Paul McCallum's six fieldgoals bested the two touchdown effort of Stu Foord Saturday night, leading the BC Lions to a 27-21 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders in a West Division matchup in Regina.
The Riders opened the scoring 3:45 into the game, as a 12 yard loss on a kicking situation for BC resulted in a safety touch. However, four Saskatchewan turnovers, two offensive and two on special teams, resulted in a pair of fieldgoals from 28 and 17 yards for the Lions' Paul McCallum, giving BC a 6-2 lead after one.
McCallum's third fieldgoal, this one from 50 yards out, pushed the Lions' lead to 9-2 not quite six minutes into the second quarter. The Riders were then presented with a golden opportunity about six minutes after that when BC sailed the ball over McCallum's head on a punt deep in their own territory. Stu Foord capitalized on the next play, scoring on an 18 yard run. Luca Congi converted to tie the game 9-9 with 2:45 remaining in the half. The Lions responded by driving the field for the go ahead score, as Buck Pierce hit Geroy Simon with a 12 yard scoring strike. McCallum's convert, with 1:14 remaining, gave BC a 16-9 lead heading into the halftime break.
BC opened scoring in the second half, as McCallum booted a 25 yard fieldgoal with 9:45 remaining in the third, increasing the lead to 19-9. The lead moved to 21-9 with 6:16 remaining, as an 11 yard loss on a Saskatchewan punt, resulted in a safety touch against the Riders. Foord, subbing for the injured Wes Cates, responded 3 minutes later by taking a pass fron Devin Durant and scoring on a 55 yard scamper, with Congi's convert drawing Saskatchewan to within 5 at 21-16. The Lions took the ensuing kick to near centrefield, then drove for another McCallum fieldgoal, his fifth of the game. The 16 yarder put the visitors up 24-16 at the end of the third quarter, leaving the Riders faced with the prospect of having to make another 4th quarter comeback.
The comeback attempt started 2:06 into the final quarter as Congi booted a 47 yard field goal, bringing Saskatchewan to with 5, at 24-19. Then, after a missed facemask call caused a Rider fumble and sent the 30,945 fans at Mosaic into a near riot, BC turned the ball over deep in their own territory. The Riders couldn't take advantage however, as the Lions defense stopped Saskatchewan on 3rd and goal at the 1, with about 7 minutes left in regular time. BC could only move the ball 3 yards, then took a safety touch with 5:44 left, which sliced their lead to 24-21. The Riders went 2 and out and the Lions took advantage, driving deep into Saskatchewan territory. McCallum kicked a 35 yard fieldgoal, his 6th of the game, putting BC up 27-21 with 1:59 left. A 24 yard kick return set Saskatchewan up at their 39 yard line, with a final chance to complete the comeback and win the game. The Riders couldn't move the ball and kicked the ball away with 1:17 left. The Lions made a gutsy move by keeping the offense on the field on 3rd and less than a yard, with just under a minute remaining. BC converted the first down and ran out the clock, winning the game 27-21.
The win moves BC's record to 7-5 for 14 points and into a third place tie in the West with Edmonton, who plays at Montreal Sunday afternoon. Saskatchewan, the defending Grey Cup champions, but losers of 4 of their last 6 games, drops to 8-4 for 16 points and into a first place tie in the West Division with Calgary, 34-4 winners at home over Toronto. Edmonton can knot the West into a three way tie at the top with a win Sunday.
The Riders look to rebound on Sunday, September 28th at Montreal, against the East Division leading Alouettes. Montreal is 7-4 for 14 points, heading into Sunday's contest with Edmonton. Next Sunday's game kicks off at 12:00p.m. Central time. Rod Pedersen calls the play-by-play online at http://www.620ckrm.com/.
1 comment:
John!
That's quite a recap! You got all of that from listening online? Impressive.
This is Rod logged in under Alyia's name.
Take care buddy
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