With a 9-8-1 regular season in the books, the Roughriders will now get set to host the B.C. Lions in the Western semifinal
The Saskatchewan Roughriders didn’t get the out-of-town help they were looking for on Saturday.
And that no doubt factored into how the Green and White played in Week 21 of the CFL season.
While wearing their alternate obsidian green jerseys, the Roughriders lost 27-12 the Calgary Stampeders in front of a record-low 22,709 fans at Mosaic Stadium in the final game of the regular season. However, the loss didn’t mean anything in the West Division standings due to an earlier result that cemented a second-place finish for Saskatchewan, who ended the regular season with a 9-8-1 record.
An hour before kickoff on Saturday, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers beat the Montreal Alouettes 28-27 on a walk-off 51-yard field goal to secure top spot in the West Division with an 11-7-0 record.
The Roughriders will now host the B.C. Lions (9-9-0) in the West semifinal on Nov. 2 at 4:30 p.m. with the winner advancing to the West final in Winnipeg on Nov. 9.
Meanwhile, in the Eastern semifinal the Ottawa Redblacks (9-8-1) will visit the Toronto Argonauts (10-8-0) with the winner advancing to face the Alouettes (12-5-1) in the East final. Despite the win, the Stampeders (5-12-1) will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
After being listed as game-time decisions pending the Winnipeg-Montreal result, running back A.J. Ouellette, defensive back Rolan Milligan Jr., and receivers Samuel Emilus and KeeSean Johnson were scratched while running back Frankie Hickson, defensive backs Deontai Williams and Kosi Onyeka and receiver Joe Robustelli were activated for Saskatchewan.
Shea Patterson, who was in line to backup Trevor Harris in the event of a Montreal victory, was elevated to a starting role.
On Saskatchewan’s opening drive, Patterson marched 53 yards on nine plays before Brett Lauther kicked a 29-yard field goal to open the scoring.
Near the end of the first quarter, the Stampeders took a 7-3 lead after quarterback Jake Maier connected with receiver Clark Barnes for back-to-back big gains, with the second being a 33-yard touchdown pass.
Calgary then took a 14-3 lead midway through the second quarter after Maier capped off a six-play, 46-yard drive with a nine-yard touchdown pass to Cam Echols.
After five straight drives that resulted in a punt, rookie Jack Coan came into the game at quarterback near the end of the first half for Saskatchewan while Patterson’s night was done after completing 5-of-12 passes for 56 yards.
Coan — who finished the night 10-of-21 for 100 yards and a touchdown — completed his first career pass to Mitch Picton but Saskatchewan was then forced to punt it away for a sixth consecutive drive.
In the third quarter, Lauther connected on a 50-yard field goal to make it 14-6 before the Stamps added a field goal of their own to retake an 11-point lead.
Early in the fourth quarter, Calgary added to its lead as Maier hit Marken Michel for a 67-yard touchdown pass to make it 24-6.
After a 33-yard punt return by Mario Alford and a 15-yard facemask penalty by the Stamps, Coan threw his first career touchdown pass as he connected with Jerreth Sterns on a 19-yard strike to make it 24-12 after an unsuccessful two-point convert.
The Stamps responded with a field goal to go up 27-12 with 3:58 to go, which concluded the scoring.
More to come…
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