Rob Vanstone: Heartbreak, yes, but home playoff game still looms

10/26/2024 09:25 PM

A sudden gust took the wind out of the Saskatchewan Roughriders' sails — at least for a few hours.

Burned in the brain was the sight of hot dog wrappers and other discarded items, suddenly swirling, at Percival Molson Stadium as the Montreal Alouettes lined up to punt in the waning seconds of a Saturday afternoon game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Joe Zema, whose punt just two minutes earlier had travelled 52 yards, was surprisingly faced with having to propel the ball into a prohibitive wind.

The resulting wobbler went 21 yards beyond the line of scrimmage before trickling out of bounds at the Alouettes' 44-yard line.

Two plays later, Sergio Castillo kicked a 51-yard field goal that gave Winnipeg a 28-27 victory — and first place in the West Division.

And there was deflation in Rider Nation.

A victory by Montreal, which had already clinched top spot in the East, would have given the Roughriders absolute control of their destiny entering their Saturday regular-season finale against the Calgary Stampeders.

One Roughriders win, piggybacking on a Montreal victory, would have given Saskatchewan the division pennant.

No such luck.

That gust of wind blew the Roughriders' Plan A depth chart out the window.

Just under an hour before kickoff, a revised document was distributed. Head Coach Corey Mace opted to rest a selection of key starters against a Calgary team that ultimately won 27-12.

Luminaries such as quarterback Trevor Harris, running back A.J. Ouellette, receiver Samuel Emilus and defensive halfback Rolan Milligan Jr. were late scratches.

Receiver Kian Schaffer-Baker dressed for the game, but did not catch a pass, as caution became the priority leading up to the West semi-final against the visiting B.C. Lions (Nov. 2, 4:30 p.m., Mosaic Stadium; tickets available HERE).

Walking toward the stadium, through the office and into the press box, the pre-game refrain was the same: "What on Earth just happened? Have you ever seen anything like that?"

Good question.

The mind rewinds to Nov. 22, 1970, when the Roughriders played host to Calgary in the deciding game of what was then a best-of-three Western Conference final.

Late in the game at a frozen, snow-swept Taylor Field, Calgary's Larry Robinson lined up to attempt a 32-yard, game-winning field goal into a wind that was gusting up to 62 kilometres per hour.

"I didn't think there was a chance," Robinson told this scribbler, then of the Regina Leader-Post, in 1988.

"I tried kicking into the wind from there before the game and never even got one to the goal line.

"When I did kick it, I thought it was going to make the goal line but go wide. Then a gust hit it and, whew, it went through.''

Calgary won 15-14 and, in a heartbeat, there was heartbreak.

A Saskatchewan team that had won 14 regular-season games — still the most in franchise history — and lost only two was bounced from Grey Cup contention.

"It was like somebody took the ball," former Head Coach Eagle Keys said in 2006, "and dropped it over the goal posts."

This time, thankfully, there is not an air of finality to the outcome of an exasperating game.

The consolation prize — a most appetizing one at that — is an opening-round home playoff game.

If the Roughriders are to attain their goal of winning a Grey Cup, an extra step will be required.

Keep in mind that the Roughriders have competed in the West semi-final in three of their four championship seasons.

In a day or two, or perhaps an hour or two, it will be a little easier to expunge Winnipeg versus Montreal from the memory bank and take an undistracted look at the week (ideally weeks) ahead.

At this point, however, it is difficult to subtract incredulity and disappointment from the equation.

The Roughriders were SO close to first place.

SO close to a Saturday home game to decide top spot.

Then Mother Nature intervened.

How else do you explain or digest it?

According to the official game summary, the wind at Percival Molson Stadium was blowing from the northwest at 15 kilometres per hour.

Cue the ultimately weather spasm, which included some precipitation, and people were reacting with astonishment and scrambling for parallels (see again: Robinson, Larry).

I reached out to legendary Roughriders placekicker Dave Ridgway, a Canadian Football Hall of Famer, on Saturday night and asked: In all your years of kicking, did you ever get sudden-wind-gusted?

"No, I don't think so," Robokicker responded.

"I've kicked into strong winds and come up short but, for the most part, I had an idea of its direction walking on to the field.

"I've had the wind change direction several times during a game but generally, when walking in, I knew where it was blowing from.

"So … who knows where that came from?"

SATURDAY'S SUMMARY

CALGARY 27 at SASKATCHEWAN 12

FIRST QUARTER

Sask — FG Lauther 29 7:26

Cal — TD Barnes 31 pass from Maier (Paredes convert) 13:46

SECOND QUARTER

Cal — TD Echols 19 pass from Maier (Paredes convert) 7:21

THIRD QUARTER

Cal — FG Paredes 21 6:49

FOURTH QUARTER

Cal — TD Michel 67 pass from Maier (Paredes convert) 0:19

Sask — TD Sterns 19 pass from Coan (two-point convert attempt failed) 7:34

Cal — FG Paredes 37 11:02

Attendance: 22,709