Age and Guile beats youth and a bad haircut in Western Final!

Going with an offensive line with four Americans and Logan Ferland, the Riders in temperatures which were around the -15 range by game end, were determined to pound BC into submission. The Riders had the advantage because of the cold weather said the conventional wisdom.

There was a factor no one had considered. The Riders had practiced in beautiful conditions the week before the western final and when the temperature started dropping the Friday before the game, the Riders it seemed were not ready for that as well.

Harris admitted that after the game, because playing in cold weather requires some subtle adjustments. As a quarterback you want velocity on the ball, so it gets to the receiver quickly, but not too quickly that it stings their hands. Harris probably took too much off the ball in the first quarter.

While the Rider passing game was working out the kinks, the Rider running game and offensive line were made for these conditions.

AJ Ouellette ran for over 100 yards, did two hurdles but unfortunately after the second hurdle fumbled the ball that BC could have turned into points but in the weirdest cast of déjà vu, got an interception resulting from a ball that bounced off the BC receiver and a few others before Marcus Sayles, the former Lion picked up by the Riders last season, returned the ball.

Rourke looked to pick at the miscommunication in the Riders secondary but was hampered by the rush by the Rider defensive line. The Riders did give up a touchdown resulting from a busted coverage, but the Lions did not help their cause by having their receivers drop several balls, likely because of the cold so the cold weather was of some use.

The running by Ouellette mixed in with a short passing game, helped the Riders move the ball toward the end of the second quarter when they narrowed the score to 7-4.

After half time the Riders came out and Harris found his stride with Samuel Emilus and Kian Schaffer-Baker and pulled ahead

The Lions though came back to tie the game and then pull head in the fourth quarter. With five minutes left in the fourth, the Riders drove down the field but bogged down at the five-yard line and settled for a field goal with 2:38 left in the game to make it 21-17.

Fans around me were incredulous the Riders were not going for it, but I didn’t see the problem. The Riders would have to score twice to win, and the field goal helped, but the onus would be on the defense to stop Rourke.

Rourke had already rushed for a couple of touchdowns and to show how delicate he is, yelled up at the good people of Pil Country “It’s Our Time” referring to comments Harris made at a pregame press conference where he said he didn’t want to talk about Rourke because he felt it was the Riders time.

Rourke used that for motivation it seemed. After the Rider field goal, all the Lions had to do is get one, maybe two first downs and the Grey Cup berth would be theirs.

The Lions had a short run followed by an incomplete pass which was helped by an illegal procedure with no end. One of the more underrated factors in the post-game analysis was the fan noise which played havoc with BC play calling.

So, the Lions punt the ball back, but the Riders had two incomplete passes and punted the ball. While fans could have lived with the field goal and followed Rider Coach Cory Mace’s reasoning, the punt with 1:48 left had some fans going to the exit figuring the Riders had blown another game.

James Butler had seven yards on the first play for the Riders and then the Riders pulled off the play of the year so far. Rourke tried a quarterback sneak, but Bo Horvath of the Lions was manhandled by AJ Allenas he tried to block for Rourke and Jameer Thurman stepped up and stonewalled Rourke, forcing the Lions to punt and the Riders take over at their 34 with 1:10 left.

Harris then went to Emilus for three receptions and Ouellette for one before Dhonte Meyers made an amazing catch at the BC 3 yard line.

The Riders could have gone to Ouellette, but the clock was a factor. Despite being interfere with by Gary Peters of the Lions, Tommy Neuld of the Riders caught a three-yard touchdown pass.

Then came a really long confirmation from the Command Center that finally confirmed the touchdown was valid. The Lions had a kickoff return and with five seconds left did a rugby style play throwing the ball around until they finally gave up, punted and the Riders won.

The cold and the fact I had to go to work in an hour kept me from watching the trophy presentation, but it was good to see the Riders not touching the trophy, just like in 2013. While watching the game repeat on TSN, there was one fan with a sign that had Rourke’s picture with a circle around him and a line drawn through it like a no smoking sign.

The fan posted Rourke’s wife saw it, confronted him, and tried to take it away. Then after the game 3DownNation posted that some Lion player had a death threat, but I seriously doubt despite the best efforts of 3Down any Rider fans were involved.

Then the Lions Amar Dorman posted a picture, apparently from Reddit, and saying it showed the catch was not a catch. The problem was who knew what the hell was in the picture since it was blown up to such a degree it was useless.

The bit by the Lions ignored the last Rider BC game where BC got a touchdown even though there was no definitive reception. While I admire the feistiness, the high maintenance touchiness of the Lions makes me think that if things don’t go their way, they will blame everyone else except maybe their offensive and defensive coordinators who called the plays that allowed the Riders to stop the Lions and then move the ball 74 yards in 50 seconds.

So, the Riders face Montreal who got past Hamilton 19-16 in a game very similar to the western final. Not much of a first half with both offenses struggling and then things opening in the second half. Hamilton surprised me with how they were able to put pressure on Davis Alexander and force him to tweak his hamstring trying to get away.

Montreal has a solid defense, but Hamilton was able to run on them due to Shawn Oakman being suspended for stupid behavior and injuries to other defensive linemen. If the Riders keep four American offensive linemen, as they did against BC, expect them to do a lot of running.

The weather is ranging anything from 4C to zero and with that, you can see more passing. While Alexander is getting treatment for his hamstring ranging from massage to stem cells but while Alexander may start the game, he may not finish.

The Riders in their two games against Montreal have not played Alexander, who is on a 13-game undefeated streak heading into the Grey Cup as a quarterback. This means the stats of the two games the teams played can be thrown out.

While the Riders dominated Montreal 34-6 in the first game, the Rider secondary was scorched with injuries and Montreal picked on the first-time starters in the defensive secondary for a record day for their receivers. The Rider secondary is coming back fully healed and Austin Mack of Montreal bears watching as he tries to overcome a bit of an injury.

Montreal could find success with going deep on the Riders again, at least before they get their lines of communication figured out. However, expect a defensive game where both teams may enjoy sporadic success, but whoever stays more disciplined to their game plan will prevail.

Expect to see Montreal use backup quarterback McLeod Bethel Thompson in some packages to reduce the pressure on Alexander’s hamstring but more importantly to force the Riders to spend more time studying MBT to see what plays they might use.

Montreal will try to run, but if the Riders can stuff the run consistently, be disciplined in their rush lanes against Alexander, and force him to run and maybe tweak that injury some more, his mobility will be affected and this helps the Riders.

Offensively look to the Riders to mix the run and pass game as they feel out the Alouettes and then in the second half concentrate on those areas they feel they can exploit.

When it comes to special teams, I guess the advantage goes to Montreal, but the good news is Brent Lauther has not enjoyed the yips that made field goal attempts an adventure earlier this season.

So, while the spreads between the two teams were substantial in their regular season games, the Riders last two Grey Cup games against Montreal were decided by a total of three points.

The 2025 Saskatchewan Roughriders do not blow people away. What Mace did in the last three minutes of the western final was turn the game over to his defense and they rose to the challenge. The focus the team showed in its practices towards the western final came through when the team needed to stop Rourke.

I was in Calgary in 2009 during the infamous 13th Man game and in Edmonton in 2010 when the Riders lost by two points. This game will be just as close, but I like the Riders depth more and the Riders have everyone contribute to make this a real team, something I saw in the Toronto Blue Jays and their recent run.

Last year I told Donna Hodel while I didn’t think they would win the Cup last year, I thought they had a solid chance this year. I chose the Riders to win it all this year at the start of the season. I am not going to stop now.

Riders 26-25.

by Greg Urbanoski

Age and Guile beats youth and a bad haircut in Western Final!

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