Halloween

“Fire up that Hot Stove, Bucko”

Congratulations to the San Francisco Giants for winning the team’s first World Series title since the glory days of Willie Mays at the Polo Grounds in 1954. The Rangers’ awesome power hitters were terrible as the Giants’ pitching was terrific and they had timely hitting. There were several former Sox players on the team including Series MVP Edgar Renteria, Freddy Sanchez, Ramon Ramirez and Javier Lopez. Congratulations to all. In fact, as World Series go, it was a pretty dull five-game event but the Giants dominated and that’s all that matters. The post-game rioting in the Mission district was relatively minor.

The Blue Jays recently hired Sox pitching coach John Farrell to be their new manager and while Farrell’s departure was not totally unexpected, it left a big hole in the team’s infrastructure that needed to be immediately filled with a quality hire. The Sox wasted no time in selecting former Oakland A’s pitching coach Curt Young to fill the void. Young is highly regarded and will hopefully be able to work with starters Lackey, Beckett and Daisuke to improve their performances.

As far as contracts go, the Sox had some big decisions to make regarding pending free agents. David Ortiz has a $12MM club option that can be exercised, but the club would like him to renegotiate a new deal for less money and more years. Papi is making noise about wanting “security” but the fact is that DH’s don’t make those sort of annual salaries any more. Guys like Guerrero were happy to take one-year deals for half that. Someone should seriously reach out to Papi and put it to him bluntly that things have changed. Adrian Beltre and Victor Martinez will hit free agency, and it’s quite likely that both will be gone. Beltre certainly made good on his “make good” one-year deal and will probably return to a West Coast team, where his family resides. Victor is looking for more years than the Sox are likely to offer. He had a good year-plus in Boston but the Sox are wary about investing big dollars in an aging player. A team like Detroit, that has tons of money coming off the books, will make a heavy bid for his services. Both players were quite likeable and would be missed.

2010-11 Boston Bruins Weekly Puck Drop:

Game 7 v. Toronto Maple Leafs (10/28/10):


Prior to the game, the team honored the Ultimate Bruin, Milt Schmidt on his 75th anniversary as part of the club. Johnny Boychuck suffered a broken arm in the Rangers’ game and will be out for a month. Adam McQuaid will take his spot on the blue line.

The Leafs came out in their classic 1930’s unis and the B’s came out in their all-black alternates. Tim Thomas started in goal against Jonas Gustavsson. There was a rumor that the B’s were considering returning Tyler Seguin to his junior team but that was quickly shot down by the coach. The kid’s a keepah. Anytime the B’s and Leafs get together these days, Phil Kessel is front and center. The B’s flipped Kessel to the Leafs before last year for two #1’s and two #2’s. The Leafs were dreadful last year and finished with the second-worst record in the NHL. The B’s were able to draft Seguin with the Leafs’ pick.

In retrospect, Kessel was a tremendous offensive player, but was never a “Bruin” (i.e., a player who won’t go into the corners and shies away from the physical aspects of the game that the B’s traditionally value). GM Brian Burke is trying to re-make the Leafs by bringing in stud defenseman Dion Phaneuf from Calgary to bolster the back line and Kessel was intended to be the big gun up front. He scored 30 goals for Leafs last year, but how well did the team perform?

Leafs aggressively forechecked in the early going and limited the B’s opportunities. The B’s killed off an early power play, but were unsuccessful on their first shot with the man advantage. Kessel skated off for a line change while Ryder skated past him with the puck…What??? Late in the period, the Leafs’ Luca Caputi rang a slapper off the post as Thomas was fortunate on that play. The B’s went on the power play at 18:37 as Brett Lebda went off for interference. The Leafs’ Komisarek (a borderline-dirty player) tried to goad Wheeler into a scrap but the linesmen broke it up. Patrice Bergeron scored his first goal of the year (100th Career) on one-time rebound from Chara’s shot The Leafs had a flurry of shots on Thomas in the closing seconds of the period after a defensive breakdown, but the siren blew just in time.

The B’s had a power play to open the second but generated little pressure. Brad Marchand then went off for the second time shortly after the B’s power play expired. Kessel took a hard check from Stuart in the corner on the Leafs’ power play and the crowd cheered loudly. Midway through the period, Horton and Phaneuf had a decent go and Horton was a one-punch winner. The two had been chippy with one another leading up to the scrap and finally had enough. Horton was assessed an extra ten-minute misconduct. Seguin put the B’s ahead, 2-0 at 12:26 on a pass from Seidenberg as Seguin had great sense to be in the right spot at the right time. The B’s had pressed the play in the Leafs’ end as Ryder swept the puck behind the net, fed to Seidenberg at the point, who passed to a wide-open Seguin at the left side of the net. Gustavsson was completely defenseless on the play. After the goal, the crowd began chanting “Thank you, Kessel”… Leafs had another power play shortly thereafter and Thomas stoned Kessel cold on a shot directly out front. Shawn Thornton had a great chance late in the period that Gustavsson knocked away.

Moving into the third, both teams had a couple of early chances. Thomas stopped Phaneuf’s blast and then made a couple of really good stops three minutes in. Midway through the period Kessel broke in on a 3-on-2 but the puck hopped over his stick just as he got to the front of the net. Seguin then broke in alone with the puck but was hauled down by Lebda and no penalty was called, as the referee figured he lost his balance (with help) before shooting, but Seguin showed some serious speed, blowing by two defenders. Marchand then had a great chance but missed the net. The Leafs pulled Gustavsson with a minute left, but the B’s back end held up well and nothing got past Thomas on this night.

Game 8 at Ottawa Senators (10/30/10):

The B’s opened up a three-game road swing starting with a Saturday night date with the Sens at f/k/a The Palladium in Kanata (we don’t give trillion-dollar banks free advertising around here). Ottawa has a number of very good players up front, led by their captain, Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, Milan Michalek, Mike Fisher and the enigmatic Alex Kovalev. This game was Armed Forces Appreciation Night. Anytime service members are honored is a really classy move by a team. The Senators have struggled coming out of the gate at 4-5-1 and are lowly-ranked in GF (24th)/GA (23rd) but their PK unit is top-10. They’ve won their last two and are looking to keep rolling against Tim Thomas and the B’s.

Brian Elliot got the call in goal for Ottawa and was tested right off the bat on a wrist shot by Marchand that slid across the crease. Stuart checked Sens’ enforcer Dan Neil hard into the boards but no penalty was called. The B’s moved the puck well in the first four minutes and had three quality shots on Elliot. Krejci then put the B’s up 1-0 at 4:32 when he grabbed a turnover and fired a wrist shot into the upper right corner. Kovalev responded with three shots in a matter of moments that Thomas turned aside. Late in the period, Sergei Gonchar fired a bullet from the point that Thomas stopped. Elliot then made a spectacular stop on Wheeler’s backhander at the top of the crease. Wheeler made a second slap at the puck and ended up getting whistled off for a slash. After the power play expired, Horton had a great chance on a 2-on-1 break but his shot went wide of the net.

The B’s went on the power play at :37 of the second but couldn’t generate any chances on Elliot. A few minutes later, Mike Fisher ripped a wrist shot off the crossbar. Alfredsson appeared to have scored the tying goal, but it was waved off when the referee ruled that Fisher was hanging out in the crease; indeed he was there so long he could’ve set up a lawn chair. Hunwick then picked up a turnover by Regan and fired on Elliot but his shot was snared. Ryder then flipped a backhander on Elliot that was turned away. The B’s went up 2-0 at 13:55 on the power play as Seguin scored on a perfect pass from Recchi as Seguin broke directly to the net from the red line, Recchi saw him streaking and flipped a perfect pass and Seguin had a wide open right corner and buried the puck. The Sens had a late power play as Horton went off for hooking at 15:55 and had a couple of perimeter chances but nothing more. Horton had a breakaway coming out of the box but Elliot turned away the shot. After a turnover in the B’s end, Lucic broke in alone and snapped the puck behind Elliot to make it 3-0 at 18:24. For much of the period, the B’s were out-skated by Ottawa but took advantage of their opportunities.

The Senators came out full bore to open the third and had a couple of chances that Thomas turned away. The action went back and forth for nearly seven minutes without a whistle as the B’s seemed content to continually move the puck out of danger. Jordan Caron made it 4-0 at 9:03 on a breakaway from a deflected puck at the B’s blue line as the Sens had all of their players up in the zone and left Elliot defenseless on the play. Caron’s goal let the air out of the Sens’ attack. The fans derisively started the “Ole, Ole” chant, mocking the Sens’ performance. To be fair, the last two Bruins’ goals were the direct result of the Sens’ gambling by sending everyone up the ice to try to get a goal. With a couple of minutes left, Neil went after Seidenberg, who held his own with the heavyweight. The B’s got a power play as a result of the scrap but were a little bit sloppy moving the puck. Thomas picked up his second straight shutout and had another really good night, especially when the Senators threw everything at him but the kitchen sink.

To The Pitch:

Wrexham Match 17 at Histon (10/30/10):

After being off last week, Dragons returned to action with a road date against Histon at the Glassworld Stadium on Saturday. The match was a heartbreaking result for Wrexham as Gareth Taylor put them ahead early in stoppage time only to see a sure victory slip away on Antonio Murray’s goal in the last gasp. With the 1-1 draw, Wrexham is now 6-4-7-25 and in 7th place in the Blue Square Premier table.

Piacenza Match 12 v. Portosummaga (10/30/10):

After losing 3-0 to Caligari in Coppa Italia play on Wednesday evening, biancorossi played to a scoreless draw with Portosummaga at Pier Giovanni Mecchia on Saturday afternoon. While they picked up a badly-needed point, they’re 2-5-5-11 and firmly in the relegation zone.

Liverpool Match 10 at Bolton Wanderers (10/31/10):

In the never-ending soap opera associated with international football, Liverpool’s former gaffer, the renowned Rafael Benitez, called out Roy Hodgson, suggesting that Hodgson focus his energies on motivating the players currently on the roster instead of complaining about the high degree of roster turnover. Perhaps Hodgson got the message as Reds won their second consecutive match against Bolton at Reebok Stadium on Sunday afternoon on Maxi Rodriguez goal in the 86th. Reds are now 3-4-3-12 and have worked their way from the pit to the middle of the Premiership table.

Gridiron Time:

Harvard Crimson Game 7 at Dartmouth (10/30/10):

10 Saturdays
10,000 Men
1 Team

The 4-2/2-1 Crimson traveled to Hanover for Homecoming Weekend at Dartmouth’s Memorial Field as the Big Green were looking to put a dent in Harvard’s Ivy Title hopes. Collier Winters started at quarterback for the Crimson as they won the toss and elected to receive. Starting at their 25, the Crimson used the no-huddle and Gino Gordon and Treavor Scales were able to move the ball out to midfield on a series of rushes. Scales picked up 10 on a screen left and then Winters connected with Kyle Juszczyk on a pass to the 33. Winters then found Schwarzkopf at the 11. From there, Mike Cook took a wide receiver screen and was hauled down at the 1. On second down, Winters rolled right and into the end zone for the touchdown. With Mothander’s point after, the Crimson took an early 7-0 lead. Junior quarterback Connor Kempe started the Big Green’s offense at the 35. On second down, McManus scrambled up the middle in the wildcat for 21 into Harvard territory. After Nick Schwieger was gang-tackled for a loss, Dartmouth punted away and Harvard took over at their 13. On third down, Gordon moved the ball out to the 24. An off-sides penalty against Dartmouth gave the Crimson another life and Winters hit Adam Chrissis out to the 43. Scales then carried twice into Dartmouth territory. On third down, Scales ripped up the middle to the 33. Gordon then picked up another first down on a run around right end to the 23. From there, Winters completed passes to Gordon and Chrissis to bring the ball to the 10. On third-and-4 from the 5, Winters carried around right end and the Crimson went up, 14-0 with 1:40 left in the quarter. It was a 17-play, 87 yard drive that chewed up about eight minutes on the clock. Starting at the 32, Schwieger gained 9 on first down, and then 3 on the next play.

After Dartmouth punted away to open the second quarter, the Crimson started out at their 13. Gordon was able pick up a first down and then Scales was able to move the ball out to the 36. From there, Mike Cook passed to Chrissis on a trick play down to the 27. Mothander then kicked a 43-yard field goal to make it 17-0. McManus carried on the wildcat out to the 38 and Schwieger carried for another first down out to midfield. From there, Kempe carried up the middle on the option down to Harvard’s 41. On third-and-8, Kempe was intercepted by linebacker Josh Boyd, who returned the ball to Dartmouth’s 26. On second down, Gordon went off right tackle to the 15. On third down at the 10, Winters found Chrissis over the middle at the 3 and Chrissis leaped into the end zone. With the point after, Harvard was ahead 24-0 with 5:25 left in the half. After Dartmouth punted away, Gordon carried off right tackle for 29 yards, giving him 91 yards in the half. Dartmouth’s Tyler Melancon then sacked winters for a seven-yard loss and the Crimson had to punt for the first time in the game. The Big Green’s Shaun Abuhoff took the punt at the 18, rolled to the left and took it to the house to put Dartmouth on the board. Harvard’s Matthew Hanson returned the kickoff to the 45 and Winters connected with Chrissis down to the 36 on second down. Still working in the no-huddle, Winters found Juszczyk, who rolled out of bounds at the 22. In the final minute, Juszczyk took a pass from Winters at the 10. From there, Mothander kicked a 27-yard field goal as time expired in the half and went into the locker room ahead 27-7.

Abuhoff took Mothander’s kickoff and returned the ball out to the 28. Schwieger carried for 9 on first down. On third down, Kempe’s pass was intercepted and Harvard took over at their 40 and then an “illegal substitution” penalty against Dartmouth resulted in another first down for the Crimson. Winters was sacked at the 42 and the Crimson had to punt away. McManus made a great catch on the right sideline for 33 yards and the Big Green were in business in Harvard territory. Schwieger then carried (and spun) for a first down to the 38. Kempe’s pass into the end zone was broken up by Dan Minamide. Schwieger then went off left tackle down to the 18. Kempe was then sacked by Josue Ortiz and the Green went for it on 4th-and-17 at the 25. Kempe’s pass over the middle was intercepted by Bobby Schneider and the Crimson took over at the 20. On first down, Winters hit Curtis Ross on the right sideline and Ross raced 66 yards up the right sideline to the 26. From there, Mothander kicked a 35-yard field goal to put the Crimson ahead 30-7. On Dartmouth’s next drive, Kempe hit McManus on a 29-yard gain to the Harvard 30. From there, Schwieger took it to the right for 7 but suffered a leg injury on the play. Dartmouth’s Foley Schmidt’s 40-yard field goal attempt went wide right. Scaled then carried up the middle for 15.

After the Crimson punted away to open the fourth quarter, Kempe hit Michael Reilly on a long-gainer to Harvard’s 30. After getting sacked, Kempe connected with Tanner Scott at the 5. On second down, Pierre went off right tackle and leaped into the end zone to make the score 30-14. On Dartmouth’s next possession, Kempe moved the offense to Harvard’s 30 before he was sacked by Alexander Norman for a 6-yard loss. On fourth-and-17 at the 39, Kempe hit Reilly, who made a leaping catch at the 15. From there, Kempe connected with McManus over the middle down to the 6. Kempe then attempted four straight shots into the end zone and all were incomplete. On fourth down, he took a very hard hit while throwing the ball and walked off the field in a daze. Scales then went over 100 yards on the day with his carry on first down, but went out of the lineup after taking a hard hit. From there, Winters took a knee and Harvard walked off with a hard fought 30-14 win.

Illegitimum Non Carborundum.

UFL Hartford Colonials Game 6 at Sacramento Mountain Lions (10/30/10):

Coming off a heartbreaking OT loss in Vegas, the Colonials stayed out west with a Saturday night date with the Mountain Lions at Hornet Stadium. It was a cool evening in Sacramento (57°) as the home team won the toss and started out at their 41. Sacamento is led by running back Cory Ross and quarterback Daunte Culpepper. Ross carried three straight times and moved the ball to Hartford’s 41. From the 38, Ross carried around right end for 30 yards as the Colonials had a few tackling issues. From there, John David Washington (Denzel’s son) took a swing pass from Culpepper, broke right and carried into the end zone. With Fabrizio Scaccia’s extra point, the Mountain Lions grabbed an early 7-0 lead. Josh McCown and the Colonials’ offense started at the 30. McCown hit Tyson DeVree on third down out to the 42 and kept the chains moving. McCown was sacked by Notre Dame’s Maurice Crum for an 11-yards loss and Jy Bond punted away. Starting at the 10, Culpepper hit Marcus Maxwell over the middle and Maxwell carried on the right to the 46. The drive stalled at midfield and Tom Malone’s punt carried into the end zone. The Colonials lost 5 on a pass completion to Steptoe that should’ve been slapped down. After another punt by Bond, Aaron Woods returned the punt at the 39 and took it straight up the middle for a touchdown, the first punt return for a touchdown in UFL history and Sacramento went up 14-0. The Colonials started out their next drive at the 34 as Ryan Perriloux came in at quarterback. A holding call set the ball back Perriloux’s next pass was intercepted by Dennis Keyes, but the Lions were flagged for pass interference giving the Colonials a first down at midfield. Lorenzo Booker then ripped up the middle and carried all the way to the 2. On second-and-goal, Booker carried around left end for the touchdown. With Melhaff’s point after, the Colonials moved to within a touchdown at 14-7. Woods returned the ball to the 24 as time in the first quarter expired.

On first down, Culpepper hit UTEP’s Joe West all the way down to Hartford’s 11. An offensive holding call move the ball back 10 yards. Taye Biddle picked up 11 yards on a swing pass, on the play there were at least five missed tackles—really bad defense out there! On third and 9, Jonas Seawright tackled Culpepper for a loss, so Sacramento settled for a chip shot from Scaccia to make it 17-7. McCown came back out to lead the offense from the 26 but the drive generated nothing and Bond punted away. The Colonials got the ball right back at their 10, and McCown threw a perfect strike to Shaheer McBride on the left sideline for a first down. A pass interference call against the Lions moved the ball to midfield. McBride then grabbed another sideline pass at the 39. McCown then hit Steptoe in the slot and he rumbled all the way to the 1. From there, newly-signed Tory Harrison carried in off right tackle and the Colonials tightened the score at 17-14. From the 35, Ross carried up the middle for 18 Tyler Clutts then took a short pass in the flat for a first down at the Colonials’ 41. Culpepper hit Maxwell, who made a leaping catch for a first down at the 24. Ross then ripped up the middle for 9. On third-and-3, Austin English hauled down Culpepper for a loss and Scaccia knocked in another easy field goal to make it 20-14. Gerard Lawson returned the kick all the way back to the 43. From there, Booker carried up the middle on a draw, broke a couple of tackles and moved the ball down to the 15. After McCown’s pass intended for Markee White was caught out of bounds, Taylor Melhaff’s 34-yard field goal attempt went wide right with nine seconds left.

Lawson had a decent return of the second half kickoff to the 36. After picking up a first down at midfield, Harrison carried up the middle for 9 and then Booker carried for 9 more. McCown then connected with White at the 15 for another first down. White picked up another first down on a catch in traffic at the 4. The Colonials couldn’t push the ball further but Melhaff missed again from 22 as the Colonials blew a golden chance to score. On Sacramento’s next drive, Culpepper connected with West over the middle at the 35. After Culpepper unsuccessfully went for the downs, the Lions punted away and the Steptoe had a nice return to the 35. McCown was able to move the offense to Sacramento’s 45 on a pass completion. A pass interference call on the Lions’ Malvo moved the chains to the 35. McCown hit DeVree at the 22, but McBride dropped a pass in the end zone on third down. On fourth-and-8, the coach elected to go for it rather kick a field goal and ended up turning over the ball over on downs.

The Lions picked up a first down at the 30 at the end of the quarter. Moving into the fourth, Culpepper was sacked and Malone punted away for a touchback. Perriloux returned at quarterback and hit Markee White on a 70-yard touchdown run and catch and, with Melhaff’s point after, the Colonials went ahead 21-20 with 12 minutes left. On the play, Perriloux escaped a rush and found White at the 15. The Lions’ corner was late on the play and White hustled it in from there. Culpepper was intercepted by Ryan Palmer at the 5 on an ill-thrown pass. McCown was then intercepted by Andrew Sendejo at the 25 and returned to the 1. On the play, McCown took a hard hit but avoided a sack and threw into the middle of the field, where the pass was deflected and Sendejo picked up the ball and raced toward the end zone. The Lions attempted a two-point conversion, but Culpepper’s pass intended for West was tipped away on the left sideline. McCown took another tough hit but was able to complete his pass to White as the Colonials moved the ball out to the 45. From there, McCown hit a wide-open Steptoe, who broke a couple of tackles and raced down to the 8 on a 47-yard catch and run. McCown took another rough shot on first-and-goal but stayed in the game. McCown was sacked on third down by Schable and the Colonials settled for a field goal by Melhaff to make it 26-24 with three minutes left. The Lions went three n’ out on their drive and the Colonials returned the punt to the Lions’ 42. The Colonials were able to move the ball into the red zone as the clock ticked down to seven seconds, when Melhaff hit a 23-yard field goal to give the Colonials a thrilling 27-26 victory. Booker set a UFL single-game rushing record with 147 yards on 17 carries.

Saskatchewan Roughriders Game 17 at British Columbia Lions (10/31/10):

It was a partly cloudy and cool (12/54°) afternoon at Empire Field in Vancouver as the Riders looked to right the ship as they moved toward the playoffs. Of particular concern in recent weeks has been the Riders’ poor run defense, which has averaged 182.6 yd/gm in their previous five games. They have also lost their last three games.

Riders won the toss and started out at their 30. Darian Durant picked up a first down on a scramble up the middle and then connected with Andy Fantuz at the 50. On second-and-3 at the Lions’ 40, Cates’ rush up the middle was stuffed and new kicker Warren Kean’s field goal attempt went wide right. On the Lions’ first series, quarterbacks Jarious Jackson and Travis Lulay alternated to move the ball out to midfield but the drive stalled there and the Riders regained possession at their 25. On first down, Durant connected with Fantuz over the middle on a long gain, and with a face mask call tacked on, the Riders were well inside BC territory. Durant connected with Koch on the left sideline at the 6 but Durant then threw two incompletions and the Riders had to settle for a chip shot field goal by Kean to take the early 3-0 lead. On the Lions’ next series, Lulay hit Geroy Simon on the right sideline to the Riders’ 50, but the drive fizzled and Paul McCallum punted away.

The Riders opened the second quarter with the ball at the 28. Cates carried up the middle to pick up a first down at the 30 but Durant could not advance the ball any further. Andrew Harris returned Eddie Johnson’s punt to the 45 but the Lions punted away after falling a couple of yards short of the first down. Starting at the 30, Durant hit Koch on a curl n’ go that covered 40 yards. Cates then carried off left tackle for seven more and Fantuz picked up the first down on a tough catch over the middle. Ryan Phillips then intercepted Durant’s next pass at the 17 as a promising opportunity to score went by the boards. On second-and-10, Lulay connected with Emmanuel Arceneaux, who made a leaping catch at midfield. A roughing-the-passer call against the Riders’ Murphy gave the Lions a new life and they were able to capitalize on the error. Lulay hit Simon at the 18. After Lulay was sacked at the 20, McCallum kicked a short field goal to tie the score 3-3. After the Riders’ drive stalled, the Lions’ Yonas Davis then returned Eddie Johnson’s punt 88 yards for the touchdown to give BC a 10-3 lead late in the quarter. Davis snared the punt, waited for his protection to gather, took a juke right and was g-o-n-e, gone. BC got the ball back after thr three-minute warning and moved the ball into Riders’ territory following another good punt return by Davis. Lulay hit on a couple of sideline passes to Simon and Paris Jackson to move the ball to the 27. From there, McCallum hit a 34-yard field goal and BC went up 13-3.

On the Riders’ opening drive of the third quarter, Durant was able to move the offense to BC’s 30. Wes Cates then carried for a first down and then Durant hit Koch on a 25-yard touchdown pass. Koch caught the ball over the middle at the 20 and scooted in from there. With the point after, the Riders were back in it at 13-10. The Lions quickly picked up a first down on Lulay’s pass to Simon but Barrin Simpson tackled Lulay short of the next first down after his protection broke down and the Lions punted away. After both teams exchanged possessions, the Riders took over inside BC’s territory at the 45. After picking up a first down by the nose of the football, Durant’s careless shovel pass was intercepted by Aaron Hunt and the Lions quickly moved the ball inside Riders’ territory. Lulay then attempted two long shots to the end zone that were incomplete and McCallum’s 45-yard field goal attempt was wide left. Grice-Mullen attempted to return the kick, fumbled but the ball was recovered by the Riders’ return team. Sean Lucas was injured on the play for the Riders but was able to leave the field without help. Starting at the 13, Durant picked up a first down on a pass over the middle to Chris Getzlaf. Durant then scrambled up the middle for another first down on the final play of the quarter.

Durant connected with Fantuz on a slant at midfield to open the fourth quarter. Durant was then sacked by Korey Banks for a big loss on second down and Johnson punted away. The Riders then took over at their 33 after McCallum’s punt. On first down at the 45, Phillips intercepted Durant again at the 40 but was stripped of the ball by Szarka and Fantuz recovered at the Riders’ 41. On second down, Durant was sacked, fumbled and Banks recovered at the 22. The Lions quickly moved the ball inside the Riders’ 5 where Lulay connected with Steven Black, who made a nice leaping catch in the end zone. On the play, the Riders inexplicably only had 11 defenders on the field. With McCollum’s point after, BC went ahead 20-10 with six minutes left in the game. On the Lions’ next possession, Jamaal Robertson ripped up the middle for 37 yards to the Riders’ 38. From there, McCallum kicked his third field goal of the game to put BC up 23-10.The Riders then faced a do-or-die 3rd-and-5 at the 50 when Durant connected with Jason Clermont to keep the drive alive. Fantuz then made a nice catch and grab at the 25. From there, Durant connected with Getzlaf, who made a great over-the-shoulder catch in the right corner of the end zone and it was 23-17 with 1:38 remaining. The Riders attempted an on-side kick. The Lions recovered, but the ball popped loose and it appeared as if the Riders’ James Patrick touched the ball before it went out oof bounds but the referees ruled (after review) that the ball went out of bounds before it was touched by Patrick. Keith Shouligan sacked Lulay on second down and the Riders got the ball back inside their 5 with less than a minute left. Durant scrambled for a first down at the 20 with 30 seconds left but was sacked on a desperation third down pass attempt with two seconds left and that was that.