B.C.FAN wrote:Congratulations to the Stampeders for claiming a well-deserved berth in the Grey Cup. They finished in first place, beat the Lions four times, kept B.C. out of the end zone today and seized the momentum in the second half to come from behind for the victory.
Congratulations also to the Lions for a hard-fought effort. It was an up and down season by B.C.'s standards, but the team still came within one play of going to the Grey Cup. It was an exciting and rewarding season, and I'm sorry to see it end for the Lions.
This was a game of lost opportunities . You can't expect to win when you can't score a touchdown, especially with so many great chances. Failing to punch it in after Korey Banks' interception return to the one yard line in the third quarter was the turning point.
Many people expected this to be a high-scoring game. It was instead a battle of two great defences. You can't fault the B.C. defence after two outstanding games in these playoffs.
The key to the game was Calgary's success at taking away the long ball on the outside. Paris Jackson was held without a catch. Geroy Simon ran a couple of good post patterns but the only deep pass caught against the Calgary cornerbacks was Grice-Mullen's contested catch in the dying minutes. If you can't beat Calgary deep, you can't expect to win.
Excellent summary B.C. Fan!!
Here is the game recount by the Canaqdian press. Interesting that our defence held Calgary to 3 first downs and 60 yards offence until the last Calgary play of the first half--that was phenomenal.
Offensively, we were inside the Calgary 3o yard line four times in the first half but failed to score a touchdown. In the second half we only scored 3 points and those three points came off the field goal when we failed to convert from the one yard line after Banks interception. Our defence did their job....our offence didn't...plain and simple!!!!
CALGARY -- The Calgary Stampeders advanced to the Grey Cup for the first time since 2001 with a 22-18 win over the B.C. Lions in Saturday's West final.
The Stampeders will meet the host Montreal Alouettes in the Grey Cup on Nov. 23. The Als downed the Edmonton Eskimos 36-26 in the East final Saturday.
Calgary finished the regular season with the best record in the CFL at 13-5, but the Stampeders were under pressure to win a playoff game because their last post-season win was that Grey Cup victory in 2001.
B.C. finished third in the West at 11-7 and upset Saskatchewan Roughriders in last week's semifinal.
Calgary quarterback Henry Burris threw for 236 yards and one touchdown and ran the ball in for a touchdown. CFL receptions leader Ken-yon Rambo also scored a touchdown in front of an announced sellout of 35,650 at McMahon Stadium.
Calgary's Sandro DeAngelis kicked field goals from 42 and 27 yards out in the third quarter and missed from 48 yards out late in the fourth.
The Lions had stellar defence in the game, but didn't muster one touchdown. Paul McCallum kicked six field goals from 23, 20, 35, 32, 30 and 12 yards.
Calgary defensive end Mike Labinjo had two sacks, forced a fumble and made two consecutive tackles to prevent a B.C. touchdown early in the second half. Cornerback Brandon Browner's interception with 1:19 remaining was key as it gave the Stamps the ball on their own 25-yard line.
Lions head coach Wally Buono challenged a no-catch call by the officials with a minute and a half remaining and won the review. They ruled receiver Ryan Grice-Mullen didn't let the football touch the turf under pressure by Browner.
DeAngelis was wide on a 48-yard attempt with 1:38 remaining.
After trailing for three quarters, Burris gave the Stamps a 22-15 lead at 3:42 of the fourth when he punched the ball in from the one-yard line. B.C. kept the pressure on with McCallum's sixth field goal of the game at 6:24.
With the Stamps on the Lions' seven-yard line late in the third quarter, Burris fell victim to B.C.'s front four and he was tackled for losses by Cameron Wake and Tyrone Williams. DeAngelis tied the game 15-15 from 27 yards at 13:36 after kicking a 42-yarder at 9:29.
B.C.'s Korey Banks intercepted Burris early in the second half and ran the ball to the one-yard line. It was Calgary's defensive line stepping up to prevent a TD with Labinjo twice stopping ball carrier Ian Smart, and the Lions settling for a fifth field field goal at 6:03.
The B.C. offensive and defensive lines dominated the first half and the Lions emerged from it with a 12-9 lead.
The Lions held the No. 2 offence in the CFL to under 60 yards and just three first downs until Burris's 22-yard touchdown pass to Rambo with nine seconds remaining in the first half.
Pierce had time and space behind his offensive line, but B.C. failed to score a TD from inside the 30-yard line four times in the first half and settled for field goals by McCallum.
The Lions' offence had the ball for 20:01 minutes in the first half compared to Calgary's 9:59.
Demetrious Summers set the stage for Calgary's TD with a 53-yard punt return. It was his second 50-plus return of the game. Rambo caught Burris's pass two steps before he ran out of room in the end zone.
"When I went to Catholic high school in Philadelphia, we just had one coach for football and basketball. He took all of us who turned out and had us run through a forest. The ones who ran into the trees were on the football team". (George Raveling)
