Roughriders advance to CFL West final with 29-25 win over B.C. Lions

REGINA – Weston Dressler scored two touchdowns and the Saskatchewan Roughriders overcame a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit to advance to the CFL’s West Division final with a 29-25 win Sunday over the B.C. Lions.

It was the Riders’ third straight win over B.C., dating back to the regular season, and moved Saskatchewan past the West semifinal for the first time since 2010.

Saskatchewan will face the Calgary Stampeders at McMahon Stadium on Sunday for the right to advance to the Grey Cup.

B.C. utilized a dominant rushing attack to keep the Riders at bay for most of the game, but Saskatchewan flipped the script in the fourth quarter.

Down 25-16, Saskatchewan quarterback Darian Durant reeled off a 35-yard run and then threw a 10-yard touchdown to Dressler who outran Josh Bell to the corner of the end zone.

Following a B.C. punt, the Riders got the ball back on their own 23-yard line. Kory Sheets ran four times for 27 yards to help set up Chris Milo’s 45-yard field goal and the Riders’ first lead since the first quarter.

The Roughriders sealed the deal after the three-minute warning, as Durant rushed for 28 and 16 yards on the final drive of the game and Milo hit his fifth three-pointer, this one from 28 yards, to cap the scoring.

Saskatchewan avoided disaster in the third quarter after coming up short on a long third-and-1 near midfield when Kory Sheets was tackled by Adam Bighill.

B.C.’s Stefan Logan was then held to seven yards on back-to-back runs and Paul McCallum’s punt went into the end zone for a 52-yard single and a 25-16 lead.

Logan was a key piece of the Lions’ rushing attack that went for 213 yards in the game.

The Roughriders had plenty of opportunities to blow the game open in the first half but froze up time and time again without doing any real damage.

On three straight drives they found themselves inside the B.C. 35-yard line but had to settle for six points, wasting a 55-yard circus catch from Taj Smith and a 55-yard punt return by Jock Sanders.

Milo provided all Saskatchewan’s offence until the final three minutes of the half, hitting field goals from 40 and 29 yards while missing off the upright from 38. The miss was his fourth time hitting a post this season.

Saskatchewan finally found the end zone after a screen pass from Durant to Sheets turned into a 61-yard gain. Dressler outran J.R. LaRose on the next play for a four-yard TD grab to make it 14-13 B.C.

The Lions took a 17-16 lead into halftime on precision 13-of-16 passing from Travis Lulay, who only threw four incompletions in all after the opening drive.

Lulay, making his first start since Sept. 15, completed passes to seven different receivers, including eight throws of 10 yards or more in the first half alone, to set up a pair of touchdown runs from Stefan Logan.

Logan hit paydirt from 14 yards to open the second quarter and from two yards to cap an eight-minute drive later in the quarter.

Lions kicker Paul McCallum and Milo traded field goals to end the half, Milo’s third of the game following a 43-yard pass from Durant to Smith that moved the Riders to the B.C. five.

Durant was near-perfect in the first half as well, completing 11 of 12 passes for 198 yards and finished 19-for-23 with 270 yards. He also wound up as the game’s leading rusher with 97 yards on six carries.

He appeared not to be affected by the absence of injured receiver Chris Getzlaf either, connecting four times with Smith for a game-high 126 yards.

Thomas DeMarco scored on a one-yard run to give B.C. a 24-16 lead early in the third quarter.

Lulay finished 20-for-26 passing for 211 yards.