{"id":295040,"date":"2025-11-20T08:05:22","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T08:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/295040\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T08:05:22","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T08:05:22","slug":"sports-with-harp-roughriders-edge-lions-24-21-in-heartbreaker-on-cold-evening-in-regina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/295040\/","title":{"rendered":"SPORTS WITH HARP: Roughriders edge Lions 24\u201321 in heartbreaker on cold evening in Regina"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Nathan Rourke
\nPhoto credit: Matt Smith\/CFL<\/p>\n

BY HARPREET PANDHER\u00a0<\/p>\n

Broadcaster on Hockey Night in Canada Punjabi and<\/p>\n

BC Lions Football Punjabi<\/p>\n

IG\/X\/TikTok: @harppandher<\/p>\n

\"\"Harpreet Pandher
Photo submitted<\/p>\n

ON Saturday, November 8, the Saskatchewan Roughriders defeated the BC Lions 24\u201321 in a frigid, hard-fought West Final at Mosaic Stadium. The Lions entered Regina as slight underdogs in what was widely expected to be a tight matchup, and the game lived up to that billing from start to finish.<\/p>\n

Early on, BC struggled to find rhythm. A few dropped passes and a missed Sean Whyte field goal made it difficult for the Lions to build early momentum, but despite those moments, they carried a 7\u20133 lead into halftime. While most players downplayed the role of the weather, it was clear conditions affected execution at key moments \u2014 something even Riders quarterback Trevor Harris openly acknowledged after the game.<\/p>\n

The game began to tilt in Saskatchewan\u2019s favour in the third quarter, as they put together back-to-back scoring drives to go ahead 14\u20137. But the Lions answered with resilience. Nathan Rourke connected with Keon Hatcher on a precision strike to tie the game, and moments later, Rourke delivered one of his trademark highlight plays \u2014 escaping pressure, keeping the drive alive, and finding the end zone himself to give BC a 21\u201314 lead. For much of the night, Rourke was nothing short of brilliant.<\/p>\n

Then came the heartbreak.<\/p>\n

With under three minutes remaining, the Lions were unable to close the door. Forced into back-to-back punts, BC\u2019s offense couldn\u2019t secure the first downs needed to drain the clock. On the other side of the ball, the defense \u2014 which played tough for most of the night \u2014 couldn\u2019t get the final stop.<\/p>\n

Saskatchewan took full advantage. With just 11 seconds left on the clock and facing first and goal from the three-yard line, Trevor Harris found Tommy Neal in the end zone for the decisive score. The play went to a lengthy command centre review, but the ruling on the field stood, sealing the Roughriders\u2019 win. BC finished the game without registering a single sack \u2014 a rare and costly stat in such a close contest.<\/p>\n

Despite the disappointment, the Lions\u2019 2025 campaign cannot be defined solely by this loss. The team rebounded impressively from a difficult mid-season stretch, rallied late in the year, and delivered a dramatic West Semi-Final victory over the Calgary Stampeders on a walk-off Sean Whyte field goal. Their surge down the stretch showcased growth, determination, and the emergence of key playmakers.<\/p>\n

Still, this one stings \u2014 a season ending just seconds short of another Grey Cup appearance. Saskatchewan now advances to face the Montreal Alouettes in the 112th Grey Cup, while the Lions head into the offseason with both frustration and optimism. The progress made this year was significant, but Saturday\u2019s final moments will linger.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thank you to everyone who tuned in and supported BC Lions Football Punjabi in our second season. A big thanks to Amar Doman and the entire BC Lions staff, Sher E Punjab Radio, The Indo Canadian Voice Online, and all of our sponsors for standing with us.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nathan Rourke Photo credit: Matt Smith\/CFL BY HARPREET PANDHER\u00a0 Broadcaster on Hockey Night in Canada Punjabi and BC…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295041,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[2602,879,49,48,521,522,520,133012,11139,4400,82,133013,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-295040","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-bc-lions","9":"tag-breaking-news","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-canadian-football-league","13":"tag-canadianfootballleague","14":"tag-cfl","15":"tag-harpreet-pandher","16":"tag-nathan-rourke","17":"tag-saskatchewan-roughriders","18":"tag-sports","19":"tag-sports-with-harp","20":"tag-top-stories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}