The Calgary Stampeders clinched second place in the West Division and home-field advantage for the division semifinal with a 32-25 win over the visiting B.C. Lions on Sunday.
The game meant far more to the Stampeders than the Lions, who had secured first place in the division and a bye to the Western final the previous week.
Calgary (10-7) will host the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the semifinal Nov. 5 and the winner of that game heads to Vancouver to face B.C. (11-5) on Nov. 12.
Sunday's result was important psychologically for the Stamps, who were dominated by the Lions in two previous meetings, and needed to play better against B.C. to store up some confidence should the two sides meet in the Western final.
Calgary quarterback Henry Burris had an up-and-down game, but connected on touchdown passes to Ken-Yon Rambo and Elijah Thurmon and ran three yards in for his own major late in the game in front of 33,546 at McMahon Stadium.
Burris made 21 of 37 pass attempts for 307 yards and was intercepted once.
Joffrey Reynolds scored his ninth rushing touchdown of the season and kicker Sandro DeAngelis contributed a 39-yard field goal in the second half.
B.C. quarterback Buck Pierce, making his third straight start in place of injured Dave Dickenson, scored a one-yard touchdown for the Lions in the first quarter. He was 11-for-16 passing and 131 yards before he was replaced by third stringer Jarious Jackson.
Jackson made seven of 18 pass attempts and had one touchdown pass, a 42-yarder to Kendrick Jones in the fourth quarter.
B.C.'s Ryan Thelwell collected a blocked punt and ran the ball in for a touchdown with just over a minute remaining in the game.
Kicker Paul McCallum made one of three field-goal attempts in the first half. He was good from 24 yards, but was wide from 49 and 32 yards out.
Burris collected his third rushing touchdown of the season from three yards out at 12:11 of the fourth quarter. B.C.'s Jackson found Jones behind coverage at 7:51 to pull the Lions within a converted touchdown.
Burris located Thurmon in the end zone with an 11-yard pass early in the fourth quarter to give Calgary a 25-11 lead. Markus Howell got the Stamps into great field position with a 57-yard punt return.
A 54-yard punt by Burke Dales earned a single point for Calgary late in the second quarter. DeAngelis's field goal at 3:23 of the third quarter tied him for the club's single-season record of 54, set by Mark McLoughlin in 1996.
Calgary snatched the lead at the end of the first half when Burris connected with Rambo on a 46-yard TD.
Stamps defensive end Terrance Patrick pressured Pierce into throwing the ball away and then sacked him on the next play. Howell's 16-yard punt return gave Calgary good field position, Reynolds ran 11 yards for a first down and Rambo redeemed himself for fumbling the ball on an earlier reverse by finishing off the drive with 31 seconds left in the half.
Reynolds set up his own touchdown with a 19-yard effort and then cut through the middle of the B.C. defence on a 10-yard run for the major at 6:08 of the second quarter.
McCallum's 24-yard field goal as time expired in the first quarter gave B.C. a 10-0 edge.
Pierce pushed the ball in from the one-yard line at 6:35 of the opening quarter. He opted to go with receiver Joe Smith a lot in the first quarter, instead of league-leading Geroy Simon.
A 12-yard and one-yard run by Smith got B.C. to the one-yard line, but the pivotal play on that drive was Jones getting his hands on what appeared to be a tipped pass from Pierce and taking it for a 46-yard gain.
Calgary is on the road in Winnipeg on Oct. 21 before finishing the regular season with a bye week. B.C. hosts Hamilton on Oct. 21 and Winnipeg on Oct. 28 to complete the season.
Notes _ Calgary improved its home record to a league-leading 8-1 . . . The total season attendance at McMahon Stadium this season was 276,944 for an average of 30,772.
