The Saskatchewan Roughriders have their opponent set for the CFL West Final, after the BC Lions emerged victorious in the semifinal over the Calgary Stampeders thanks to a game-winning field goal off the toe of Lions kicker Sean Whyte for a 33-30 final from Vancouver on Saturday.
The Lions kicker was all over the field in the playoff matchup, Whyte opening the scoring with one of his four field goals in the game as it was a 3-3 score after one quarter as the matchup of 11-7 squads came as advertised early.
BC went up in the second with the only touchdown for a 13-7 lead at halftime. In the third quarter the Lions scored an early touchdown to go up 20-7, but the Stampeders offense came to life with a touchdown to answer, only for BC to return the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown to make it 27-14 Lions.Â
Calgary found the endzone before the end of the third to make it 27-21 and then scored the first points of the fourth quarter as a drive down the field ended in six points and a tie score 27-27 after Rene Paredes missed the extra point.
With 1:11 to play the Lions went up 30-27 off the back of Whyte’s foot, but then Calgary answered with a field goal of their own, only for BC to get the ball back and set up the game winning 43-yarder with no time remaining as Whyte’s fourth and final kick of the game gave the Lions the win and booked their flight to Regina.
The Roughriders and Lions met three times this season as the Roughriders won two early matchups before losing in the final week with their backups in the game. This Saturday’s game is a rematch of last year’s West Semifinal where Saskatchewan won 28-19 at home, the Roughriders looking for a repeat this weekend.
The winner of Saturday’s game will advance to the Grey Cup where they will face either the Montreal Alouettes or Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Montreal coming off a big 42-33 win on Saturday against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the East Semifinal.
The Grey Cup will be played November 16 in Winnipeg.Â