Week 18 CFL Wrap

• The Saskatchewan Roughriders clinched a CFL post-season berth with a 28-24 victory over the Elks in Edmonton on Saturday night. The Roughriders improved to 8-7-1, and moved into second place one point ahead of the BC Lions, who also clinched a playoff berth. The Lions will face the Riders next Saturday with both teams still trying to secure a home playoff date. The Elks were eliminated from the playoff picture with the loss. “It is a relief,” said Rider QB Trevor Harris of clinching a berth in the playoffs after a two-year absence. “It will be a quick celebration and then it is time to move on because we have bigger and better things we want to accomplish as a group.”
• Brady Oliveira practically carried the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to the CFL playoffs. He ran for a season-high 147 yards and a touchdown to lead Winnipeg past the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 31-10 Friday night.Oliveira was especially effective in the second half as Winnipeg dominated on both sides of the ball. Its offence scored two touchdowns while the defence held Hamilton to no second-half points for the first time this season. The Blue Bombers held possession for more than 38 minutes of the game.

  Oliveira has run for a CFL-leading 1,254 yards. The league’s top Canadian last year also recorded his league-leading sixth 100-yard rushing performance. Winnipeg has clinched a home playoff game.

• The Calgary Stampeders will not make the CFL playoffs after a 32-15 loss to the BC Lions Friday night. BC’s defence led the way, with Mathieu Betts and T-J Lee each running in touchdowns off of turnovers. It’s the first time in 19 seasons that the Stampeders will not play a post-season game, and the first time since 1945 that both Alberta teams will not compete in the CFL playoffs.

• Asked after the win whether B.C.’s team performance would be enough come the post-season, quarterback Nathan Rourke was blunt. “I think in the other phases, it absolutely is. But I think offensively, we can’t play like that,” he said. “We came out flat in the first half. We didn’t score points in the red zone, and we’re going to have to do that. We did some good things elsewhere. I think we did improve in a lot of areas from last week. But I just don’t think that that’s going to win against playoff teams.”
• Meanwhile Kurtis Rourke threw for 380 yards and three touchdowns to help No. 23 Indiana stay unbeaten with a victory over Northwestern.The younger brother of BC QB Nathan Rourke is considered a top prospect in the 2025 CFL Draft.

(Canadian Press)