OUT OF THE TUNNEL: PLAYOFFS?

Winnipeg will host the West Final, Saskatchewan the semifinal against Calgary with B.C. and Edmonton on the outside looking in. Out East it’s Toronto, Montreal and Hamilton.

There are two weeks left in the regular season with a total of nine games. Three of them will involve the Edmonton Elks.

This gets us to our first Down of the week and it’s everything Edmonton.

We usually don’t agree with a lot of what the Edmonton Sun’s Terry Jones has to say but he made it very clear that the whole Edmonton Elks organization needs a complete reboot. It’s been a nightmare season inside and out.

From the awful handling of the name change, inept leadership from the football operations staff on the COVID-19 mandates, to awful attendance and finishing with their first ever winless season at home, pretty much everything has to go.

Like Terry, we don’t see much hope with what Edmonton currently has in their organization and while a mass culling will take them back to Square 1, no matter what it will take years for the previous kings of the CFL to get back to the top of the heap.

One big Up goes to the CFL’s East Division. For the first time since the 2015 season there will be no West Division crossover for the playoffs. The three top teams in the East all have a shot at an above .500 record and much of it can be attributed to an unbalanced schedule and a woeful Ottawa Redblacks season.

This will truly feel like an East versus West playoffs with the culmination in Hamilton in December.

We will say this probably every week but another Down — CFL offence…again. The four games this week averaged just a hair over 43 total points per game which continues to be a wretched mark. There were just two quarterbacks with over 300-yards passing (Michael Reilly and Taylor Cornelius) but they both came in losses and a pair of 100-yard rushing games (A.J. Ouellette and William Stanback) this week.

The NFL has been keeping the offence alive in the 2021 season but this week, they couldn’t even save us. The woeful week offensively was summed up with the Jacksonville Jaguars 9-6 upset win over the Buffalo Bills.

The final Up of the week goes to the Toronto Argonauts. We don’t know how they are 8-4 this season despite being out-scored 293-271, but whatever they are doing, keep it up.

They are undefeated at home with their final two regular season games coming at BMO Field. If they are able to seal up first and home field advantage in the Eastern Final, they just may make a return to the Grey Cup

This Week in Canada West

Manitoba Bisons (4-2) 22
Regina Rams (1-5) 3

Manitoba sealed up a home playoff date with an easy 22-3 victory at Mosaic Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Bisons took advantage of a depleted Regina Rams offence who were starting a backup running back at quarterback. The Rams had injuries to their three previous quarterbacks which put them in this untenable position.

The Bisons took advantage by holding Regina to just 125 yards of total offence. Manitoba will host the Alberta Golden Bears in the Canada West semifinals next weekend at IG Field in Winnipeg

Saskatchewan (5-1) 31
Calgary (2-4) 23

For the first time since 2006, the Calgary Dinos will not be participating in the Canada West playoffs. The Saskatchewan Huskies put the capper on a fantastic regular season by eliminating the Dinos with the 31-23 victory.

The box score doesn’t tell the whole story as the Huskie defence bent but didn’t break. Calgary had 603 total yards of offence but could only post 23 points. Saskatchewan will host the UBC Thunderbirds next week in the other Canada West semifinal.

UBC (3-3) 30
Alberta (3-3) 27

It was a frantic finish at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver. The Alberta Golden Bears were able to tie the game with under five minutes left in the fourth quarter courtesy of a Brad Launhardt touchdown pass to Jonathan Rosery. But UBC was able to drive the field for the eventual game winning field goal to win 30-27.

UBC has won three of their last four games to get into the playoffs after starting the season 0-2.

Canada West Semifinals

Saturday, November 13
UBC @ Saskatchewan 1:00pm Griffiths Stadium
Alberta @ Manitoba 4:00pm IG Field

This Week in the Prairie Football Conference

Semifinal Weekend

Regina Thunder 45
Winnipeg Rifles 26

The Regina Thunder continued their undefeated season by easily dismantling the Winnipeg Rifles 45-26 Sunday at Leibel Field. The Thunder got touchdowns from Lundyn Kups, two from Brayden Long, Carter Shewchuk, Rylan Sokul and from offensive lineman Max Fadden in the victory.

Saskatoon Hilltops 33
Edmonton Huskies 31

It was down to the wire at SMF Field in Saskatoon on Sunday afternoon. The Edmonton Huskies held a 24-14 halftime lead on the Saskatoon Hilltops only to see the defending national champions storm back for the 33-31 victory.

The Huskies held the lead after a touchdown with just 1:18 left in the fourth quarter. A mere 56-seconds after that, Hilltops receiver Dillon Heinz punched in the game-winning score to set up an all-Saskatchewan PFC final. 

The last time these two provincial rivals met in the finals was in 2017 when Saskatoon handed Regina a 36-24 loss at SMF Field in Saskatoon.

Next weekend’s final will be Sunday, 1:00 pm at Mosaic Stadium in Regina

Canadian Player to Watch in the NCAA

Enock Makonzo (Rs. Sr.)
Spur (LB/DB hybrid)
Coastal Carolina
5’11”, 195lbs.
LaChine, Quebec
High School – CGEP Du Vieux Montreal

One of the top ranked players for the upcoming 2022 CFL Draft in May, Enock Makonzo has been an outstanding defender for a very good Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football club. 

In 2021, the Chants have just one loss and are fighting for another Sun Belt title courtesy of their standout defence. Makonzo is the leader in the secondary from his hybrid defensive back/linebacker position with 45 total tackles along with a pair of forced fumbles this season.

(RODPEDERSEN.COM STAFF/Photo: CFL)