40 years in the making.

In one of the craziest playoff games that had both teams slug it out in a back-and-forth second half at Investors Group Field, the #9 Manitoba Bisons football prevailed with a thrilling 37-36 home win over the #10 Saskatchewan Huskies on Friday, November 1 in one of the two 2013 Canada West Semi-Final playoff contest.

With the victory, Manitoba won for the first time against the Huskies in a post-season football game since the 1973 season (when Bison Football head coach Brian Dobie played) and now advances to the Canada West Final (Hardy Cup) for the first time since their 2007 Vanier Cup Championship season.

This was the third meeting of the season between the two teams and the margin to win was a sliver throughout the 2013 season as Saskatchewan won 36-34 at Manitoba (Sept. 7) then the Bisons won 33-26 at Saskatoon (Oct. 18) before this playoff match.

This Canada West Semi-Final had the feel of two heavyweights loading up for the knockout punch only to see their opponent fight back and battle for the full 60 minutes.

Manitoba rallied after losing a 17-5 halftime lead with 20 points in the fourth quarter but had to wait for the final play of the game when Huskies' kicker Denton Kolodzinski lined up for a 44 yard field goal with two seconds left on the clock. After a Manitoba and then Saskatchewan timeout, the snap was low and seemed to throw of the timing of the kick and the very low attempt had no chance to get over the wall of players and the home side stormed the field for a nail-biting one point playoff win.

Prior to the last play, the rollercoaster started early in the second half as the Huskies overcame a 14 point deficit by proceeding to score 24 unanswered points. It started with a safety at the end of the first half and then QB Drew Burko was clinically with a 61 yard TD toss to Kit Hillis at the start of the second half, followed with a Kolodzinski 43 yarder FG, a Burko 10 yard TD pass to Mitch Hillis plus a 50 yard TD pass to Mitch Stevens to begin the fourth and a 29-17 lead.

Just when the home side look to be out of it, the comeback was sparked by QB Jordan Yantz finding SB Nic Demski for a 39 yard TD pass and the lead closed to five points with just over 11 minutes left. Saskatchewan would regain a 12 point lead when Mitch Hillis caught his third TD pass of the playoff game when he found the end zone from 46 yards out and a 36-24 visitors lead with 9:34 left.

Cue Demski.

Demski hauled in a 13 yard pass with five minutes left and then after the Bison forced a punt on the next drive, the hosts drove 65 yards on seven plays and was finished when Yantz found a streaking Demski on the sidelines for a 32 yard TD and his third touchdown in the final quarter. The two-point conversion was stopped with only 1:23 left and then Saskatchewan drove for a potential winning field goal on the ensuing drive.

"In my 18 years of coaching at Manitoba, that was unquestionably one of the biggest wins in the history of the program," commented an elated Bison Football head coach Brian Dobie after the win. "It was only a Canada West Semi-Final but we fought hard to host and took advantage today of the home crowd who helped to lift us at the end of the game. I am really proud of the whole team and effort that we used to rally."

In team stats, both teams registered over 1,100 yards combined in offence. Saskatchewan piled up 622 total offence yards with 502 passing and 124 rushing while Manitoba had 499 yards (371 – passing; 146 – rush). The visitors lead 30-26 in first downs while Saskatchewan had 12 penalties for 110 yards while Manitoba was nine for 84 penalty yards.

The Huskies were led by Burko with 28-47 passing and a whopping 502 yards with 4 TDs and 1 INT. Kit Hillis was top receiver with a game-high nine receptions for 134 yards and 1 TD while Mitch Hillis added eight grabs for 124 yards and 2 TDs. Mitch Stevens had two catches for 101 yards and 1 TD while Garrett Burgess with 5-81 and Charlie Power with 4-62 in receiving. Shane Buchanan had 12 carries for 61 rushing yards and Kolodzinski went 2-3 in field goals and 35.4 punting average.

On offence for the Bisons, Yantz was 23-36 for 371 passing yards and 4 TDs and 2 INTs along with top game rusher with 98 yards on ten carries. Demski had seven receptions for 115 yards and 3 TDs followed by Andrew Smith with four grabs for 95 yards and 1 TD. Anthony Coombs was a double threat with seven catches for 67 yards and added 48 rushing yards on 13 carries with 1 TD. Matt Sawyer also had 4-70 in receiving. Nick Boyd was 1-1 in FGs and 39.4 punting average.

On defence, Saskatchewan had Richard Zacharias and Brad Kotania with 5.5 tackles each with Kotania adding one sack. Seamus Neary with 4.5 total tackles and a break-up while Dylan Kemp and Keegan Arnyek had one interception each and Clayton Sarich added a sack. Joel Seutter had 3.5 tackles, one forced fumble and 0.5 sack in the loss. For the Bisons, David Onyemata notched a game-high 7.5 tackles with 0.5 sack and Bami Adewale with 7.5 tackles and David Ferrier with Cam Teschuk with 5.5 tackles each. Tremaine Apperley accumulated three break-ups and one interception in the victory.

Both Yantz and Demski talked to the media after the game. Demski commented on how the 'team fought back and did what we had to do' while Yantz discussed how 'they fought adversity and everyone contribute to make the comeback.'

Now, Manitoba awaits the winner of the second Canada West Semi-Final where #3 Calgary Dinos play host to the UBC Thunderbirds on Saturday, November 2 at 3 p.m. MT. If Calgary wins, Manitoba will play on the road next week and if UBC upsets, then Manitoba would host the Canada West Final. The Hardy Cup will be on Saturday, November 9 at 2 p.m. local time of the host team.