Heads hung in the B.C. Lions’ locker room at halftime on Saturday.
With their season on the line, the team was behind 17-13 and in need of a comeback against the defending Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Luckily for the Lions, adversity is nothing new.
“I think with what we’ve been through this year, I think this isn’t uncharted territory for us,” said quarterback Nathan Rourke. “We know that when things aren’t going our way, that we’re capable of climbing out the hole, right?”
The B.C. squad that started the season 1-5 rallied with nine wins over its next 10 games to clinch a spot in the CFL playoffs.
On Saturday, the team rallied once again, overcoming a 14-point deficit to beat the Riders 33-26 in the West Division semifinal in Vancouver.
“We knew our defence was still going to keep playing well, special teams were going to make their plays,” said Rourke, who connected on 21 of his 32 pass attempts for 366 yards with three touchdowns.
“And offensively, we just had to remember what we’re capable of and just try to string a couple of plays together and try to get into a rhythm.”
The Lions will travel to face the Edmonton Elks (13-5) in the West Division final on Nov. 7.
The East semifinal earlier on Saturday saw the Winnipeg Blue Bombers stun the Argonauts with a 25-22 comeback victory in Toronto.
Brown’s late TD pass to Demski earns Bombers 25-22 East semifinal win over Argos
The Bombers will take on the host Montreal Alouettes in the East final on Nov. 7. Calgary hosts the Grey Cup on Nov. 15.
For Saskatchewan, it was a painful end to the season.
“You want to win a championship every single year. Of course you do,” said Riders quarterback Trevor Harris, who logged 309 passing yards with one interception. “And so when you come up short it sucks, it hurts. You can’t lie about that.
“You have aspirations to accomplish more. And a game like this is one that’ll keep you up at night. But it’ll drive you for improvement and the ways to get better.”
The Riders and Lions came in with identical 10-8 regular-season records, but B.C. earned the right to host by winning the season head-to-head series 2-1.
A turnover on downs proved costly for the Lions midway through the second.
The Riders got the ball at their own 49-yard line and worked it up the field over six plays, capping the drive with Tommy Stevens muscling his way into the end zone. Saskatchewan opted to go for the two-point convert and Harris made good, connecting with Samuel Emilus to give his side a 17-3 advantage.
It was the visitors’ lone major of the night.
“We had an opportunity, man,” said Riders head coach Corey Mace. “Proud of those guys. They fought until the very last second.”
B.C. replied to the touchdown with Rourke scrambling out of the pocket and lobbing a rainbow up the field to an unmarked Stanley Berryhill, who dashed over the goal line for the major. Sean Whyte’s kick for the extra point was good, cutting the Lions’ deficit to 17-10.
The play showed how special Rourke is as a player, said Lions head coach Buck Pierce.
“He never ceases to amaze me,” said Pierce, himself a former CFL quarterback. “That play right there, you just look at the effort, the will he had to get something going for the offence, get something going for the team. And it ignited the crowd, it ignited the sideline. … He’s just a phenomenal player that makes plays that I haven’t seen in a long time.”
B.C. went into halftime down 17-13 and Cottoy said “a couple guys’ heads were down.”
“A lot of us knew that we weren’t playing our best football, and we were still [only] down four points. In the playoffs, that’s huge,” said the Canadian receiver. “And we just had to make sure we took advantage of it in that second half, right?”
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Asked what was said in the room during the break, Pierce said the players were simply reminded they’d been in tough situations before.
“It’s a resilient group,” he said. “Maybe more resilient than any other group I’ve been a part of in terms of understanding where we are and how we need to respond. And I think that’s a belief in everybody. And I think more than anything it was just relaying that message once again.”
Rourke orchestrated more highlight-reel plays in the third quarter. The first came off a quick dish to Jevon Cottoy, who split the Saskatchewan defence and sprinted up the field for a 70-yard touchdown that levelled the score at 20-20.
The Riders added another three points with Brett Lauther’s fifth field goal of the night before Rourke found an open Cottoy steps from the end zone.
He reeled in the pass and took a few strides in for his second major of the game, putting the Lions up 27-23 at the end of the quarter.
Rourke was quick to credit the Lions’ defence for the victory, though.
“They’ve been incredible all year,” he said, adding that he felt his offence didn’t play at their best at times on Saturday.
“But our defence was able to win it for us. And that’s a testament to how great they’ve been and how crucial they’ve been to this football team.”
B.C. and Saskatchewan traded field goals across the fourth and final frame.
Whyte’s 34-yard kick boosted B.C.’s lead to seven points midway through the quarter and the veteran kicker added another from 24 yards with three minutes left on the game clock.
The Riders clawed three points back in the final two minutes of the game when Lauther made a 44-yard field goal to put the score at 33-26.
Whyte’s 49-yard attempt field goal fell short with 49 seconds to go, giving Saskatchewan’s offence one last chance, but the green and white stalled out at B.C.’s 34-yard line.
The loss hung in the air of the Riders’ locker room after the game, said defensive back Tevaughn Campbell.
“It hurt, for lack of a better term,” he said. “It really showed. You could see it on guys’ faces. You could feel the emotion in the room. It just sucks.”
