Stampeders advance to CFL West final with 36-30 win over Roughriders

CALGARY – The Calgary Stampeders beat the Saskatchewan Roughriders in a CFL playoff game for the first time since 1994 with a 36-30 victory in the West Division semifinal Sunday.

The win propels the Stampeders into next Sunday’s division final against the B.C. Lions. The victor in Vancouver advances to the Grey Cup Nov. 25 in Toronto.

Calgary quarterback Drew Tate hit receiver Romby Bryant on a 68-yard touchdown pass with 20 seconds to go to for the win. Stampeder kicker Rene Paredes booted the subsequent kickoff 90 yards and Saskatchewan conceded the single point.

Saskatchewan had taken the lead just 32 seconds earlier on Darian Durant’s 24-yard pass to Gregg Carr in the end zone.

In the East Division, the Toronto Argonauts head to Montreal and meet the Alouettes in the division final Sunday. The Argos were 42-26 winners over the Edmonton Eskimos in the semifinal.

Jabari Arthur scored his first career playoff touchdown on Sunday and Calgary third-string quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell finished short-yardage plays for a pair of touchdowns. Paredes was good from 50 and 40 yards.

Stampeder running back Jon Cornish, a finalist for the league’s most outstanding player award, finished with 109 rushing yards on 18 carries.

Kory Sheets and Carr each collected a pair of touchdown catches and Sandro DeAngelis added a field goal for Saskatchewan.

Tate completed 22 of 36 passes for 363 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He was sacked twice.

Saskatchewan counterpart Durant was 24-for-37 for 435 yards, four touchdown throws and two interceptions.

The first and second halves ended with a pile of points scored — 14 points with 52 seconds in the second and 13 with 12 seconds to go in the first.

Paredes was good from 40 yards out at 13:38 of the fourth quarter to give Calgary a 29-23 lead.

Calgary had a 61-yard touchdown catch by Nik Lewis in the fourth quarter called back because of a pass interference penalty on Marquay McDaniel.

Carr scored his first of two touchdowns in the fourth quarter at 6:27, grabbing an eight-yard throw from Durant with little room left for him in the corner of the end zone.

Stamps coach John Hufnagel announced earlier in the week that Tate would be his playoff starter. The 28-year-old was sidelined 14 regular-season games with a shoulder dislocation and subsequent surgery on his non-throwing arm. Backup Kevin Glenn went 9-5 in his absence.

Hufnagel chose Tate because of his athleticism. The quarterback scrambled out of trouble to make plays, including a 17-yard pass to Maurice Price in the third quarter when Tate was surrounded by green and white jerseys.

The University of Iowa product went 5-for-5 in passing for 68 yards on that scoring drive in the third quarter to make it 26-16 for the Stamps at 13:51.

The temperature at kickoff at McMahon stadium was -2 C. Attendance was announced at 30,027.

A 50-yard field goal from Paredes on the last play of the first half gave the hosts a 19-16 lead.

Calgary’s Keon Raymond blocked an attempted Saskatchewan convert after a touchdown. Fred Bennett recovered and ran 96 yards for a rare defensive two-point convert.

Durant and Sheets combined for a pair of touchdown catches in the second quarter on three and 11-yard throws at 12:49 and 14:48 respectively.

Arthur scored on a 38-yard pass from Tate at 9:19. Saskatchewan defensive back Eddie Russ lost his footing trying to cover Arthur in the end zone and left the Calgary receiver with an easy catch.

Saskatchewan’s 60 yards in major penalties assisted Calgary’s first scoring drive. Mitchell dove the yard to score at 2:52.

Tate took a late hard hit to the helmet from Saskatchewan’s Tearrius George on that drive. Tate was slow to get up, but stayed in the game.

Calgary’s defence twice sacked Durant and intercepted him once in the opening quarter, but the visitors emerged with a 3-0 lead on DeAngelis’s 29-yard field goal.

The Roughriders had beaten Calgary in playoff games four times in five seasons between 2006 and 2010, and also in 1997.

The Stampeders ranked second in both the division and the league with a 12-6 regular-season record, while the Roughriders were third in the division at 8-10. The Lions topped the CFL at 13-5.