Lightning never strikes twice? Tell that to the BC Lions who for the second straight game saw a win slip away in the fourth quarter against a team that they really could have buried in the CFL West. Instead, they now share a 1-4 record with the Edmonton Eskimos, and with the next four games on their schedules against CFL powers, have dug themselves a pretty deep hole.

This game was as sloppy as the rain-soaked turf at Commonwealth Stadium as the Edmonton Eskimos eked out a 28-25 win over the BC Lions as the Lions were again victimized late.

Late turnovers were the killer again, with Travis Lulay picked off by the Esk’s Chris Thompson on another ill-advised throw just before the three-minute warning completing a momentum shift. On the Lions’ ensuing possession, Lulay lost the ball on a questionable fumble, the ball being ruled to have come out of his hand before his arm started forward in a throwing motion. This thwarted a burgeoning drive which had seen the Lions go 55 yards in five plays and position themselves at least well enough for Paul McCallum to attempt a game tying field goal in the final minute.

As with the other losses, there were bright spots in this, with Yonas Davis ripping off an 88-yard kickoff return keyed by a Jason Arakgi block after the Lions forced Edmonton to concede a safety, lifting the Lions to a 25-21 edge with under eight minutes to play. Davis Sanchez had a 54-yard interception return for a touchdown very similar to the one BC gave up late against the Argos last week.

Sanchez was by far the defensive player of the game for the Lions, with the touchdown off of the interception and a game-high nine tackles. The running game was improved again, racking up 163 yards on nineteen carries, with Jamal Robertson accounting for 84 of those on eight carries, among them a sixty-nine yard gallop which keyed a ninety-nine yard, five play drive culminating in Lulay finding pay dirt from nine yards away just in time for an electrical storm to knock out power in the stadium and lead to an early halftime observance/weather delay lasting forty minutes, leaving the Lions with a 10-6 advantage.

Unfortunately for the Lions, the power came back on, and both the lights and the Eskimos proved resurgent. After emerging from the locker room, the balance of the first half ended harmlessly, with Noel Prefontaine attempting and missing a 49-yard field goal.

The power was back on for Edmonton, though. Their first possession of the third quarter culminated in a Prefontaine FG from thirty-five yards. Lulay’s first of two interceptions to Thompson gave the Eskimos the ball back at the BC 42, and three plays later Ricky Ray found Kelly Campbell in the end zone for the major to put the Lions down 16-10 at the nine minute mark of the third, and the tide had again turned against the visitors.

The Lions would sputter deep in their own end of the field and concede two more points after a two-and-out from their own seven. Edmonton was unable to sustain offence either, setting the stage for Sanchez’ pick-six to open the final frame. The two-point conversion attempt would fail, with Paris Jackson catching Lulay’s toss but being ruled down after falling at the two.

Prefontaine would tally another three, making it 21-16 early in the fourth, but it was clear that Edmonton was finding their wheels at the same time the Lions were struggling mightily to keep theirs from all coming off.

Paul McCallum saw his consecutive field goal streak snapped, missing wide right from forty-five yards at 9:50 of the fourth, and it was just one more ominous sign that things weren’t going to end on a positive note for the Lions.

The Lions now face the monumental task of digging themselves out of this deep hole. Their next four games are against CFL powerhouses and if they continue to falter, this season could be over by the midway point.

Game Stats

Quick Hits:

The win by the Eskimos was their 100th all-time versus the Lions with 53 of them at Commonwealth Stadium.

Quotable:

“You’re in field goal range. If it’s not there, you’ve got to be smarter. You’ve got to take a quick look and throw it. If you don’t…” – Wally Buono

“The reality of our offence is, we make too many mistakes and our quarterback is too inconsistent.” – Wally Buono

Vanya Tucherov for BCLionsDen.ca

Another week, another Lion undefeated skein snapped.

The BC faithful can take some positives away from this game- Travis Lulay went 26 for 40, throwing for 330 yards in his first career start; the Lions had some success running the ball; and the Lion defence played a solid game for most of the evening.

When it comes right down to it, though, it’s another game which could have been a victory but which ended up in the loss column as the Lions fell to the Toronto Argonauts by a 24-20 margin.

Byron Parker of the Double Blue put the dagger in the Lions’ heart just after the three minute warning, returning his interception of a Lulay pass intended for O’Neil Wilson forty-one yards for the touchdown. The ensuing conversion proved the final score as the resurgent Boatmen took their third successive win.

Much of the story for this from the British Columbia perspective will come down to sloppy execution and missed opportunities. Defencive end Brent Johnson had a major in his hands, but couldn’t hold on to the pass from Jarious Jackson with a touch over two minutes remaining in the first corner. Fortunately enough for Coach Buono’s boys, Jamal Robertson took the ball in on the next play from a yard out to spot the Leos a 7-3 lead.

The Lions would begin driving again on their next possession, but another dropped pass would end the drive, forcing them to settle for a Paul McCallum field goal from 45 yards out and a 10-3 cushion. The Argos would answer with a drive of their own, but Grant Shaw would hit the upright on a forty-five yard attempt with 5:38 to play in the half.

Eight plays, eighty-five yards, and three minutes and forty-seven seconds later, Robertson would take the ball into the end zone from thirteen yards out to put the Lions ahead 17-3.

Before the end of the half, the Argonauts would answer, with Cleo Lemon finding Jermaine Copeland for a twenty-one yard touchdown. The Lions would take the 17-10 edge to the locker room at the half.

Neither offensive coordinator will take pride in the third quarter, as the game wallowed around in a sloppy quagmire of fumbles, dropped passes, penalties and all-around poor execution. The Lions could have put the game all but out of reach when Robertson lost the handle at the Toronto two-yard line. BC would get points out of it, but instead of the seven it could have been, they’d settle for two after the defence shook Lemon sufficiently to knock him out for a play after the fumble and Jason Boreham of the Argos conceded the safety rather than kick from his own end zone. Emmanuel Arceneaux dropped a sure touchdown pass as well in behind the Toronto defenders that saw the Lions come away with no points on that drive.

McCallum would punt for the rouge to open the fourth quarter, making it 20-10 in favor of the Lions at that point. Toronto would drive, only to be turned back when Davis Sanchez intercepted Lemon in the end zone, but the tide was turning in favour of the Boatmen. On their next possession, Lemon would find an import slotback with a classically Canadian name- Brandon Rideau- in the end zone to close the gap to 20-17 and increase the pressure on the stagnating Lion offense.

It was here that Lulay’s comparable lack of experience would come under the microscope. Rather than taking the time to look for the open reciever, he seemed to be fixating on a target. The offensive line contributed to his struggles, as the Argo pass rush was increasingly able to get to Lulay, not giving him time to find check-off targets, but in the end, it was enough to give Parker the opportunity to step in front of the ball and hand Toronto the lead.

Lulay would get picked again on the next possession, with Toronto’s Willie Pile coming up with a ball intended for Geroy Simon that left the Lions running short on time. They’d get one final crack at the end zone, though, but the 58-yard desperation heave for Derick Armstrong came up about two yards short of changing the outcome.

Quick Hits:

Just over 19,000 fans attended the game on a humid night in Toronto…Lions/Argos owner David Braley posed for a picture before the game with the respective coaches of each of his teams…Argos rookie Cory Boyd rushed for 148 yards on 19 carries, his third-straight 100-yard effort…Travis Lulay finished 26-of-39 passing for 315 yards and two interceptions. The Lions lost cornerback Dante Marsh to a groin injury, and were forced to shift players around in the secondary when Anthony Reddick was also nicked up.

On Sunday in Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium, the BC Lions kicked off their 2010 campaign the right way, riding the feet of Jamal Robertson and Paul McCallum to a 25-10 win over the Eskimos. The new Lion Robertson racked up 168 yards and the team’s only touchdown, while elder statesman McCallum kicked the conversion and six field goals to account for the team’s tallies.

Robertson and McCallum were far from the only bright spots for the Leos.

Newcomer Derick Armstrong led the recieving corps, catching six passes for 73 yards while Geroy Simon and Paris Jackson snagged four apiece for 59 and 58 years respectively. The Lion defence, though, were the difference in the game, holding the Esks in check for most of the game.

On the opening drive, Edmonton seemed to be testing rookie defensive back Stanley Franks, but a Korey Banks forced fumble snuffed out the Eskimos’ hopes to capitalize early– and seemed to serve to ignite the Lion defence. The Leo stalwarts would pressure Edmonton quarterback Rickey Ray, racking up five sacks on the night- two by Banks and one each by Anton McKenzie, Aaron Hunt and Solomon Elimimian.

Keron Williams would recover the Ray fumble forced by Banks on the opening drive, turning the Esks away at the one-yard line. Between the resolute stands of the Lion D and McCallum’s feet, the BC offense was afforded the opportunity to find its footing, with McCallum accounting for the only scoring on his first of the night, a 44-yard field goal in the expiring seconds of the opening frame.

McCallum would take the second tally as well, striking from fifty yards to spot the Lions a 6-0 cushion, which would grow to 13 with 6:35 remaining in the half on a 61-yard gallop for the major from Robertson, who was turned loose by a great block from Jon Hameister-Reis.

Edmonton would answer with just under two minutes remaining in the half, with Arkee Whitlock making it into the end zone from four yards out.

McCallum would respond with his third field goal of the evening in the last half minute of play, putting the score at the half at 16-7 in favour of the visitors.

If the Lion offense never got fully untracked in the game, it didn’t particularly matter, as the defence and special teams were up to the test. Five minutes into the third quarter, the Esks would tally three more points on a Noel Prefontaine field goal from thirty yards out, but that would be all the scoring Edmonton could muster. McCallum wasn’t done for the Lions, though, registering  two more FGs in the quarter, from 28 and 18 yards, before capping the scoring with just under three and a half minutes remaining in the final frame to hand the Lions the final margin of victory.

On a night when the BC Lions had the chance to treat their fans by earning a playoff berth, the Calgary Stampeders instead played a cruel trick, stealing the victory 28-26 as time expired with a last-second field goal by Sandro DeAngelis, dropping the Lions to 8-9 and into a third-place tie with the Edmonton Eskimos. The Esks come to BC Place on Friday to close out the regular season.

Again it was run defence which would plague the Lions, who yielded over a hundred yards rushing to Calgary’s Joffrey Reynolds, most critically a twenty-nine yard gallop to set up the DeAngelis game-winner.

With a minute and thirty-five seconds remaining on the clock, it looked good for the Lions, taking a 26-25 lead on a huge, 46-yard toss from Casey Printers to a wide open Paris Jackson.

Unfortunately for the Lions, that was about a dozen seconds too many to have left Henry Burris and the Stampeders. Even so, with a different bounce, it might have been enough for the win, as Anton McKenzie took Burris to the turf and knocked the ball away from the Stamps’ QB. Burris was able to recover, though, and on the following play connected with Jermaine Copeland to sustain the drive and set the stage for the Reynolds run and DeAngelis field goal.

The Lions would come out roaring, holding the Stampeders to a two-and-out on the first series of the game and then moving down the field powered by a pair to Printers-to Emmanuel Arceneaux passes- for seven and then sixty yards- to set up the A.J. Harris one yard run for the major.

After the ensuing kickoff, Calgary was again held to two-and-out, and the Lions would move the ball courtesy of another deep throw from Casey Printers, this time to Paris Jackson for thirty-five yards, down to the Calgary 36. The drive would stall there, though, and the Lions would settle for the first of four Paul McCallum field goals to take the early 10-0 edge.

The quarter would close with Calgary getting on the scoreboard, with two completions from Burris to Rob Cote for twenty-eight yards apiece setting the stage for Burris to take the ball in from the one.

With Burris having seemingly found his stride, it was the Lions’ turn for the offense to stagnate. going two-and-out to kick the ball back to the Stampeders. This time, Burris spread the ball around, completing passes to Copeland, Cote,and finally a fifty-three yarder to Romby Bryant to take the ball down to the BC 8. Two plays later, Burris found Nik Lewis in the end zone to make it 14-10, Calgary.

Ryan Grice-Mullen would take the ensuing kickoff seventy-three yards to give the Lions excellent field position, but they’d end up settling for McCallum’s second of the evening, this one from twenty-six yards out.

The Lions would yield a single before closing out the half with another McCallum field goal to take a 16-15 lead to the locker room at the half.

The first twelve minutes of the third quarter would pass without scoring, until McCallum capitalized from twenty-six yards to stretch the lead to four, where it would remain going into the final frame. After Burke Dales found the coffin corner, pinning the Lions at their own seven. After a Printers scramble got the Lions out of the shadow of their own goal posts, a sack would put them right back in them, and McCallum yielded the safety touch.

Burris would go deep again, completing a fifty-three yarder to Bryant before he fumbled, losing the ball to Tad Crawford after Darren Toney knocked it out. The offense was unable to capitalize, though, moving the ball twenty-one yards before kicking it back to Calgary.

Burris moved the Stampeders again, finding Lewis for twenty-three before scrambling for five. Reynolds would carry the ball twice for a combined thirty yards setting up Burris’ second rushing TD from a yard out to put the visitors up by six. with just over six minutes to play. Neither team would mount much of a threat until the three-minute warning.

Then it was Printers’ turn to answer Burris’ fireworks, driving the Lions eighty-six yards for the go-ahead touchdown, capped with the toss to Jackson for the score.

The offense definitely suffers from the absence of Martell Mallett, running for only 67 yards on thirteen attempts, four of those Printers scrambles for a net of 41. Printers’ passing numbers were a respectable 22 of 35 for 337 yards and a touchdown- eight to Geroy Simon for 103 yards, five to Arceneaux for 110 and three for 91 to Jackson. He also threw one interception.

The Lions defence held Burris to 17-of-31, but yielded 306 yards through the air and 140 on the ground. McKenzie, Ricky Foley and Korey Banks all notched sacks for the Lions.

The BC Lions came back from an early 14-0 deficit to eke out a 24-21 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The victory lifts the Lions record to 8-7, and has them only a single point behind the 8-6-1 Rough Riders and Stampeders for first place in the West after the conclusion of Week 16.

It was Travis Lulay, on in relief of the injured Buck Pierce, who saved a game marred with turnovers and penalties to lift the Lions over the Bombers. Lulay’s thirty yard connection with recently activated  running back A.J. Harris with about thirteen minutes left would cap the scoring for British Columbia.

Pierce may be done for the season according to Vancouver Sun reporter Ian Walker, who was covering the game from Canad Inns Stadium in Winnipeg. Pierce was knocked out of the game with what is reported to be a shoulder injury before the end of the first quarter after failing to complete a pass to one of his Lion teammates on two attempts. Pierce’s first attempt, on BC’s third play from scrimmage was picked off by Jovon Johnson, who returned it thirty-two yards to the BC 31 to set up the Winnipeg offense with good field position. The Bombers were unable to move the ball, though, and settled for a single to make the score 8-0 at that point after an Alexis Serna miss wide-right from thirty-nine yards.

The Lions would start to move the ball on the ground with Pierce and Harris before Pierce’s injury. Adding to the indignity, Pierce would also lose the ball on a fumble, giving the ball back to the Winnipeggers on their own 44 yard-line. Fred Reid would rip off a fourteen yard run before the Lions defence would stiffen and force another Serna field goal attempt, this one good from thirty-nine yards out.

The turnovers kept mounting, as Ryan Grice-Mullen coughed the ball up three plays into the ensuing possession, leading to yet another Serna attempt, this one good from thirty yards to push the score to 14-0 in favour of the home side, where it would stay to close out the first quarter.

The Lions would start to play the field-position game to their advantage early in the second when an illegal block penalty on Winnipeg’s Lenny Walls after a forty-seven yard punt from Paul McCallum pinned the Bombers on their own seven. After Anton McKenzie stuffed Fred Reid for a loss on first-down, the Bombers’ erratic Michael Bishop started the comeback for the Lions, throwing a pass directly to the Lions’ Dante Marsh, who scampered eighteen yards for the touchdown to cut the margin to seven.

After a two-and-out from the Bombers, the Lions’ offense would start moving the ball, Lulay running for thirty yards on a second-and-ten to key the drive resulting in a thirteen-yard field goal from Paul McCallum narrowing the gap to four. Another two-and-out, with Bishop missing Otis Amey twice and a poor Serna punt of only twenty-eight yards gave the ball back to BC. The Lions mustered only one first down before stalling, but ended up adding a single to the tally when a booming McCallum punt rolled out of the back of the end zone to make it 14-11 in favour of the Bombers.

Korey Banks would come up with a sack and forced fumble recovered by Aaron Hunt which led to another field goal from McCallum to knot the score, this one from thirty-seven yards.

Bishop would manage to connect on a long throw to Terrance Edwards on the next possession for the Bombers to move the ball to the BC 33. An eighteen-yard penalty against Stephen Williams- which also resulted in Williams’ being sent off- moved the ball down to the BC 15 and Fred Reid would carry for eleven more down to the four before the Lions’ defence shut the Bombers down and forced the Serna field goal to put the home side up by three with under half a minute remaining in the half.

A good return from Harris and a pair of completions from Lulay to O’Neil Wilson would set up a forty-seven yard McCallum field goal to end the half with the score deadlocked at seventeen.

Both teams would duel in the middle of the field for the majority of the third quarter, with the only real sustained drive resulting in yet another chip-shot field goal from Winnipeg’s Serna, this one from seventeen yards to break the tie.

The Lions would go from their 31 to the Winnipeg 20, only to come away empty-handed when Lulay was intercepted by Jonathan Hefney. Michael Bishop answered with an interception toss of his own, hitting the Lions ‘ Barron Miles who had dropped into double coverage, and who returned the pick to the Winnipeg 28. Two plays later, it was Lulay to A.J. Harris for thirty yards and six points, Harris’ first touchdown in the CFL and as a BC Lion. The McCallum conversion made it 24-20 in favour of the Lions with just under thirteen minutes in the game.

Winnipeg would add another single on a Serna miss wide left from forty-seven yards out to close to within three. The Bombers’ offense would be largely stuck in neutral for the remainder of the game with Bishop returning to his erratic form. By the time Bishop threw his second  interception to a wide-open Barron Miles, the Lions’ chances of victory seemed greatly enhanced, and the team held on to run out the clock and seal the win.

There will be words in both locker rooms and for the Lions on their flight back to Vancouver about turnovers and discipline, as both teams combined to turn the ball over nine times. Penalties were also a factor in the game, with the home-standing Bombers being penalized nine times for a total of eighty-six yards and the Lions flagged seven times for eighty-six, with each team having a penalty declined.

A big tip of the hat to Andrew Bucholtz of Sporting Madness for keeping this reporter both entertained and informed during today’s game despite the lack of a viable TSN web feed for the game. Andrew, you’re a gentleman and a scholar as well as fine company with which to cover a game.

In a stunning last-minute pair of game-shifts, the Lions gave up the lead, reclaimed it with less than twenty seconds left to play on a 62-yard touchdown by Geroy Simon, and went on to defeat the Edmonton Eskimos 34-31.

It was a rough opening quarter in chilly Edmonton for the host Eskimos, and not merely on the thermometer. As cold as it was on the field, to open the game, the Esks were colder, as the BC Lions defence kept Edmonton from registering a single first down in the first quarter.

The Lions’ offense wasn’t much warmer, but still generated a Paul McCallum field goal in the quarter. After what appeared to be another botched short yardage attempt by the Lions on 2nd and short was aided by a face masking penalty by Maurice Lloyd Pierce connected on a 39-yard strike to Geroy Simon on the second play of the second quarter, putting the Lions u 10-1.

Continuing in the second, things looked to be heating up for the Lions, who capitalized with a ten-yard run by Martell Mallett after a James Yurichek interception of a third-down pass attempt/fake punt by Edmonton kicker Noel Prefontaine. The “Hammer’s” touchdown made the score 17-1 in favour of the visitors from British Columbia.

The Eskimos’ offense finally started to thaw, with a seven play, eighty yards drive, capped off with a forty-yard touchdown reception by the Esk’s Fred Stamps. The teams would trade field goals to head into the locker room with the Lions up by 9, 20-11.

To open the third quarter, the Lions offense would roar once again, with Pierce throwing to Ryan Grice-Mullen for the major, giving the Lions what looked to be a reasonably comfortable 27-11 lead.

From there it was all Eskimos, with the confines of Commonwealth Stadium finally warming to the hosts. Edmonton clawed back into the game with a touchdown and two Prefontaine field goals to pull within a field goal at 27-24. The Lions struggled on offense and couldn’t get valuable first downs. The field position started to shift in Edmonton’s favour. After another sloppy series, a shanked 20 yard Paul McCallum punt left the Eskimos with the ball on the Lions 28 yard line. They would drive the ball down to the one and Ricky Ray plunged in from the there to give the Eskimos a four point lead with just under a minute to play. It was starting to look as if the Lions may end up snake-bitten in spite of what had been a fairly solid effort on both sides of the ball.

With just fifty-seven seconds remaining in the game, the Lions got the ball back seventy-five yards from pay-dirt and trailing by four. Short completions from Pierce to O’Neil Wilson and Simon netted the Lions thirteen yards, but at the cost of about a third of their remaining time.

A Pierce incompletion intended for Wilson would stop the clock with just twenty-two ticks remaining, and then the Lions caught lightning in a bottle. Pierce found a seam in the Eskimos’ secondary and despite double coverage connected with Geroy Simon on a 62-yard touchdown to pull out the victory.

The Lions’ defence managed to keep Edmonton QB Ricky Ray from getting comfortable in the pocket, registering four sacks, with Anton McKenzie, Jeremy Gibbs, Korey Banks and Ricky Foley each collecting one. Banks and McKenzie’s both came at crucial junctures when it seemed that Ray had finally uncovered something in the BC secondary, helping to keep the Esks out of the red zone and forcing them to settle for the second of Prefontaine’s field goals in the fourth quarter.

Special teams play definitely noted the absence of Sean Whyte, as McCallum’s eight punts on the night only averaged thirty-two and a half yards- likely due in part to the cold temperatures- but with the last two of the evening traveling only thirty-one and twenty yards, each with double-digit yard returns, the stage was set for the Eskimos offense with a short field.

Tonight belonged to the receivers, though, even in the absence of the injured Paris Jackson. Geroy Simon led the way with nine catches for 170 yards and the two long touchdowns. Emmanuel Arceneaux also had a solid performance, reeling in seven balls for eighty-eight yards before leaving the game with a hand injury.

The win lifts the Lions to 7-7 on the season, only two points back of division-leading Calgary and tied for second with Saskatchewan. The Riders host Toronto tomorrow, while Calgary faces off with Montreal at Percival Molson Stadium in the opener of the Thanksgiving Day doubleheader.

On a personal note, to my friends back in the Home and Native Land, happy Thanksgiving on Monday. May you enjoy the holiday with friends and family and really appreciate all that you have; and keep warm thoughts for the man and women of the Canadian Forces in their peacekeeping roles around the world who may be spending the time far away from their loved ones.

Down here in the States, my family will join with you, even in absentia, probably in the company of another expat family.

Until next Sunday, when the Lions tangle with the Blue Bombers, I wish you well!

The BC Lions needed a win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Friday night to keep with the pack in the tight CFL Western Division. They got that won, but made it a lot harder on themselves than it should have been, squeaking out a 19-16 victory before over 31,000 fans at BC Place stadium.

Fresh off the opening kickoff, things looked good for the BC Lions. Nine plays, starting from the 41-yard-line, and the Lions had the ball at the Saskatchewan one. Unfortunately, the Green Riders stood tall with their backs to their own end-zone, stuffing Martell Mallett on third-and-goal. The Riders strung together a ten play drive of their own to answer, but kicked the ball back to the Lions, who started moving it again, only to have a second drive result in no points when Sean Whyte’s 31-yard attempt caught nothing but upright.

The first quarter would close with the Lion defense starting to assert itself, and opening the second, Rickey Foley tallied the first sack of the evening, bring down Darian Durant for a loss of seven, and forcing another Jason Boreham punt.

Again, the Lions would drive. Ryan Grice-Mullen opened the possession with a twenty-four yard scamper, followed by Martell Mallett rushes for nine and thirteen yards. A Buck Pierce toss to Geroy Simon fell to the carpet along with a penalty flag as Omarr Morgan ran Simon over in the end zone, resulting in a first-and-goal for the Lions from the Saskatchewan one. But yet again, the goal line offense would sputter, settling for a nine-yard field goal from Whyte as a disappointing cap to the seven play, sixty-six yard drive. What could have been a 17-0 BC lead was only 3-0.

The defense would continue to perform solidly, holding the Riders to another two-and-out, giving the Lions the ball back in Saskatchewan territory after a no-yards penalty. A twenty-one yard completion from Pierce to Paris Jackson set the stage for another Whyte field goal, this one from 43 yards out.

Ryan Phillips would pick off a Durant pass on the Riders’ next play from scrimmage, but the ensuing drive would fizzle on a Whyte miss wide left from forty-five yards out, and Lions’ fans couldn’t help but wonder if the missed opportunities would come back to haunt them.

A pair of ineffective possessions would give Saskatchewan the ball back in the closing seconds of the half, and Luca Congi put the visitors on the scoreboard with a forty-nine yard boot, making the score 6-3. The half ended with a Pierce throw intended for Geroy Simon, rather than electing a fifty-yard attempt from Whyte to close the half, which had the potential to be yet another uncapitalized chance. Pierce at this point had been knocked down on eight attempts and hurried on seven more, knocking Buck Pierce to the turf repeatedly. Pierce would sustain an injury- losing the nail from the ring finger of his throwing hand, but pushed on past pain. Fans at BC Place had to be wondering which hit would be the one to send Pierce to the sidelines for Travis Lulay.

Pierce hung tough, though, playing for his career after recent criticism of his performance, and had the Lions on the march again to open the third quarter. But it was Travis Lulay, coming in on second-and short from the Riders’ thirty-eight who orchestrated a brilliant play-action fake, completing a pass to Paris Jackson for the touchdown to put the Lions ahead 13-3.

The Riders started to shift the field position in their favour, starting when Jamie Boreham successfully kicked to the coffin corner, rolling a punt across the sideline at the BC four. Pierce would take another hit and have the ball knocked loose by Stevie Baggs, but Damane Duckett came up with the recovery. An illegal contact flag would move the ball out to the BC fourteen, but only for two plays, as Baggs would register a sack on Pierce for an eight yard loss. The Lions elected to concede the safety, making the score 13-5.

On the ensuing drive, the Riders would get another Luca Congi field goal, this time from forty-seven yards out to bring the visitors to within five, and it would stay that way until about halfway through the fourth quarter, when the Lions started moving again, only to have Grice-Mullen lose the ball to Saskatchewan’s Donovan Alexander, who returned it twenty-five yards to give the Riders’ the ball in BC territory. Barron Miles would step up to thwart the threat on the next play, picking off Durant’s pass intended for Andy Fantuz and returning it seven yards to the Lions’ thirty-six. It looked as if the Lions would be able to run a little time off the clock, but after runs of twenty-one and five yards from Mallett and a Pierce keeper for another twenty, two incompletions forced the Lions to stretch the lead to eight on a twenty-five yard kick from Whyte to make the lead eight.

The Lion defence would show their only real vulnerability, as the Durant went three-for-four of his next attempts, culminating in a twenty-four yard throw Fantuz had to stretch to reel in for the touchdown to close the gap to two with under three minutes to play. On the two-point conversion attempt, sheer athleticism allowed Durant to elude the BC pass rush and connect with Gerran Walker to knot the score at sixteen with 2:33 remaining on the clock and the stage was set for the Riders to steal a game they really had no business being in.

But the Lions buckled down, clawing down the field. The game winning drive featured some hard running  from Mallett, and a key shoestring catch by Geroy Simon to keep the drive alive. A gutsy run by Buck Pierce got the Lions down close to set the stage for Sean Whyte to win the game with a thirty-three yard field goal with five seconds left on the clock.  The Riders attempted some trickery on the ensuing kick off, but an attempted on side punt down field was blocked and recovered by former Rider Anton McKenzie to seal the win for BC.

The win combined with Edmonton’s loss to Winnipeg earlier in the evening lifted the Lions to 6-7 and into a tie with the Eskimos for third place in the Western Conference, two points behind the Riders and Calgary. The effort was a gutsy one, particularly by Pierce, but fans have to wonder about the potential quarterback situation with Jarious Jackson still recovering from a shoulder injury and Casey Printers tucked away on the practice roster; especially should Pierce have to endure another pounding like the one he withstood tonight.

Quick Hits:

• The club honoured Wally Buono before the game with a video tribute, a game ball and a portrait to mark his CFL coaching record.
• Rider fans pushed attendance to over 31,000 for the game.
• Paris Jackson left the game with what was reported to be a knee injury and did not return.
• Jackson and Geroy Simon both went over 100 yards receiving, netting 114 and 134 respectively.

The BC Lions didn’t win tonight’s game at BC Place as much as the Toronto Argonauts lost it. Toronto’s offensive line was simply inept in protecting quarterback Cody Pickett, yielding six sacks and allowing the BC pass rush to hurry Pickett all night, contributing to a pair of interceptions as the Lions prevailed, 23-17.

It was often ugly, but how they won won’t be remembered a week from tonight. No, the story from Vancouver is all about the coach with the most wins in Canadian Football League history, as the Lions lifted Wally Buono past the legendary Don Matthews in giving him win number 232 for his career.

The night started on a positive note for Coach Buono’s boys. The defence backed Toronto up on their opening possession with a sack by Rickey Foley and then a Jason Arakgi recovery of a botched Jason Medlock punt gave the Lions the ball at the Toronto eight-yard-line.

The offense, with Buck Pierce back under centre,  was held motionless, forcing the Lions to settle on a Sean Whyte field goal to draw first blood.

It looked as if it might be another long night for the Boatmen when Pickett threw his first interception of the night to Korey Banks on the ensuing possession. Five plays later, the CFL’s leading rusher Martell “The Hammer” Mallett cashed the turnover in for six points and the ensuing conversion by Whyte staked the Lions to a 10-0 bulge.

The defence took the ball back again, stuffing the CFL’s second leading rusher- Jamal Robertson- for a loss of four yards and sacking Pickett for another four, but the Lions were unable to capitalize again to put the game seemingly out of reach, and settled for a single to lead by eleven.

After the first quarter, it seemed Toronto was stuck in reverse, marshalling a total offense amounting to a loss of nine yards; while the Lions were sputtering along, failing to sustain a drive of more than five plays yet still emerging with the lead. It would turn out that they’d need it.

After an exchange of field goals, the Toronto D would come up big, blocking a Sean Whyte punt and capitalizing on it as Jordan Younger scooped the ball up and scored the touchdown to close the gap to 14-10. The teams would return to the locker rooms at the half with the score unchanged.

The Argos would take the lead on their first possession of the second half, keyed by a sixty-two yard strike from Pickett to Chad Lucas. Four Jamal Robertson rushes and one by Kerry Joseph moved the ball to the BC one, and Robertson took it in for the score to make it 17-14 in favour of the visitors.

The Lions would tie the game again on the ensuing possession, culminating in a 41-yard field goal from Whyte, and  took the lead two possessions later on another field goal, this one from thirty-two yards. From there, it was simply a matter of holding on.

Sean Whyte would kick another in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter to provide the final margin, but by and large, there wasn’t much to celebrate from the offense in this one- provident, because there really aren’t any storylines to distract from the Buono milestone.

Buck Pierce was decent in his first game back starting, going twenty-for-twenty-eight for 171 yards while throwing no interceptions, and spreading the wealth to seven different recievers. Mallett had a relatively lackluster evening, marshaling only fifty-five yards on eighteen attempts. The defense was led by Ricky Foley, who had a monster of a game with seven tackles and three sacks; and JoJuan Armour with four tackles.

Wally’s in the record books in time to return to Calgary next week as the Lions look to even their record at 6-6 against the Stampeders.

Quick Hits:

• According to Lowell Ullrich of the Vancouver Province, the Lions have initiated talks with quarterback Casey Printers about a possible practice roster position. Printers has retained agent Gil Scott to participate in the discussions, but Buono is making it clear that if Printers wants anything more than a practice roster deal, the discussion will be a short one.
• Don Matthews was in attendance to witness Buono’s record setting win.
• The Lions will have to contend with a revamped Calgary receiving core Friday. Ryan Thelwell ruptured his Achilles tendon in Calgary’s game against Hamilton Friday, and has been lost for the season. The Stamps wasted little time replacing Thelwell, who was having a stellar season, acquiring import receiver Romby Bryant and  non-import Arjei Franklin from Winnipeg following another loss for the Bombers Sunday in Montreal. Winnipeg receives receiver Jabari Arthur, returner Titus Ryan and defensive lineman Odell Willis plus two draft picks.

(Compiled by Brian Wawryshyn)

Two weeks ago, the BC Lions defence was simply abysmal against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, as Fred Reid ran almost at will up and down the field. Fortunately, the Lions had the bye week to attempt to exorcise the ghosts of their past as they looked to rebound against the 7-1 Montreal Alouettes.

And rebound they did.

Behind a strong rushing effort from Martell Mallett, the Lions and Als were even at 12 at the three-minute warning, and the defense which came into the game having given up the fewest rushing yards in the CFL had yielded 253 and a club record 213 of them to Mallett, accompanied by another 217 through the air.

More stunning, the Alouette offense had only managed a field goal against the BC defense.

Angus Reid and the BC offensive line  did an outstanding job opening holes for Mallett and protecting Jarious Jackson. JoJuan Armour and Dante Marsh led the defensive charge with seven tackles apiece. If the squad’s effort against Winnipeg was a woeful F, tonight’s was at least an A-. The Lions defense gave up 395 yards, but only the one David Duvall field goal. The other Montreal scoring came on a special teams touchdown when an errant snap easily cleared punter Sean Whyte’s head and was returned sixty-seven yards. The Als also added a and a pair of singles. The Lions established an effective pass rush early, registering two of their three sacks in the scoreless first quarter and knocking Anthony Calvillo to the BC Place turf a few more times.

After the three-minute warning in the fourth quarter, it was a Jarious Jackson to Emmanuel Arceneaux touchdown toss to put the Lions ahead 19-12, and the Lions would claw and scrape their way to a victory over the Alouettes.

The final drive, though, was an exercise in Kafkaesque horror for Montreal with no exit in sight- on a third-and one from the BC seven, Adrian McPherson appeared to make the first-down on the sneak- but the play was nullified due to a ruling that time-out had been called before the play.

On the second reprise of third-and-one, Avon Coburne scampered around left tackle and into the end-zone for the touchdown. Or did he? The replay official called for a review to determine the amount of time which should have been on the clock, and the officials nullified the play.

And finally, on third-and-one, take three, the Lions came up with a stop. But it wasn’t over then. No, the Lions would face a third-and-one of their own- but would get a more favourable spot, and hold on to capture their fourth victory on the season, sending the Alouettes to only their second setback of the season.

Next week sees the back-end of this home-and-home with the Alouettes. If the Lions can play as well on the road next Sunday, we may well see a strong playoff push materialize.

Notes:

• The club record 213 rushing yards for Mallet eclipsed the 212 yard total previously registered by Sean Millington registered on August 15th, 1997 against Saskatchewan.
• Not a bad Labour Day weekend crowd witnessed the contest, with 27,199 fans taking in the game and making it very loud in the fourth quarter.
• Jarious Jackson went 17-30 for 217 yards and two touchdowns and could have had more with Lions receivers behind Montreal defenders often only to be overthrown.
• The win moved head coach Wally Buono into a tie with Don Matthews as the CFL’s all-time leader for wins coached.

If the goal for the BC Lions coming into this game was not to let Michael Bishop beat them, they were arguably successful. Bishop was at best merely adequate, but good enough to keep the Lions defence looking confused and hapless as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers behind a career night from Fred Reid ran roughshod over the hosts and snapped the BC winning streak at two with a decisive 37-10 triumph.

Things started promisingly enough for BC. After the opening kickoff, the Lions held the Bombers to a two-and-out, and Jarious Jackson picked up where things left off last week, completing four of five and benefiting from a pass interference call on the fifth as the eighty-six yard drive was capped by a spectacular, one handed catch by Emmanuel Arceneaux from thirty-eight yards out for the touchdown.

Winnipeg answered quickly, though, with Fred Reid carrying five times on the nine play, seventy-five yard drive evening the score.

That name would be one the crowd at BC Place would tire of hearing long before the final gun sounded. Reid galloped for 260 yards of the nearly four hundred the Bombers would rack up on the ground against the BC defence.

By the time Javon Johnson returned a Jarious Jackson interception seventy-three yards with just over eight and a half minutes to play, it was all over but the final indignities, and BC Place was silenced and rapidly emptying out. After all, there are far better things to do in Vancouver on a late summer evening than watch the Lions struggle with futility.

Last week, Lions fans saw the other side of Jarious Jackson- coming on in relief of the injured Buck Pierce and rallying the troops for a come-from-behind victory in Toronto. Tonight, after falling behind before the end of the first quarter, Jackson seemed to be trying too hard and by the end of the third was pushing desperately and to no avail.

Then the turnovers started. Jackson was picked off twice in the fourth quarter, once by Barrin Simpson which was immediately followed by a fifty-two yard Reid run for a touchdown; the second time by Johnson.

The final stats looked better for Jackson than for Bishop- fifteen for twenty-four and a 185 yards before being injured and yielding to Travis Lulay (who ended up five for seven and eighty-nine yards), compared to Bishop’s eleven for twenty and a 131.

Tonight’s story wasn’t the quarterbacks, though. It was the Fred Reid show in Vancouver, and the complete inability of the Lions to stop the run. When it wasn’t Reid, it was Yvenson Bernard, who ran for a hundred and twelve yards of his own.

If there’s a bright spot, it’s that the Lions won’t lose next week, as they have the bye and two weeks to prepare for Montreal and the running of Avon Coburne. Ricky Foley led the orange-and-black defence with eight tackles, Arceneaux the receiving corps with nine catches for 158.

There are bound to be some tough moments in the press after tonight’s debacle, especially with the week off and home and home dates with the 7-1 Alouettes coming right on its heels. Tonight wasn’t pretty, but it’s one game out of eighteen. Unfortunately, at three and five, the number of lacklustre outings this squad can afford and still mount a credible push for the post-season is diminishing, and at very least the Lions have to roar in their remaining games, because getting man-handled just isn’t going to cut it.