The Bluenose entry, in its first tournament appearance in five years, came from behind in the final minute to stun favoured Alberta 27-24 before 1,100 fans in the opening round at Raymond Field.

Nova Scotia will play Quebec in a semifinal on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The medal games are Saturday.

Nova Scotia allowed an early touchdown but came right back on a 94-yard kickoff return by J.L. Ilsley Judges’ Duncan Coady. Coady had 209 all-purpose yards.

"Lesser quality kids would have packed it in a couple of times," Valardo said in praise of his players. "We knew it was there in the first half but we just weren’t clicking. We were dropping balls, just missing on the finger tips. But at the half, down 17-10, we just kept saying we had to stay focused. There was more pressure on Alberta than us.

"These kids, I can’t say enough about them. They were so gutsy. They never stopped believing."

Team Nova Scotia was built over two years and relied on team work and unity to hold off the Alberta all-star squad. Valardo knew the team couldn’t afford to fall too far behind.

"When Duncan Coady returned that kickoff for the touchdown . . . it just put the wind back in our sails pretty quick," he said.

"As soon as we got that kick return everybody started to get up and everyone started to realize we can do this," said quarterback Jesse Mills, a member of the Citadel Phoenix. "We were the underdogs, but we wanted to prove to these guys we aren’t here just to be the host."

Mills (14-24-303) said his teammates never lacked confidence facing Alberta.

"We didn’t have anything to lose. The other team thought they were going to walk right over us. But we knew we were going to put up a fight."

Coady also had a 51-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter. Citadel’s Derek Brown took a 19-yard toss from Mills inside the final minute for the deciding points.

Jeremy Ford had a 23-yard field goal. Nova Scotia also picked up a safety and completed a two-point convert after the Brown major.

Linebacker Jacob LeBlanc (J.L. Ilsley) led the defence with seven tackles and a sack.

Kristopher Stretton, with two, and Taylor Yaremchuk had touchdowns for Alberta.

B.C. and Ontario East were due up in the late game with the winner advancing against Saskatchewan.

Saskatchewan 26, Manitoba 15: Manitoba committed four turnovers to lead to 21 Saskatchewan points. Saskatchewan kicker Sean Stenger had 12 points, including field goals from 38, 32 and 17 yards.

Quebec 24, Ontario West 6: Eli-Christopher Bouka caught a 23-yard touchdown pass, Jean-Francois Cyr recovered a fumble in the end zone and Vincent Alarie-Tardif ran 29 yards for a score in Quebec’s victory. Quebec, coached by Marc Loranger, led 17-0 at the half.