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108th Grey Cup Playoffs: Division Finals Recap

The 2021 Grey Cup Championship will be a rematch of the last game played two years prior

By Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 2 years ago 4 min read
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The CFL's Division Finals serve as the last phase before the big game: the Grey Cup Championship. The previous round, the Division Semifinals, saw the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Saskatchewan Roughriders win on their home fields and advance to the CFL's final four. The teams headed on the road to Toronto and Winnipeg, respectively, with the chance to play for the prestigious Grey Cup.

The action started with the East Final between the Tiger-Cats and the Toronto Argonauts, and it was a crazy start. The Argos had two good offensive drives that led them to goal-to-go range inside the TiCats' three yard line. Despite this, each drive led to a third down play, and both times, the Boatmen opted for chip-shot field goals from Boris Bede. A ten-yarder and an 11-yarder put the Argos up 6-0. Even then, the TiCats' defense stalled in the 2nd half, even with the Argos not finding the end zone. Two more FGs made it 12-0 Toronto at the half, but that's when the tide turned.

Hamilton's offense suddenly gained life--a lot of it. They finally find the end zone for the first time, but the extra point's no good. Another TD follows, but the two-pointer fails. Even so, it's 12-12 after the TiCat TDs. Toronto's drive, again, results in a FG attempt, but it goes wide left for a single. Toronto's faint lead is gone after another Hamilton TD, with the two-pointer making it 20-13, but even in the face of adversity, it was still the Boris Bede show. An Argos FG is followed by another TD by Hamilton, and after Bede makes yet another one, the onside kick fails. Final score: Tiger-Cats 27, Argonauts 19.

As an Argonauts fan, I left this game very angry. The first time the Argos got inside the Hamilton 3, they should have went for it on third down. If successful, good. If not, it's Hamilton ball very deep in their range, and a two and out could result in a surrendered safety or good field position. The second time Toronto had it down that deep, I expected another third down try. Nope. So instead of going up 14-0, the Argos went up 6-0 after two chip-shot field goals. Toronto lost eight points with those decisions. Guess how many points they lost by? Eight.

Next up was the West Final between the aforementioned Roughriders, and the defending Grey Cup Champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers. This was quite a close affair, starting with the road team opening the scoring with a running TD from William Powell, though the Bombers tied it up quick, making it 7-7 after one quarter. It was 10-7 Riders at the half, and the teams traded touchdowns again in the third quarter, putting the Riders in a good position to possibly pull off an upset and dethrone the defending champions.

However, Sean McGuire's QB sneak in the fourth gave the Bombers the lead, and the defense remained strong the rest of the way. Final score: Blue Bombers 21, Roughriders 17. The Saskatchewan Roughriders have a lot to be proud of. This was a good season for them; they showed that they could go toe-to-toe with the Blue Bombers all year, including this West Final on the road. I expect the Riders to be a perennial playoff team from this point forward.

So as a result, the 108th Grey Cup will be a rematch of the 107th Grey Cup in 2019. Amazing, isn't it? The Blue Bombers and Tiger-Cats were the last teams to play in 2019, and the last teams to play before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the 2020 season. They also became the first teams to play in the 2021 season, as this season began with a rematch of the 107th Grey Cup, with Winnipeg winning the season opener, 19-6. And here we are again: these same two teams will end the 2021 season. But it's different this time: the Tiger-Cats are playing in their home field. The 108th Grey Cup will take place in Hamilton, Ontario on Sunday, December 12. The Tiger-Cats will be the first team to play the Grey Cup on their home field since the Saskatchewan Roughriders did so in 2013--defeating the Tiger-Cats in Regina.

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About the Creator

Clyde E. Dawkins

I am an avid fan of sports and wrestling, and I've been a fan of female villains since the age of eight. Also into film and TV, especially Simpsons and Family Guy.

Feel free to follow my social media:

Twitter - Facebook - Tiktok - Instagram

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