CALGARY (CP) - Patience propelled the Calgary Stampeders to the CFL's West Division final.
The defending Grey Cup champions outlasted the Edmonton Eskimos 24-21 Sunday.
The Stampeders headed into the second half without a touchdown in four quarters extending back into their regular-season finale in Saskatchewan.
But then receivers Arjei Franklin and Romby Bryant scored their first touchdowns for Calgary since their trade from Winnipeg on Sept. 20 in the third and fourth quarters respectively.
Calgary earned a rematch Sunday with the Saskatchewan Riders (TSN, 4:30 ET) in the West final. The Riders defeated the visiting Stamps 30-14 last week to earn the post-season bye.
"They beat us last week soundly. Here's our opportunity to go in and make wrongs a right now," Calgary quarterback Henry Burris said.
The winner of that game advances to the Grey Cup in Calgary on Nov. 29.
Elsewhere in CFL post-season, the B.C. Lions travel to Montreal to face the Alouettes in the Eastern final next Sunday (TSN 1 p.m. ET). The Lions downed the host Hamilton Tiger-Cats 34-27 in overtime earlier Sunday to advance.
Skyler Green countered for Edmonton with a 93-yard return for a touchdown and quarterback Ricky Ray also scored in the second half in front of 31,356 at McMahon Stadium.
Calgary kicker Sandro DeAngelis made field goals from 21, 20 and 15 yards and Edmonton counterpart Noel Prefontaine was good from nine and 36 yards and added a last-minute single as Calgary led 9-7 at halftime.
The Stampeders ended a three-game losing streak in division semifinals against the Esks dating back to 2005. Calgary went 4-1 against Edmonton this season.
"Our experience came through for us today and the fact you never say a champion is dead until he's dead," Burris said. "The guys are resilient in this locker-room.
"Guys continued to plug and get after it for 60 minutes. We knew it was going to be a tough battle. It's hard to beat a team four times, trust me."
Neither team turned the football over. Edmonton was working to get within field-goal range with four minutes to go, but two holding penalties kept them deep in their end and then DeVone Claybooks sacked Ray.
Calgary's offence got back on the field to kill the clock and keep Ray on the sidelines.
"At some point in time we've got to step up and make a play in the fourth quarter," Edmonton coach Ritchie Hall said. "They made the play and we didn't make the play. Therefore, they're still playing."
Calgary running back Joffrey Reynolds, the West Division nominee for the league's most outstanding player, rushed for 127 yards, which is the fourth-highest in a Stampeder playoff game.
Burris ran 63 yards, completed 19 passes on 32 attempts for 264 yards and threw two touchdown passes. Ray was 18-for-30 and 162 yards, but no TDs.
"We had a couple opportunities there for some deep throws that we just couldn't connect on," lamented Ray. "Those are big game-changing plays and we just missed on some of those opportunities."
Calgary opened the post-season the way it ended the regular season in Regina, where three second-half drives to within 20 yards of the end zone produced just two field goals.
The Stamps again squandered three chances to score touchdowns from inside the red zone in the first half and settled for three field goals.
Calgary's 35 penalty yards, including two roughing-the-passer calls on Charleston Hughes, contributed to Edmonton's second touchdown at 7:44 of the fourth quarter and allowed the visitors to pull within three points.
Ray capped a 10-play, 65-yard march by diving one yard over the line for the touchdown.
"We have to be able to stay off the quarterback and don't give the opposing team second chances," Calgary coach John Hufnagel said.
Burris connected on a 29-yard pass with Bryant at 2:52 of the fourth quarter as the hosts took a 24-14 lead. Bryant says a teammate wrote the word "finally" on the touchdown football he'll keep as a souvenir.
"It was great to get my first touchdown and it happened to be a playoff game," Bryant said.
Burris found a wide-open Franklin in the end zone at 5:25 of the third quarter, capping an eight-play, 57-yard drive with a nine-yard touchdown pass.
"We were moving the ball all game long, but we couldn't get in the end zone, right?" Franklin said. "In playoff football, you've got to score touchdowns. Field goals aren't going to cut it."
On the ensuing kickoff after Franklin's TD, Edmonton's Green scrambled through a seat of black and red jerseys 93 yards for a touchdown.
The Eskimos trailed by two points heading into the fourth quarter before Stamps punter Burke Dales kicked a 67-yard single 19 seconds in.
Three Stampeder drives in the second quarter ended with Burris either shedding the ball under pressure or throwing an incompletion, which brought DeAngelis out onto the field.
Stampeder cornerback Brandon Browner stopped Edmonton's Arkee Whitlock twice from within five yards early in the second quarter to prevent a touchdown.
