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CALGARY — John Hufnagel needed only a single season to make his first Grey Cup appearance as a CFL head coach. For his quarterback, the wait was decidedly longer but no less sweet.
For the first time in a career that has spanned two teams and a string of postseason setbacks, Henry Burris is going to the league's championship game. He earned his ticket by scoring the winning touchdown and leading the Calgary Stampeders to a 22-18 win over the B.C. Lions in today's West Division final.
"That's the way Henry's played all year," praised offensive lineman Jeff Pilon, whose Stampeders will face the Montreal Alouettes in next Sunday's Grey Cup game in Montreal's Olympic Stadium. "He fought through a lot and found a way to win. He is the most valuable player."
Burris had a workman-like game passing the ball, completing 17 of 27 attempts for 236 yards and a touchdown. He also tossed what could have been a back-breaking interception in the third quarter when B.C. defensive back Korey Banks returned the ball to the Calgary one-yard line.
Calgary Stampeders receiver Nik Lewis celebrates after making a first down against the B.C. Lions during the first half of their West Division final in Calgary. (Todd Korol/Reuters)
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But instead of barging their way into the end zone, the Lions were dropped twice for a loss of three yards, both times by a ferocious Mike Labinjo, who finished the game with eight tackles and three quarterback sacks.
Labinjo's one-man goal-line stand forced the Lions to kick a field goal when a touchdown would have ballooned their lead while setting the stage for a Burris-led comeback.
"That was probably the play of the game," Hufnagel said of Labinjo's second-and-goal tackle that dropped B.C. running back Ian Smart for a two-yard loss. "Forcing them to kick the field goal not only motivated the defence but also the offence."
The Stampeders had a horrid first half managing just 96 yards compared to B.C.'s 248. Trailing 12-2, what kept their hopes alive was the way their defence was keeping the outcome in doubt as it waited for the offence to come around.
Finally, in the dying seconds of the first half, Burris connected with receiver Ken-Yon Rambo for a 22-yard touchdown to convince the Stampeders they could get the better of B.C.'s defence.
"We knew it would come together," said Burris, who had taken the brunt of public criticism the past three years after each of Calgary's consecutive losses in the West Division semi-final. "We did enough together to get the job done."
The Lions actually had two glorious chances to blow up Calgary mid-way through the third quarter. On the first, they reached Calgary's seven-yard line only to watch second-string quarterback Jarious Jackson come off the bench and fumble the football.
Three plays later, Burris was intercepted but Labinjo saved the day. Lions' kicker Paul McCallum was his team's lone point-getter counting six field goals, the longest coming from 35 yards.
"All year, our defence wasn't getting the credit it was due," said Labinjo, a Canadian defensive end, "especially with B.C. having all the all-stars and doing all the trash talking. We kind of rallied together. We knew if B.C. could have scored (off the interception) that could have drained our team."
The Lions, who had lost three times to Calgary in the regular season, had a last-second chance at stealing the game when the Stampeders failed to run out the clock. Given one second and the ball at the Calgatry 40-yard line, quarterback Buck Pierce scrambled before lofting a pass into the end zone.
The Stampeders knocked it down and began what they called a long over-due celebration.
"This is our time," said receiver Nik Lewis. "We've been through a lot but today the defence won it for us. It's unbelievable."
The Stampeders beat Montreal twice in the regular season. Ironically, the quarterbacks from both teams, Burris and the Alouettes' Anthony Calvillo, are up against one another for the league's most outstanding player award. Burris insisted there's only one trophy on his mind and it goes to the best team.
"Thirty years from now people won't remember who the MVP was but they'll remember who won the Grey Cup," he said. "We're going into a hostile environment. It'll be like a home game for Montreal … [But] we earned this over our four-year stint here."
