Courtesy Regina Leader Post:

Virtually every member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, including Regina’s Neal Hughes, grabbed cellphones after their 26-17 CFL playoff victory Sunday over the B.C. Lions.

They had to call home to share their unbelievable joy — they were going to the Grey Cup!

“I can’t even imagine what it’s like at home,” said Hughes, folding up a cellphone inside a locker room at B.C. Place Stadium, where moments earlier the team had been waving to the large contingent of green-clad Roughriders fans among the 54,712 in attendance at the West final.

“I’ve got my family, about 30 people watching in my garage on a big-screen TV. They’re all going crazy there, so I can’t imagine what the rest of the city’s like.”

The Roughriders will meet the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the 95th Grey Cup on Sunday in Toronto. The Blue Bombers, despite losing starting quarterback Kevin Glenn with a broken arm, defeated the home-town Toronto Argonauts 19-9 earlier Sunday in the East final. Saskatchewan and Winnipeg had placed second in their respective divisions.

“This place has been our nemesis,” said Roughriders tackle Gene Makowsky, the team’s longest-serving veteran (13 years), recalling the divisional finals Saskatchewan lost here in 2006 and 2004.

“I know (first-year head coach Kent) Austin doesn’t like to hear about all that old stuff, but he hasn’t been around for those losses. It’s an extremely tough place to play, so coming here and winning, oh boy!”

Hughes scored one of Saskatchewan’s two touchdowns, grabbing a two-yard toss from quarterback Kerry Joseph that put Saskatchewan ahead 20-10 midway through the third quarter.

Joseph had also opened the scoring with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Andy Fantuz. When Luca Congi, who already was 2-for-2 on converts and 3-for-3 on field goals, capped the scoring late in the third with his fourth field goal, the Roughriders — with all their points coming from Canadian players — completed their upset over the reigning Grey Cup champions.

“I’m in shock,” said Lions rookie defensive end Cameron Wake, who had all five of B.C.’s sacks. “I’ve been thinking about winning ever since training camp.”

While the Roughriders’ offence managed 289 yards and held the ball longer than B.C. (36:24 to 23:36), the defence had seven sacks (two by end John Chick), allowed only 157 net yards and convinced Lions head coach Wally Buono to replace starting quarterback Jarious Jackson with Dave Dickenson late in the second quarter.

“All year we struggled on offence and it all caught up to us,” said Lions slotback Geroy Simon, who caught a third-quarter touchdown pass from Dickenson. “We spotted them too many points and couldn’t get out of the hole.”

The Roughriders forced five turnovers — two fumble recoveries by rush-backer Kitwana Jones, interceptions by defensive back Eddie Davis and linebacker Maurice Lloyd and a foiled third-down gamble. The Roughriders didn’t commit a turnover and scored 16 points off their takeaways.

“Those were big momentum turners,” said Jones. “We got those turnovers early and got up (10-0) on them right away, which helped us take the crowd out of it. The crowd was great, but when the fourth quarter came around they got tired of cheering for no reason.”

The Roughriders haven’t appeared in a Grey Cup since 1997 and they haven’t won since 1989, when Austin was their quarterback. This will be the first time Saskatchewan and Winnipeg are going to meet for the championship.

“It’s going to be crazy in the city, in the province and everywhere,” said Joseph. “Our fans deserve this. And I think there’s going to be a whole lot of green in Toronto.”