Amongst all the cliches in the sporting world come a pair which are particularly applicable to tonight’s game and the BC Lions’ season to date.

The first of these old saws: “You have to play all sixty minutes.” The Lions had sparks of stellar play tonight- the last five minutes of the first half in particular, but in general, this was not a team which showed intensity and focus for the full game.

The second: “Turnovers will kill you.” And that they did. After a turnover-free first half, the Lions turned the ball over six times in the second half, three of which led to TiCats scores- a touchdown and a pair of field goals, and in so doing snatched yet another defeat from the jaws of victory.

There were chances for the Lions in this one. On their first possession of the third quarter, it looked as if they were going to capitalize on a Hamilton turnover when Barron Miles
challenged- replays showed that Martell appeared to land on a Hamilton defender, not the ground- and two cracks at pushing it in by Jarious Jackson resulted in a fumble recovered by the TiCats at the one-yard line instead of a BC major.

Fourteen plays later, Hamilton would capitalize with a 28-yard field goal from Nicholas Setta. On the ensuing kickoff, the turnover bug would bite the Lions again as Ryan Grice-Mullen coughed the ball up on the return.

It only took three plays for Hamilton running back DeAndra’ Cobb to take advantage of a huge hole his offensive line opened for him, rumbling in from fifteen yards out to give the homestanding TiCats a 27-18 edge.

After the kickoff, another BC mistake led to points on the board. A twenty-five yard Grice-Mullen return was partially negated by an unnecessary roughness flag. Following a Mallett rush resulting in a two-yard loss, Buck Pierce tossed another interception, giving Hamilton the ball back at the twenty-two yard line.

Another Setta field goal followed, and the scoring was done for the evening. The balance of the fourth quarter showed more Lions’ efforts, but a combination of failures to execute and ill-advised penalties brought them to naught.

In hockey terms, what we see looks a lot like a team which, as a unit, is squeezing their sticks too tightly. This is a team which isn’t having a lot of success, and in trying to generate chances is losing their focus and falling apart in the fundamentals. Someone is going to need to step up in the locker room and lead this squad on and off the field.

It’s not too late to salvage the season- there are still thirteen games remaining in which to mount a playoff push- but something needs to change soon in order for that to happen.