Saskatchewan Roughriders 30 Calgary Stampeders 21 (November 5, 2006)
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0 commentsMy fears were realized on Sunday, when Burris choked as I predicted he would. Below is the recount of the game from cfl.ca.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders capitalized on their favoured opponent's mistakes and advanced to the CFL's Western final with a 30-21 win over the host Calgary Stampeders on Sunday.
The Roughriders will face the British Columbia Lions in the Scotiabank West Final in Vancouver on Sunday. The Lions earned the bye to the final by finishing first in the division at 13-5.
Calgary was the favoured team in Sunday's semifinal after finishing second in the division with a 10-8 regular-season record ahead of Saskatchewan at 9-9.
The Stampeders sprinted to a 21-5 lead late in the first half, but the Roughriders clawed their way back into the game and took a 23-21 lead on kicker Luca Congi's 41-yard field goal at 4:34 of the fourth quarter.
Saskatchewan put the game away when quarterback Kerry Joseph connected with Corey Grant on a 37-yard pass, Jason Armstead ran the ball another 11yards and Kenton Keith scored his second TD of the game on a 14-yard run with just over two minutes remaining in the game.
A large number of the announced sellout of 35,650 at McMahon Stadium were wearing Roughrider green and left the stadium celebrating.
But the loss was bitter deja vu for the Stampeders, who had led last year's West semifinal 23-9 against Edmonton only to lose 33-26.
Calgary turned the ball over seven times. Stamps quarterback Henry Burris was intercepted four times and he also fumbled the ball once on a controversial call.
Burris had at least one, if not two or three, Roughriders chasing him most of the game. He completed 16 of 32 passes for 198 yards.
Joseph was 17-for-31 for 180 yards and made a touchdown pass to Matt Dominguez at the end of the first half that sparked Saskatchewan's comeback.
Congi was good from 13 yards and missed from 47 in the first half, but his three-pointer in the second half was pivotal.
Keith, who had a case of the drops early in the game, compensated with a 76-yard scoring run to open the second half and his second touchdown to seal the win for Saskatchewan.
Calgary's Markus Howell had a 57-yard punt return for a touchdown and a 40-yard return that helped set up the Stampeders' second touchdown of the game.
Kicker Sandro DeAngelis made two field goals in first half from 39 yards and 25 yards, but had a 43-yard attempt blocked in the second half and missed from 40 yards out with less than two minutes to go.
Calgary head coach Tom Higgins challenged two calls by officials, winning only one upon review.
Howell's 57-yard punt return and Burris's one-yard TD gave Calgary a 21-5 lead late in the first half.
But Saskatchewan cut into that margin with three seconds left when Joseph hooked up with Dominguez in the end zone on a 22-yard pass.
After Keith's 76-yard scamper to further cut Calgary's lead, the gap closed to one point when Howell was forced to concede a single safety point with just over five minutes left in the third quarter on Congi's 52-yard punt.
The Stamps went for one yard on a third down from Saskatchewan's 30-yard line at the end of the quarter. Burris went down fighting for the ball with Saskatchewan's Scott Schultz, who came away with it.
It was ruled a turnover and after Higgins's challenge, officials said it was inconclusive whether Burris had possession of the ball when he went down and the call stood.
Higgins won a reviewed call that was pivotal in Calgary's second touchdown of the game. Elijah Thurmon was going down and reaching for the goal-line when Saskatchewan's Jackie Mitchell appeared to strip him of the ball.
Officials initially ruled a turnover, but Higgins protested and upon review, determined Thurmon's knee was down. Burris punched the ball in for a one-yard TD. Howell had put the Stamps in striking distance with a 40-yard punt return.
Howell broke open what had been a defensive battle in the first quarter with a 57-yard punt return for a major early in the second and an 11-5 lead, shortly after Calgary punter Burke Dales was forced to concede a two-point safety to the Roughriders.
Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER
- CAL -- S. DEANGELIS Field Goal (39 yds) - Field Goal (2:50)
- SSK -- L. CONGI Field Goal (13 yds) - Field Goal (8:54)
- CAL -- B. DALES Punt (75 yds) - Single (10:15)
SECOND QUARTER
- CAL -- M. HOWELL Punt Return (57 yds) - Touchdown (Defence)
- CAL -- S. DEANGELIS Convert - Convert(1) (3:41)
- CAL -- S. DEANGELIS Field Goal (25 yds) - Field Goal (12:44)
- CAL -- H. BURRIS Run (1 yds) - Touchdown (13:59)
- CAL -- S. DEANGELIS Convert - Convert(1) (13:59)
- SSK -- K. JOSEPH Completed Pass to M. DOMINGUEZ (22 yds) - Touchdown (14:57)
- SSK -- L. CONGI Convert - Convert(1) (14:57)
THIRD QUARTER
- SSK -- K. KEITH Run (76 yds) - Touchdown (0:35)
- SSK -- L. CONGI Convert - Convert(1) (0:52)
- SSK -- L. CONGI Punt (52 yds) - Single (9:26)
FOURTH QUARTER
- SSK -- L. CONGI Field Goal (41 yds) - Field Goal (4:34)
- SSK -- K. KEITH Run (14 yds) - Touchdown (12:48)
- SSK -- L. CONGI Convert - Convert(1) (12:48)
courtesy of cfl.ca
Date
November 5, 2006
