It wasn’t the regular season the B.C. Lions planned for.
After starting the campaign 5-1, the Leos faced challenge after challenge — injuries, an extended losing skid, a quarterback controversy — and finished third in the West with a 9-9 record.
Now B.C. is looking to use that adversity as fuel as it heads to Regina to meet the Saskatchewan Roughriders (9-8-1) in the West semifinal on Saturday.
“It’s great that we’re battle tested,” said defensive back T.J. Lee. “We’ve been through a lot.”
Playoffs are the great equalizer, where every team’s record resets to 0-0, said quarterback Vernon Adams Jr.
“Whatever happened during the year, it does not matter. You have to come to play regardless,” he said Thursday. “So regardless of who you are, if you got a first-round bye or not, you have to come to play. And that’s it. We just want to play our best football moving forward.”
The Lions know there are more setbacks ahead, said head coach and co-general manager Rick Campbell. The key to weathering them will be focusing on one play at a time.
“That’s going to be the name of the game. Playoffs is really about resiliency and bouncing back. And you’ve got to do that on both sides,” he said. “When something bad happens, you move on. If something good happens, you move on and do it again.”
B.C. heads into the playoffs well rested and healthy following a bye week. The Lions last played on Oct. 19 when they downed the league-leading Montreal Alouettes 27-3.
That result won’t count for anything come Saturday, Campbell noted.
“Ir’s always better to win than to lose, that’s for sure,” he said. “But I think when you shift to playoff mode, it’s just a different deal and it’s all do or die.”
The Riders finished their regular season with a 27-12 loss to the Calgary Stampeders last week.
After splitting the season series with Saskatchewan, though, everyone in the B.C. locker room knows they’re in for a battle come Saturday, said running back William Stanback.
“They’re a fiery team. They can execute on all cylinders,” he said. “They’re a team that you really have to watch out for and be well prepared to go up against. But we’re a confident group. We know what we can do, what we’re capable of.”
The Riders limited Stanback — who had the second-most rushing yards (1,175) in the CFL during the regular season — to just 35 yards when Saskatchewan trounced B.C. 39-8 back on Oct. 12.
“Sometimes, as a running back, you get games like that,” said the 30-year-old American. “But you just have to be mentally strong where you don’t get frustrated and understand every game isn’t going to be like that.”
The Lions possess another major offensive threat in Justin McInnis, who led the league in receiving yards this season with a career-best 1,469.
The 28-year-old receiver from Pierrefonds, Que., said he worked hard for the accomplishment — and that hard work continues as the post-season begins.
“I’m super proud of myself,” said McInnis, a former Roughrider. “But at the end of the day, it doesn’t mean nothing if you don’t get that Grey Cup at the end of the year. A good year is a good year, but I want that championship.”
The Lions have won the West semifinal two years in a row, beating the Stampeders both times. While not everyone on the current roster was in the locker room for those games, many of the players have ample post-season experience they’re reflecting on as they prep for Saturday’s tilt.
“We just have to be the team that has more will,” said Stanback, who won a Grey Cup with the Alouettes last season. “We’ve got to have more fire in our hearts, and we have to have just the extra enthusiasm to win our one-on-one battles.”
After a regular season stacked with challenges, the Lions feel they have a lot more to show in the playoffs.
“We haven’t scratched the surface of our potential,” said Lee. “So that’s what I’m excited about, shining at the right time. Every team has to find that boost at the right time of the year to persevere and win the championship.”
