Tate scores winning TD as Stampeders clinch playoff berth

REGINA - Drew Tate scored on a one-yard touchdown plunge with 32 seconds remaining as the Calgary Stampeders clinched a playoff berth with a 31-24 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The lengthy drive by the Stampeders extinguished any hope of a comeback win by the Riders, who scored 24 unanswered points in the second half.

The late score was Tate's second rushing touchdown of the game. He also threw a pair of touchdown passes.

The Riders staged a second-half rally with backup quarterback Tino Sunseri, but the effort came up short as Saskatchewan slipped to 9-5.

After a scoreless first quarter, Tate connected with Maurice Price on a 10-yard touchdown pass to give the Stamps (12-2) a 9-0 lead with six minutes to go in the second quarter.

That lead stood going into halftime.

Anthony Parker caught Tate's second touchdown pass, an eight-yard play midway through the third quarter that brought Calgary's lead to 17-0. On the Stamps' next possession, Tate tacked on a 15-yard touchdown run to make it 24-0.

Saskatchewan finally got on the scoreboard, after it was shut out 24-0 the previous week at Edmonton, with a 66-yard pass and run from Dan DePalma. Weston Dressler caught the two-point convert to make it 24-8. Both passes came from Sunseri, who relieved an ineffective Seth Doege at quarterback.

Sunseri engineered a second touchdown for the Roughriders, which was punctuated with a Sunseri one-yard run. Dressler caught the two-point convert, again, to make it 24-16 after three quarters.

Jerome Messam scored the Riders' third touchdown of the second half on a one-yard run, and Anthony Allen caught the two-point convert that tied the score at 24-24 with nine minutes remaining. It was a 10-play, 101-yard drive by the Riders, who accumulated just 123 total yards in the first half.

For Saskatchewan, the Doege experiment fell flat rather quickly.

Making his first start in the CFL, Doege's night was finished midway through the second quarter after he threw his third interception of the first half. The rookie completed 3-of-9 pass attempts for 28 yards. He also lost a fumble.

Since 2012, the Riders are 26-16 in games started by Darian Durant. They are 2-6 without Durant in the lineup.

Calgary is 10-2 in its last 12 meetings with Saskatchewan.