The Canadian Football League playoffs get underway on Saturday with the Divisional Semi-Finals, and you can find the Western Divisional Semi-Final on 620 CKRM.
Pre-game coverage with Daniella Ponticelli begins at 2:30 (Sask. time).
The Western Divisional Semi-Final will emulate from BC Place, with the Calgary Stampeders and BC Lions.
One of the reasons the Lions finished in second spot in the West was the record-setting year by defensive end Mathieu Betts.
This past season, Betts established a new sack record by a Canadian (18), surpassing former Lions defensive end Brent Johnson (17), who set the mark in 2005.
The 28-year-old received the Western Division Nominee for Most Outstanding Defensive Player for the CFL Awards. Argos DB Adarius Pickett is the Eastern Division nominee.
Betts joined Sean Kleisinger on Friday’s edition of the Sportscage.
He is pleased with his success from the 2023 season but hopes there’s more to come.
“I firmly believe that the best thing is ahead and it’s going to start with Saturday’s game.”
The last time the Lions and Stampeders met was on Friday, October 20, when Calgary picked up a convincing 41-16 win over BC. Betts says the Lions weren’t happy with the team’s ending to the season.
“I didn’t think we play our best football.”
BC and Calgary have become familiar foes in 2023, with Saturday’s matchup marking the 5th time the two teams will meet. Betts says there’s a lot of familiarity with the Lions and Stampeders.
“We know them very well, they know us very well, they have good coaches, they have good players and it’s going to come down to execution on Saturday.”
One player the Lions will be focusing on is running back Ra’Deem Carey. Despite missing half of the season, Betts thinks Carey is one of the most dynamic players in the league.
“We’ll try and slow him down for sure, for us as d-line just to squeeze these holes as much as possible.”
At the beginning of the season, records weren’t on the mind of the Montreal product. As he approached the sack record by a Canadian, he tried not to worry about it.
“I just wanted to play good football.”
When teammates began congratulating Betts on his success this year, he tried to make his achievement a collective effort.
“I knew they were happy for me, they wanted me to get it, made it more motivational for to try and get it.”
The winner of the Divisional Semi-Final will advance to the Western Finals in Winnipeg against the Blue Bombers on Saturday, November 11.
At 1:00, the Eastern Divisional Semi-Final will kick off, featuring the Montreal Alouettes and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Toronto awaits the winner in the Eastern Divisional Final.
