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Riders fall in final game at Mosaic, Lions move on up to second in West

Riders fall in final game at Mosaic, Lions move on up to second in West

The Saskatchewan Roughriders drew up quite the plans to say farewell to Taylor Field at Mosaic Stadium Saturday after the 713th game there by their franchise and its predecessors, but the B.C. Lions spoiled the party a bit, coming away with a 24-6 win. Of course, the loss isn't disastrous for the Riders; they were 5-11 heading into this game and were eliminated from the playoffs weeks ago, so the result isn't particularly important for them, and there were some bright spots even in defeat. However, this second-straight loss and second-straight loss at home illustrates they still have a lot of work to do in building for next year. Meanwhile, this is a nice result for the Lions; it does eliminate their chances of crossing over, which is the real prize here, but it puts them into second place in the West for now and gives them an excellent chance of hosting a first-round playoff game.

It is special to see the end of an era at this Mosaic Stadium. It's had so much history as a place for Canadian football for over 100 years, and as a place where Saskatchewan fans have come together for so long. As CFL.ca's Jamie Nye noted recently, saying goodbye is bittersweet for many; the team's new stadium (which will go by the same name) will have a wide array of improvements, but the history at the old one deserves a thought:

On Saturday, many say it’ll be a bitter sweet day. Because there is something new ahead — it’s not like it’s the final game for the Roughriders, it’s just that they’ll be moving into a brand new state of the art facility.

The new place is grand. The new place has individual seats. The new place has cup holders. The new place has fully functional bathrooms.

But tears will be shed for the old, patched together stadium fans have called home for almost a century. Fans are traveling back home to be there. Catching flights from far away or getting in the car early to be there for the final game because it’s the last chance to reminisce. It’s the last chance to walk up to the stadium where we saw our first Rider game.

It’s the last chance to sit in the seats where we watched the first game and fell in love with this team and fell in love with this game.

And memories are vivid and clear.

This wasn't a thoroughly positive farewell for the Roughriders, either. It was another loss in a season that's been full of them, and not a particularly impressive one, or one where they were particularly close. After six second-quarter points, they didn't score again for the remainder of the game. Starting quarterback Darian Durant threw for just 163 yards on 28 attempts, backup Jake Waters threw for just 40 on five attempts, and Saskatchewan abandoned the run early despite promising results (both Greg Morris and Nic Demski averaged over seven yards per carry, but they only received seven combined touches). The defence was decent through the air, holding Jon Jennings to 241 yards and two touchdowns while picking him off once, but they were gashed on the ground by Jeremiah Johnson, who had 101 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries. There were some bright spots for the Riders, including a strong performance by recent signing Henoc Muamba (a team-high seven defensive tackles, plus three special teams tackles), but it's clear this now-5-12 team will still have a lot of work to do heading into next year.

Meanwhile, B.C. appears to be rounding into form at just the right time, and their win in this one could wind up being important. That moves them to 11-6 on the season and gives them second place in the West for now thanks to Winnipeg's loss to Ottawa earlier in the day. The Lions will still need to avoid a loss next week (along with a Blue Bombers' win over the Redblacks) in order to finish ahead of Winnipeg given that the Bombers hold the tiebreaker, but that's certainly possible, and that would mean they host the West's first-round playoff game. There's still a ways for B.C. to go, but they have a great ground game, an excellent defence and a passing game that's been pretty impressive at times. All of that was on display Saturday, and it led to the Lions not only raining on Saskatchewan's parade, but setting themselves up nicely for the postseason.