REGINA — A duel between two of the best teams in the CFL in the Western Final could have gone either way.
Could have, but it didn’t. The Saskatchewan Roughriders took down the BC Lions in electric fashion, scoring a game-winning touchdown with a dozen seconds left on the clock to capture a 24-21 win at Mosaic Stadium.
For the 33,350 fans in attendance, it might have been a nerve-wracking experience. When you hear Roughriders’ quarterback Trevor Harris talk about it, there are no nerves to be found.
“We meticulously drove the ball down the field,” said Harris about his game-winning drive that ended on a touchdown pass to receiver Tommy Nield. “I wasn’t scared to take the underneath stuff. In doing that, it kind of loosened up their middle zones, because they knew that we weren’t afraid to do that. And then we were able to shoot it over their head on a couple of intermediate passes, which was pretty fun. And then Tommy Nield, option route inside the 10.
“We move on.”
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The Roughriders move on to face the Montreal Alouettes in the 112th Grey Cup in Winnipeg on November 16, thanks to a fourth-quarter comeback that will be remembered for some time by everyone in Regina and beyond.
After going into halftime trailing 7-4, the Riders took an early lead in the third quarter on a Kian Schaffer-Baker touchdown catch, then added to their lead with a field goal by Brett Lauther. That’s when Most Outstanding Player candidate Nathan Rourke took over for the Leos, showcasing his trademark playmaking ability by scoring two fourth-quarter touchdowns, one as a passer and one as a runner.
“Nathan Rourke is an outstanding player, might win the MOP and very deservingly so,” said Harris about his Western Final opponent. “He made some big plays tonight, some of the stuff where he’s stepping up in the pocket. It was pretty awesome, pretty fun duel.
“But we’ll take it because we ended up getting the last laugh. He’s a great player, has a great future. He’s gonna be the face of the league for a while, but, not yet. We’ll take this, but we’re not done yet. We’ve got one more week to go.”
Harris spoke on Friday before the game that he feels this is the Riders’ time. When Rourke scored the go-ahead touchdown the next day, the same sentence could be heard over the broadcast coming out of the Lions’ quarterback.
But at the end of the day, despite featuring two great pivots, only one could come out victorious in the Western Final.
“I know my comments yesterday were a little bit more brash than what they normally are, but I saw that Nathan on that (touchdown) sneak he said: it’s our time,” added Harris with a smile.
“It’s our time. I think it’s our time.”
The Riders will look to prove it’s their time a week from now when they take on the Montreal Alouettes in the 112th Grey Cup at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg.