Through the majority of the first half in the Western Semi-Final, it appeared the Saskatchewan Roughriders had completely exorcised all the demons that had plagued the club late in the CFL season.
The defence was holding the B.C. Lions and quarterback Nathan Rourke in check, the offence was getting the ball downfield and putting up points, and all signs were pointing to an upset victory for the Green and White.
Then the second half came, and every issue that had plagued Saskatchewan through their late-season losing skid came to bear, with a predictable result — a 33-26 loss.
The Lions overcame a 17-3 deficit in the second quarter and used Saskatchewan’s miscues to outscore the Riders 20-9 in the second half, handing the Riders their third defeat at B.C. Place in 2026.
As a result, the defence of their Grey Cup championship comes to an end, while B.C. moves on to face the Edmonton Elks in the Western Final next weekend.
“I thought we were buzzing obviously early and then things that had been the same things throughout the year kind of showed up,” Roughriders coach Corey Mace said on the Rider Broadcast Network postgame show. “I thought we were really, really detail-oriented. But it's just going to take one or two plays to allow a team like that to get back in the game and unfortunately that happened for us.”
To say things were going well for Saskatchewan early would be a massive understatement.
A fumble recovery on B.C.’s first play of the game set the tone, and the Riders were able to establish the run game on their way to building the 14-point edge thanks to a pair of field goals from Brett Lauther — who’d hit six on the day — and a touchdown plunge by Tommy Stevens.
That, combined with the defence stuffing B.C.’s run game and making life miserable for Rourke, and it looked like all systems were go for a Saskatchewan win.
Linebacker Seyi Oladipo Jr. was a big part of that early success. He finished with a team-high eight tackles and a sack. The disappointment of the result far outweighed his personal performance, though.
“I can't say I had a great game because we lost,” he said. “I feel that if I had a great game, the score would be different and that I can play a direct factor with that. The best part is that we fought tooth and nail down to the final second and gave ourselves a chance to win.”
The final six minutes of the half saw things start to turn, though, with a big play touchdown to Stanley Berryhill III giving the Lions some momentum. A late B.C. field goal after a brisk drive in the final 30 seconds made it a 17-13 game at the half.
Then came the final 30 minutes, and it all went awry for Saskatchewan. As Mace mentioned, it was largely because of issues that had cost the team so often late in the season coming to a head.
A short pass over the middle to Jevon Cottoy went for a 69-yard touchdown early in the third quarter, and a slew of missed tackles on multiple drives led to Cottoy striking again with 1:33 left in the third quarter.
That gave B.C. a lead they’d never relinquish, even as the Riders offence struggled to move the ball effectively in the latter half of the contest.
That was disappointing for KeeSean Johnson, who led the team with seven catches for 73 yards.
“I gotta go back and look at the film, but from what I know it was just a couple of things that we didn't execute on within the game,” Johnson said. “Just little things all around. But our team, we came out. We fought. There were just some things we needed to clean up.”
Of course, Rourke was a huge part of all that. As was the case in B.C.’s two wins over the Riders, he made tacklers miss constantly, extended drives and finished with 366 yards passing, three touchdowns and another 30 yards rushing.
For all that, the Riders once again found a way to make things interesting late. A missed field goal on B.C.’s final possession led to Trevor Harris driving the Riders to the B.C. 35 with two seconds left, but he was sacked on the final play of Saskatchewan’s season.
“We put ourselves in a situation where we're inside the 40 with two seconds left to be able to make it a game and we just couldn't get it done,” Mace said. “It’s a disappointing result, a lot of emotion in the locker room, but I'm so damn proud of that football team right there.”
The West Final features B.C. at Edmonton next Saturday with kickoff at 6:30 p.m.
