This was ‘The’ year for the B.C. Lions, but it ends prematurely after late-season tumult knocks them off championship course.
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The B.C. Lions came into 2024 determined to finally beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the playoffs. They structured their team with that in mind, to finally get over the hump that has bested them the past two years. And what better year to do it than when Vancouver hosted the Grey Cup?
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They won’t have to worry about that West Final rematch, and the Grey Cup, well, they can watch that on TV like most of us will. The Saskatchewan Roughriders ended the Lions’ season with a 28-19 victory Saturday night at Mosaic Stadium in the West Semifinal.
The Riders were a story in resilience this year; a nine-game stretch that saw them win just once was followed by a four-game win streak that saw them jump over B.C. into second place in the West. That gave them the all-important home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs, and a stadium full of toque-wearing Gang Green in full throat that did its part to disrupt the Leos offence.
Vernon Adams Jr. went over the 300-yard mark, going 20-of-33 for 317 yards and two touchdowns and three interceptions. The latter two picks came with B.C. trailing and forced into deep balls to make up a two-score deficit.
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Riders QB Trevor Harris was 26-of-33 for 279 yards and one touchdown, while AJ Oullette rushed 14 times for 70 yards and two scores.
B.C. was just 8-of-18 on second down attempts, a big part of the Riders’ 10-minute advantage in the time of possession (34:48-25:12). Jevon Cottoy lead the way for the Lions’ receivers with three catches for 82 yards and a touchdown, followed by Justin McInnis (5/66, 1 TD). B.C. linebacker Ben Hladik had a game-high 10 tackles.
The Lions got off to the start they needed; a seven-play, 91-yard opening drive that ended in a touchdown — a 56-yard catch-and-scoot by Jevon Cottoy to the end zone.
They held the Riders to just two field goals on their next two possessions, but after former Lion Marcus Sayles picked off Adams in the second quarter, the Riders turned it around to nose in front with a Oullette touchdown sneak.
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With two minutes left in the first half, Adams lined up as if they were going for it on third-and-three at midfield, but caught the Riders with a sneaky pooch punt that pinned them inside their 10. Saskatchewan went two-and-out, and B.C. ended up with the ball at the Riders’ 22 after a muffed punt and no-yards penalty.
They turned it into another touchdown, this one an 11-yard strike to McInnis to head into the half tied at 13-13.
On Saskatchewan’s first possession of the second half, they marched into the B.C. side of half, and saw Kian Schaffer-Baker get blasted after making a first down catch by Lions linebacker Ace Eley. Eley was flagged for unnecessary roughness, giving the Riders’ 15 more yards, and Ouellette scored his second of the night on the next play, running it in from the 30-yard line.
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The swirling winds at Mosaic Stadium were a challenge all night, as White hit the upright on the convert on the Lions’ opening touchdown, and again on a 39-yard field goal attempt in the third quarter that would have pulled B.C. within one.
It also made life tough for Saskatchewan’s Adam Korsak, who twice saw his attempts killed by the wind and turned into no-yardage penalties when returner Terry Williams picked them up among the crowd.
Whyte made a 17-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, but it took a sharp right hand turn going through the uprights as the wind caught it.
But Saskatchewan punched back immediately, going 70 yards in only four plays, capped off by an 11-yard touchdown to Jerreth Sterns. The two-point convert made it a two-point game, a 28-19 lead for the Riders.
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The Lions were pressing in the fourth quarter, driving down inside the Riders’ 45, but trying to make something happen, Adams floated a ball toward Hatcher in double-coverage and he was picked off by Nelson Lokombo — just his first of the year — with 4:30 left in the game.
Hatcher had a rough night, a combination of drops and skin-tight coverage limiting him to two catches for 12 yards on a game-high eight targets.
A pick from Rolan Milligan Jr., the likely winner of the Most Outstanding Defensive player award, sealed the game with under a minute left, allowing the Riders to kneel out the game.
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