Team Alberta is headed to the Football Canada Cup gold medal game after a stunning 34–27 comeback win over Quebec on Wednesday.
Trailing 27–11 with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter, Alberta exploded for 23 unanswered points — capped by a dramatic game-winning punt return touchdown — to punch its ticket to the final.
It was a gritty, hard-fought contest from the outset. Both defences held firm in a sluggish first quarter that ended 2–0 for Quebec. The scoring opened up in the second, with Alberta quarterback Harrison Hyndman launching a perfect 78-yard touchdown strike to slotback Xavier Odenyo. Kicker Matias Piza added a booming 46-yard field goal as Alberta kept pace, trailing just 12–11 at halftime.
Quebec pulled ahead in the second half, adding two field goals and a touchdown while Alberta’s offence went quiet.
That changed with nine minutes to play.
Hyndman — named Alberta’s offensive MVP — kickstarted the comeback with a 50-yard touchdown bomb to Cochrane Cobra Tyler Clazie, then bulldozed into the end zone on a quarterback sneak to tie the game at 27.
With the clock winding down, Alberta’s defence delivered a key stop to force a Quebec punt — a short, wide-angle kick that landed right in the arms of running back Aaron Oboh. He sprinted it back untouched for the go-ahead score that has sent Alberta to the final for the first time since 2022.
Alberta will face defending champion Ontario in the gold medal final on July 20. Ontario also staged a comeback in its semifinal, rallying past Saskatchewan 41–37.
Alberta has lifted the Football Canada Cup six times, winning five of the first seven tournaments. Their last championship came in 2007 against Ontario. Since then, Alberta has often played runner-up, mostly to Quebec and Ontario.