In a nail-biting Western Semi-Final that came down to the final seconds, the BC Lions held off the Calgary Stampeders 33-30, advancing to the Western Final thanks to a 43-yard field goal from Sean Whyte as time expired. Despite Calgary’s dominance in total yards (476-298), time of possession (36:12-23:48), and first downs (14-10), key moments in special teams and a clock management mishap proved costly for the Stamps. Quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. delivered a valiant performance in a losing effort against his former team, while Nathan Rourke’s efficiency and explosive plays propelled BC forward. After diving into the film, here are the standout performers from both sides, followed by some thoughts on this memorable matchup
Jonathan of the Game: QB Vernon Adams Jr.
There’s always something sad about watching a great player play a great game but get eliminated in a playoff game. VA put together a great game against his old team, completing 23 of his 33 passes for 334 yards and 2 touchdowns. He did a great job navigating the pocket to extend plays against BC’s formidable pass rush, which generated 4 sacks. He did not have a turnover-worthy throw and rushed 3 times for 24 yards. If you negate the drop and batted pass from VA’s stats, his completion percentage adjusts from 69.7% to 74.2%
Stand Out Performances Among Lions
QB Nathan Rourke
Rourke was highly efficient, completing 16 of his 22 passes for 223 yards. In recent games, Rourke has had at least 1 turnover-worthy throw, but in this one, he had no turnover-worthy throws by my count. He also rushed 6 times for 68 yards with a long of 44 yards and had a 7-yard touchdown run on an RPO. He had 3 missed tackles forced on his rushes.
Rourke had an incompletion from a drop and another batted at the line. If those plays are negated, his completion percentage adjusts from 72.7% to 80%.
WR Justin McInnis
McInnis caught 4 of his 5 passes for 84 yards and had a missed tackle forced on a 29-yard reception in the 2nd quarter.
DE Mathieu Betts
Betts had 4 tackles, including a sack and a solo run stop. He had 6 additional pressures by my count (1 of which was a secondary form of pressure on the play.
DT Jonah Tavai
Tavai had 4 tackles, including a sack, and was in on 2 shared run stops. He had 5 additional pressures by my count (2 of which were a secondary form of pressure).
DE Bradlee Anae
Anae had 2 tackles, including a sack, and had 3 additional pressures (2 of which were a secondary source of pressure on the play).
DE Levi Bell
Fellow defensive end Levi Bell also had a noticeable impact in the pass rush with 4 total pressures past a blocker (2 of which were a secondary source of pressure).
LB Ben Hladick
Hladik had 2 tackles officially, including a solo run stop. He was also in on 2 shared run stops. In coverage, 1 target came his way, resulting in a 7-yard completion.
CB Robert Carter
Carter had 2 tackles in the game. He kept receivers from getting open, and as a result only had 1 target come his way, which was completed for 13 yards. He also returned 2 kickoffs for a total of 110 yards, the first of which was a 95-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
HB Ronald Kent Jr.
Kent Jr. had 3 tackles and was additionally in on a shared run stop. In coverage 2, targets came his way downfield, resulting in 1 completion for 8 yards; he also covered 1 screen pass, which went for 6 yards.
WR Seven McGee
McGee returned 3 punts for 31 yards and 3 kickoffs for 92 yards. He opened the game with a 55 55-yard kickoff return that set BC up to score a field goal on their opening drive.
Stand Out Performances Among Stampeders
RB Dedrick Mills
Mills rushed 14 times for 111 yards and caught 3 passes for 25 yards. He had a missed tackle forced on a 7-yard run in the 3rd quarter.
WR Jalen Philpot
Philpot had the second most receiving yards as he caught 7 of his 8 targets for 120 yards and a touchdown. He had a missed tackle forced on a 15-yard screen. His 42-yard catch was one of the most impressive of the weekend as he held on as he took a big hit to make the catch downfield.
WR Clark Barnes
Barnes caught 4 passes for 73 yards and a touchdown. He had a missed tackle forced on a 24-yard reception.
C Chris Fortin
I only attributed 1 pressure allowed to Fortin, which was the lowest among starting offensive linemen in this game by my count.
RG Christy Nikanu
Nikanu had only 2 pressures allowed in the game by my count.
DT Miles Brown
Brown had 2 tackles, including a sack, and by my count had 7 additional pressures (2 of which were a secondary source of pressure on the play.
DT Jaylon Hutchings
Hutchings had 2 sacks and a knockdown and 2 additional pressures by my count.
HB Jaydon Grant
Grant had 2 tackles. In coverage, he had 1 target come his way, which he broke up.
A Few Thoughts on the Game
BC Victory Aided by Key Moments of Special Teams
BC opened the game with a 55-yard kickoff return that set them up to score a 40-yard field goal from Sean Whyte despite going 2 and out on their opening drive. Calgary’s opening drive was unlikely to succeed after a face-masking penalty on their first offensive play pushed them back.
With just over 8 minutes left in the third quarter, Vernon Adams Jr. connected with Jaylon Philpot for a 30-yard touchdown, bringing Calgary closer on the scoreboard, making it a 14-20 game. However, on the following kickoff, BC scored a touchdown in the form of a 95-yard kickoff return from Robert Carter, killing Calgary’s momentum and making it once again a 2-score game.
Later, with just under 2 minutes left in the game, BC punted the ball with the game tied. On the return from Erik Broosk, Adam Auclair forced a fumble that Keiran Poissant recovered at Calgary’s 32-yard line. This set up another drive for BC to score a field goal despite going 2 and out and take the lead.
Clock Management Nightmare
With 8 seconds left in the first half, Calgary snapped the ball in first and 10 on BC’s 19-yard line. It was a play call that I did not like from Calgary, as it had one receiver run deep for the end zone and 4 receivers running a 5-yard hitch route. Those 5-yard hitch routes are pointless. Why, in this circumstance, is there only one valid route to throw at? A hitch route is not going to draw attention away from deep targets because, in this scenario, the defense does not care if you catch it there. There should have been a play with crossing routes into the end zone.
This particular play call was bad, even if it worked. If you’re gonna have everyone but 1 guy run a 5-yard hitch route, just kick the field goal. Instead, BC saw Vernon Adams Jr. roll right, taking too much time off the clock and completing a 13-yard pass to Tevin Jones, who ran up the sideline after running his route.
It was a bad plan with improper quarterback execution by not just throwing the ball into the dirt when the only valid target was covered. Calgary blew an easy chance for 3 points, which ended up being the amount of points they lost by. A gut-wrenching loss for fans and everyone involved in the Stampeders organization.
Calgary Needed to Call a Timeout Before BC’s Final Passing Play
With 9 seconds left in regulation, Nathan Rourke completed a 28-yard pass to Justin McInnis that set up a 43-yard walk-off game-winning field goal from Sean Whyte. There were signs pointing to disaster presnap for Calgary as the secondary was clearly not on the same page. Calgary’s safety rotated into shallow coverage on the weak side of the field, which is the last place they needed him. The Stamps were clearly not on the same page, as 4 players raised their hands as they communicated with each other on where everyone should be.
Head coach Dave Dickenson was standing right next to the official, and if he picked up on the apparent confusion presnap to quickly call a timeout, it would have been an incredibly well-spent timeout.
A Memorable Disappointment For Calgary Fans
This was Calgary’s 5th straight postseason loss and is one that Stampeders fans will likely not soon forget, as it was very winnable for Calgary. Calgary had 476 total yards to BC’s 298. Calgary also dominated the time of possession at 36:12 to 23:48. They also had 14 first downs to BC’s 10.
Key moments not having to do with BC’s offense made the game tilt towards the Lions winning, such as the kick return on the opening play to set up a field goal or the kick return touchdown. Then there was the fumbled punt return by Calgary that led to a BC field goal. That’s a 13-point swing from special teams from those 3 plays.
Then there’s the 3 points lost by running out of time in the first half. The final passing play by BC seemed as though Calgary’s defense was not on the same page, leading to a 28-yard pass that set up a game-winning field goal for BC that ended the game instead of going to overtime.
From those critical moments, there was a 19-point swing that Calgary fans likely feel could have been prevented. That’s a possible difference between losing 30-33 and winning 30-14.
Credit to the BC Lions
The Lions capitalized on their opportunities from special teams plays. While it was not the best game offensively, it was efficient and noticeably lacking mistakes. Calgary had the 2nd fewest fewest points allowed this season at 23.1 per game, and BC found a way to score 33.
