Riders topple Redblacks
OTTAWA — Kevin Glenn threw a TD pass and ran for another to lead the Saskatchewan Roughriders to a record-setting 31-20 East Division semifinal win over the Ottawa Redblacks on Sunday afternoon.
Saskatchewan visits the Toronto Argonauts in the East Division final next Sunday. The Roughriders will try to become the first crossover team to reach the Grey Cup since the rule was adopted in 1996.
Glenn finished 18-of-28 passing for 252 yards in his 12th career playoff start. Marcus Thigpen ran for a game-high 169 yards on 15 carries, including a key 75-yard TD scamper.
Trevor Harris, is his first career playoff start, had over 400 yards passing with two TDs and two interceptions for Ottawa. Harris is scheduled to become a free agent in February.
Ottawa suffered its first playoff loss after winning the 2015-16 East Division finals. The Redblacks (8-9-1) played their first semifinal game Sunday after finishing second to Toronto (9-9).
The Riders (10-8) were fourth in the West Division. They earned the East’s final playoff seed after amassing more points than the third-place Hamilton Tiger-Cats (6-10).
Saskatchewan and Ottawa combined for three touchdowns on the game’s first three possessions. That set CFL playoff marks for fastest two TDs (four minutes seven seconds); fastest three touchdowns (5:54); and first time the opening three possessions resulted in a touchdown.
Ottawa pulled to within 21-11 with Brett Maher’s 22-yard field goal at 2:56 of the third. But the Redblacks had a glorious chance for more after recovering a Saskatchewan fumble on a punt return at the Roughriders’ 19-yard line.
Thigpen cemented the win with his TD run on the next possession, putting Saskatchewan ahead 28-11 to the dismay of the TD Stadium sellout of 24,107.
Maher’s 29-yard field goal at 8:04 cut Saskatchewan’s lead to 28-14 but the Riders countered with Tyler Crapigna’s 31-yard boot to end the third for a 31-14 advantage.
Vernon Adams Jr. and Bakari Grant had Saskatchewan’s other touchdowns. Crapigna added the converts and a field goal.
Diontae Spencer and Juron Criner scored Ottawa’s touchdowns. Criner added a two-point convert while Maher booted a field goal.
Adams Jr. gave Saskatchewan a 21-8 half-time advantage with a one-yard TD run at 10:26 of the second quarter. The Riders dominated the opening half, outgaining Ottawa 308-213 and holding the ball for over 18 minutes.
Saskatchewan also forced two key turnovers. Samuel Eguavoen’s interception halted an Ottawa scoring drive at the Riders’ 10-yard line in the first before Ryan Lindley lost a fumble in the second at the Redblacks 37-yard line.
Saskatchewan’s defence forced 40 takeways (13 fumbles, 19 interceptions, eight on downs) this year, third-most in the CFL. Ottawa’s offence had 34 turnovers, third-most overall.
Saskatchewan opened the scoring with Glenn’s 29-yard TD strike to Grant at 2:49. Ottawa countered at 4:07 with Harris’s 56-yard TD pass to Spencer before finding Criner on the two-point convert.
Glenn’s one-yard TD run at 5:54 gave Saskatchewan a 14-8 lead, capping an eight-play, 82-yard march.
Eskimos defeat Blue Bombers in West semifinal
WINNIPEG — Adarius Bowman caught two touchdown passes and C.J. Gable added a pair on the ground as the Edmonton Eskimos defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 39-32 in Sunday’s CFL West Division semifinal.
It was Edmonton’s sixth straight victory and earned them a trip to Calgary for next Sunday’s division final against the Stampeders (134-1).
Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly completed 23-of-33 pass attempts for 334 yards with three TDs and no interceptions.
Bombers quarterback Matt Nichols, who didn’t appear to be hampered by a calf injury, was 35 of 48 for 371 yards with three TDs and no picks in front of an announced attendance of 27,244 at Investors Group Field.
The loss bumped up Winnipeg’s Grey Cup drought to 27 seasons.
Edmonton played in last year’s East Division final as the crossover team, losing to the eventual Grey Cup-champion Ottawa Redblacks.
Both clubs were 12-6 in the regular season, with Winnipeg winning the two previous matches. The Bombers had entered the game by wining only two of their last five games.
Edmonton had a 39-16 lead at 3:20 of the fourth quarter when the Bombers attempted a comeback. Weston Dressler caught a 20-yard TD pass at 6:58 and a two-point convert pass to Matt Coates was successful.
Winnipeg got down to Edmonton’s 26-yard line, but Chris Givens couldn’t hang onto a pass and the Bombers turned the ball over on downs with just over four minutes left. It was their third turnover.
As time expired, Dressler caught a 13-yard TD pass and also grabbed the two-point convert throw.
Bowman caught TD passes of 17 and 42 yards. Gable’s TD runs were both from 15 yards out. League-leading receiver Brandon Zylstra also scored on a 33yard catch-and-run.
Sean Whyte connected on a 20yard field goal for the Eskimos and made all five of his converts. Punter Hugh O’Neill added a 65-yard single.
Winnipeg’s other TD was a seven-yard catch from L’Damian Washington. Justin Medlock booted field goals from 20, 38 and 47 yards and was good on his one convert.
Edmonton led 7-3 after the first quarter, the game was tied 10-10 at halftime and the Eskimos were ahead 25-16 after three quarters.
The Eskimos’s first possession of the game was a nine-play, 84yard drive that ended with Bowman being wide open at the back of the end zone for a 17-yard TD reception at 6:06.
The Bombers responded with Medlock’s 20-yard field at 10:48.
Nichols led Winnipeg on an eight-play, 90-yard drive capped off by Washington’s seven-yard TD catch to give the home side the 10-7 lead, but Whyte’s 28-yarder at 5:30 tied it up 10-10.
O’Neill scored a point on a 65yard punt single for the 11-10 lead at 1:59 of the third quarter.
A direct snap to Winnipeg running back/receiver Timothy Flanders on a fake punt lost yards and the Bombers turned over the ball, leading to Gable’s TD at 5:29 for the 18-10 lead.
Medlock was good on a 38-yard field goal to close the gap 18-13, but Edmonton answered back fast in a three-play, 75-yard TD drive. Zylstra, alone in the middle of the field, ran 33 yards straight into the end zone to stretch the lead 25-13 at 10:57.
Medlock ended the third-quarter scoring with a 47-yard field goal, but then Bowman hauled in his 42-yard TD pass just 1:21 into the final quarter to make it 32-16.
Gable’s second TD came two minutes later after Dressler fumbled and a coach’s challenge was unsuccessful so Winnipeg turned the ball over.