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Tommy Nield's three-yard touchdown reception with 11 seconds left in the fourth quarter lifted the Saskatchewan Roughriders to a 24-21 victory over the BC Lions in the West Division final Saturday, sending the Riders to the Gray Cup.
Trailing 21-17 with 1:03 left in the fourth quarter, the Riders drove 74 yards in seven plays to score the winning touchdown and punch their ticket to the Gray Cup. The Riders will play the Montreal Alouettes in the Gray Cup in Winnipeg on November 16th.
The Alouettes advanced to the championship game with a 19-16 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East Division final earlier Saturday.
The Riders led 14-7 in the third quarter, but the Lions scored two touchdowns to take a 21-14 lead.
The Riders scored first from the BC five-yard line with three minutes remaining, but after two penalties, head coach Corey Mays decided to settle for a field goal rather than go for third. Lauter's 13-yard field goal cut the deficit to 21-17 with 2:42 remaining.
The Saskatchewan defense forced back-to-back two-and-out possessions to give the offense a chance to win the game.
The defense controlled the first half of Saturday's game, played in front of a sold-out crowd of 33,350 at Mosaic Stadium. The teams combined for 11 punts in the half, with six by the Riders and five by the Lions.
BC scored the only touchdown of the half on a nine-play, 103-yard drive late in the second quarter. BC defensive back Nathan Rourke, who was five-for-five passing, scored on a four-yard run with 4:09 left in the half to give the Lions a 7-1 lead.
Saskatchewan cut the lead to 7–4 when Brett Lauter kicked a 22-yard field goal on the final play of the half.
Saskatchewan returns to the Gray Cup for the first time since 2013, when they defeated the Tiger-Cats 45-35.
