Rod Pedersen
The Saskatchewan Roughriders and BC Lions concluded the 2012 CFL regular season Saturday night at BC Place in Vancouver. The Roughriders (8-9) had already clinched third-place in the CFL West before the game while the Lions (12-5) had already clinched first. Rider GM Brendan Taman called Saturday’s contest a “glorified exhibition game”. Here’s the game log from the broadcast booth:
– The Rider scratches were DE Odell Willis, P Ricky Schmitt, DL Zack Evans and SB Weston Dressler
– The roof was closed at BC Place keeping out the steady downpour and 15 degrees Celsius temperature.
– The Riders wore their road white uniforms with green helmets and pants. The Lions wore their orange home jerseys with white pants and helmets
– The Lions won the coin toss and elected to receive to open the game. Their opening drive started at their 46. They got to the Rider 47 before punting.
– Saskatchewan’s first drive started at their 19. They were 2-and-out with Drew Willy as the starting quarterback.
– On the Lions’ second possession, receiver Andrew Harris fumbled and the Riders recovered at the BC 53. However Saskatchewan was 2-and-out again.
– Riders got their first sack on BC’s third possession as Brent Hawkins took down BC QB Travis Lulay forcing a punt at the Rider 49.
– Riders were 2-and-out on their first three possessions.
– On BC’s fourth possession Andrew Harris opened the scoring on a 20-yard rushing touchdown for a 7-0 lead with 1:10 to go in the first quarter.
– On the last play of the first quarter Drew Willy was picked off by Lions LB Adam Bighill at the Rider 44 tying the turnovers at 1-1.
AFTER ONE: LIONS 7 RIDERS 0
– Threw one quarter BC had 102 net yards to the Riders’ 6.
– BC punter Paul McCallum hit a 46-yard punt single 1:18 into the second quarter for an 8-0 Lions’ lead.
– Mike Reilly replaced Travis Lulay at QB for BC with 10:27 to go in the half. The drive started at the BC 3. They got all the way down to the Rider 5 before settling for a 13-yard Paul McCallum field goal. 11-0 Lions with 6:29 to go in the half.
– With 0:07 left in the half Rider kicker Sandro Deangelis kicked a 42-yard field goal to finally get the Riders on the board.
AT THE BREAK: LIONS 11 RIDERS 3
– The Riders got the ball to open the second half with J.T. O’Sullivan at quarterback. They started at their 27-yard line. They were 2-and-out.
– BC’s first drive started at their 50-yard line with Mike Reilly at quarterback. They were 2-and-out.
– The attendance was a season-high 36,357.
– On the Riders’ second series O’Sullivan moved them all the way down to the BC 24 before receiver Aaron Hargreaves fumbled and the Lions took over at their own 19. Turnovers 2-1 against SK.
AFTER THREE: LIONS 11 RIDERS 3
– The Lions controlled the ball through the fourth quarter down to the 5:48 mark when McCallum hit a 19-yard field goal to open up a 14-3 lead with 9:12 to go. It was a 9-play, 70-yard drive.
– With 7:00 to go the Riders’ Deangelis hit a 48-yard field goal cutting the Lions’ lead to 14-6.
– The clock ran straight time from 5:53 down to 3:00, not stopping once while BC had the ball. With 1:12 to go McCallum hit a 33-yard field goal for a 17-6 BC lead. He was 3/3 on the day.
– The Riders took over at their 35-yard line with O’Sullivan at the controls and they managed a couple of first downs until time ran out.
GAME OVER: LIONS 17 RIDERS 6
POSTGAME COMMENTS FROM RIDER COACH COREY CHAMBLIN:
– Glad it’s over with. Time to move onto the playoffs. We were able to see some good things out there. We didn’t stack a full deck but some guys played their hearts out.
– There is no right way or wrong way. They did what they thought they had to do and so did we. We were able to identify some key backups and roster changes going into the playoffs. We wanted to see if Macho Harris could do some good things and he did. Going into the playoffs we have to have the best players out there and I think we will.
– We left some games out there early in the season which would have made us a winning team but we accomplished enough to make the playoffs with a very young team. We’ll be a better team in the future but when the playoffs open, we’ll be ready to play ball.
– The biggest concern should be whether or not we win in the playoffs. That’s when we put all the eggs in the basket. We struggled on offence but we held a top team to less than 30 points.
– Now you know who you’re playing. You don’t have to worry about a short week or prep time but now we don’t have to worry about that. We have one team to prepare for, Calgary, and we’ll prepare our best for them.
*The Riders visit the Calgary Stampeders in the West Division Semifinal next Sunday at McMahon Stadium.
