Riders outlast Stamps, on to final against Als

Call it Lady Luck, karma, paying it forward, or a simple case of being in the right place at the right time with the right attitude.

Whatever your pleasure, the Saskatchewan Roughriders will take the opportunity to end 12 months of hearing those chants of "13" from opposing fans and players by beating the Montreal Alouettes in next weekend's 98^th Grey Cup classic.

They earned the chance with a 20-16 victory over the host Calgary Stampeders on Sunday afternoon in a game that kicked off in 17 C weather and went south from there.

Didn't matter to the Green and White, though. What's a little chance of frostbite whenthey can win the Western Conference final and get a chance to remove that monkey off their backs, chip off their shoulders, or nightmare from their memory banks?

For those who just joined the ranks of Canadian Football League fans this season, the Riders had the 2009 championship in hand when Damon Duval missed a field goal with no time left.

But Saskatchewan had 13 men on the field one too many and Duval was given another chance. He made it. Montreal won.

"The way last year's Grey Cup ended, the script couldn't have been written any better," Roughriders quarterback Darian Durant said. "It's always been in the back of our minds. We knew getting back to the Grey Cup would be tough and it was. There were a lot of slumps, up and downs, and we're looking forward to the rematch."

Calgary almost did as well this time.

Wes Cates dove over for the winning points in the third quarter and the Saskatchewan Roughriders held on from there to set up the rematch of last year's title game.

For a moment it looked like awful luck was going to strike the Green-and-White again when a fumbled punt with three minutes to go wound up in the Saskatchewan end zone, waiting for someone to claim it.

But the Riders' Jerrell Freeman, who had started the play as an up blocker about 40 yards back, hustled in to corral the ball and give Saskatchewan the chance to run out the clock.

"This one is going to sting for a while," said Calgary head coach John Hufnagel.

"It's very disappointing. In the first half we had too many penalties, which was killing us on both sides of the football. In the second half we moved the ball, but when we got across the line we weren't able to finish."

A pass to Cates by Durant, and two hard scampers by the running back were good for a pair of first downs and the clock was run out. Durant finished the game 20 of 36 for 180 yards and two touchdowns, plus an interception.

Chris Getzlaf, the offensive star of the contest, caught eight balls for 109 yards and a touchdown, while Cates added 60 ground yards on 12 carries.

Henry Burris was 19-for-28, 229 yards, a touchdown and a pickoff for Calgary, with Nik Lewis catching six balls for 55 yards and Joffrey Reynolds running for 52.

Saskatchewan meets Montreal next Sunday at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton at 4:30 p.m.MT in the 98th Grey Cup game. The defending Grey Cup champion Alouettes advance toa third straighttitle gameafter disposing of the Toronto Argonauts 48-17inthe Eastfinal on Sunday.

"[Montreal is] a tremendous football team," said Riders coach Ken Miller. "We have our work cut out for us. There's no doubt about it. We'll work hard and be eager to play in a week."

Stamps rode out quickly

Calgary led this one 4-0 before the choice of footwear first made itself significant in the17 Cweather.

Malik Jackson picked off Durant and ran the ball back to the Riders 25, where two plays later Burris dropped back to pass. Arjei Franklin and defender Tad Kornegay were both heading right across the middle until the Calgary receiver put the brakes on.

So did Kornegay, but Franklin's horseshoes bit just a little better. He reversed, caught the ball and sprinted into the end zone for an 11-0 Stamps lead with the convert.

"It was very cold, toes were frozen, hands were frozen," said Durant. "But when you have a Grey Cup at stake, you have to put those things aside and we came out on top."

For the next dozen minutes the teams traded punts before Durant, who had done nothing to this point, finally got the Riders' attack on track.

After a sharp little seven-play drive, Durant was first and goal from the Calgary seven when he hit Getzlaf on a crossing pattern and he waltzed in for an 11-7 Stamps lead after the kick.

That catch was Getzlaf's third on the drive and fifth overall for the game so far.

Burris came right back but somehow lost track of James Patrick, the CFL's leading interceptor, who stepped in front of a receiver, hauled the ball in and ran it back the other way to the Calgary 12 where the quarterback himself made the tackle.

A few plays later, Durant was first and goal again with nine seconds left and this time went deep in the end zone to rookie Cary Koch, who beat Brandon Smith, caught the ball and wound up sliding into an advertising sign with the go-ahead score.

Heading into the blessed warmth of the dressing rooms, the Riders led 14-11.

There were 10 punts in the opening 30 minutes, five by each club.

Out came the ground game

After Calgary opened the second half with a field goal, the Riders decided to try something a little different: running.

Wes Cates took it twice for solid yards, but on the second he seemed to drop the ball and turn it over. After one of the longest replay timeouts since they brought the rule in, the call was reversed and Saskatchewan kept the frozen ball.

Mixing passing and running evenly and helped by a Stamps' penalty, Durant came up to the line, first and goal, and gave it to Cates who hit a small hole and then dove to break the plane of the goal-line for the touchdown. That should have led to a six-point lead but the kick was botched, leaving the score20-15.

A Stampeders single on a punt early in the fourth trimmed the Saskatchewan lead to four points at 20-16,but the scoring on the day was done.