence, decisions pay dividends for Grey Cup-bound Riders

To borrow curling parlance — well, it does feel like winter around here — the B.C. Lions attempted a draw for the win.

A successful quarterback draw by Nathan Rourke on second-and-three would have practically sealed a victory over the host Saskatchewan Roughriders in Saturday’s CFL Western Final.

All the Lions needed was one more first down to leave Saskatchewan with, at best, a slim mathematical chance of winning.

Then everything changed.

Rourke, who had rushed for two touchdowns earlier in the game, headed up-field and was greeted by weak-side linebacker A.J. Allen, middle linebacker Jameer Thurman and safety C.J. Reavis.

Allen was credited with a sack, having shed a blocker and stopped Rourke for a minimal loss with 1:29 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Lions were forced to punt.

Saskatchewan, which began its final possession with 1:03 on the clock, moved 76 yards in seven plays. The capper was a game-winning, three-yard touchdown pass from Trevor Harris to Tommy Nield.

Brett Lauther’s convert, registered with 11 seconds remaining, concluded the scoring as Saskatchewan won 24-21 and earned the right to oppose the Montreal Alouettes with Canadian professional football supremacy at stake. The 112^th Grey Cup Game is set for Nov. 16 in Winnipeg — home of the Jets.

For obvious reasons, the game-winning grab by Touchdown Tommy will long be remembered and replayed.

It doesn’t happen, however, if not for the second-and-three stuffage.

“That was incredibly huge,” Roughriders Head Coach and Defensive Co-ordinator Corey Mace said.

“That was pretty danged close to being it for us, so we knew we had to make a play.”

B.C. had converted all three of its previous second-and-three situations. James Butler ran for two first downs and moved the yardsticks with a reception.

Rourke had also scored his first of two touchdowns by running for a score on second-and-four.

Even in situations that are conventionally advantageous to the defence — second down, with 15 and 17 to go — Rourke had used his remarkable arm talent and anticipation to produce first downs.

The second-and-17 completion, for 19 yards to Jevon Cottoy on the final play of the third quarter, was soon followed by Rourke’s TD pass to a wide-open Keon Hatcher Sr. that helped B.C. create a 14-14 tie.

“We were losing on second-and-(long),” strong-side linebacker Antoine Brooks Jr. noted, “but when it was second-and-three, I knew it was going to be our time to set it up and make sure we made the play when the carry came.”
Of course, the Lions could always have opted to pass on second-and-three.

Rourke, who on Thursday will likely be named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player, has a talented array of receivers.

Hatcher Sr. led the league in catches (102) and receiving yards (1,688) during the regular season. Justin McInnis caught 76 passes for 1,256 yards. The under-rated Ayden Eberhardt had two 100-yard games against Saskatchewan earlier this season. Et cetera.

But there was the accompanying, albeit inconsiderable, risk of an incompletion that would have stopped the clock at a juncture of the game when the Lions sought to gain first-down yardage and extinguish valuable time.

So they opted to run — not with Butler, for a change, but with a dynamic quarterback who scored on a 70-yarder not so long ago — with the likely reward of a productive play being the team’s first Grey Cup berth since 2011.

Even a gain of two would have put the Buck Pierce-coached Lions in an eminently makeable third-and-one situation. Hence, the Roughriders had to hold B.C. to one yard, max.

“It looked like they were heavy in the box, expecting some kind of run,” Rourke recounted. “I appreciated the confidence from Buck to put the ball in my hands and see what happens.

“That’s probably the play that I’ll be thinking about the most, just wishing that I would have done something with it. Obviously, you want the ball in your hands at that time and that’s what they (called). I just didn’t make a play, so that’s on me there.

“It would have been a big play for us to keep the ball there and giving our defence a little less time for them to deal with.

“That’s our role as an offence. We can’t go two-and-out there.”

It was the second consecutive two-and-out for a high-octane Lions offence that had scored a touchdown on each of its previous two fourth-quarter possessions.

Saskatchewan answered B.C.’s final major by travelling 63 yards in nine plays — the last of which was a 13-yard Brett Lauther field goal that pared the visitors’ lead to 21-17.

Some of the 33,350 onlookers at a sold-out Mosaic Stadium were audibly and visibly displeased with Mace’s decision to attempt a chip shot instead of rolling the dice on third-and-goal from the five.

The Roughriders, after all, could have tied the game with a touchdown and a convert. Moreover, the Roughriders assumed a degree of risk by settling for three when Rourke and associates had put up back-to-back sevens.

“I was very close (to gambling),” acknowledged Mace, whose third-and-goal green light in the third quarter resulted in a two-yard touchdown pass from Trevor Harris to Kian Schaffer-Baker.

“Last year, I probably would have said, ‘F… it, let’s do it,’ but I wanted to take the points — just knowing what we’re capable of doing. If we didn’t get it, then we’ve got to do the same thing just to tie the game.”

Plus, the field goal provided a measure of insurance in case the Lions proceeded to march for a three-pointer of their own.

“I trust Corey Mace,” Harris stated. “He knows what he’s doing, as you guys (in the media) all saw.

“I’m sure that there were people at home going, ‘What are you doing?!’ And now they’re like, ‘Mace is the man!’ ”

Lauther’s field goal with 2:40 remaining was followed by back-to-back two-and-outs.

After Harris threw two incompletions, Mace opted to have Jesse Mirco punt with 1:48 and one home-team timeout left.

The non-gamble on third-and-10 was not greeted with rousing applause by some of the paying patrons.

“I made the decision,” Mace said. “I couldn’t call the timeout and say ‘sorry …’

“I’ve made aggressive decisions before for this team and it hadn’t worked out for us in games prior. While I understand (the disappointment) — I totally get it — just have faith. But I get it. I totally get it.

“But I think you still love us.”