Former CFL MOP Casey Printers made his return to the field for the BC Lions Saturday and it was like old times in many ways, but his only mistake of the night proved to be a costly one as the Lions dropped a 33-30 overtime decision to the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Mosaic field in Regina.

Printers started the game looking a little nervous on his first drive, on which he had good field position thanks to a nice kick return by Tristan George to start the game. As Lions fans have seen far too much of this season, the offense was stopped on 2 and 1 and turned the ball over on downs.

The Riders punted and on BC’s next drive Printers evaded several tacklers to find Geroy Simon and set up a field goal to open the scoring.

Riders went two and out on their first two possessions, but proceeded to have a nice drive to end the first and begin the 2nd quarter highlighted by a 60 yard completion over the middle from Darian Durant to Rob Bagg. A favourable spot on 2nd and 1 when it appeared the Lions had stuffed the Riders, gave the Riders a first down and two plays later Stephen Jyles followed the surge from his line up the middle to give the Riders a 7-3 lead on the converted touchdown.

Both teams failed to respond on their next possessions but eventually Durant found Bagg again in single coverage on a 32 yard touchdown pass to extend the Rider lead to 11. The teams then took turns kicking field goals including a nice 22 second march executed by Printers make the score 17-9 for the Riders at halftime.

The Riders opened the 3rd with a single off a Congi 54 yard punt. On the Lions first play of their second drive, centre Angus Reid went down with a badly sprained ankle on a 7 yard Martell Mallett run and the Lions were stopped on 2nd and 3 with about a yard remaining. The drive stalled, with Buono opting to punt rather than take the chance with his challenged short yardage offense on 2nd and 1. Reid would return to the game, hobbling around on one leg, reportedly refusing to be pulled.

Following a nice return by Michael Bumpus, Printers a 34 yard catch and run with Emmanuel Arceneaux to make the score 18-16. McCallum’s kickoff went out of bounds again, setting the riders up at the 45 to start their drive, but they went two and out and punted. Field position shifted however and after the Lions failed to get a first down, McCallum continued to struggle shanking the ensuing punt, and the Riders started at the BC 44 yard lie. The Riders settled for a single off a wide left 42 yard Congi field goal.

Jason Armstead provided some spark for the Riders on a big return, but the Lions defense held again. Congi added a 35 yard field goal to make the score 22-16 Saskatchewan with a 1:29 left in the 3rd quarter.

Then the injury bug really started to bite. Martell Mallett hurt went out with a leg injury and did not return. But on the very next play AJ Harris had nice run to bring the Lions near midfield. A Holding penalty moved the Lions back and Geroy Simon came up a yard short on a 2nd and 20. The Lions punted and pinned the Riders deep and appeared to have them ready to concede the safety but a bad pass interference penalty on LB Jojuan Amour gave the Riders a second life and they worked their way out from deep in their own end with three straight first downs but punted to end the drive.

Printers then hit Geroy Simon on a long pass to put the Lions on the Rider 19. A holding penalty put the Lions 1st and 20 on the 29, but Printers evaded the rush on the next play and launched a pass into the end zone that created a showboat catch by Michael Bumpus to give the Lions the lead at 23-22.

The teams exchanged punts before Barron Miles jumped on a medium route over the middle and picked off Darian Durant returning it to the house to give the Lions a 30-22 lead with just over 3 minutes remaining and the momentum looked to be in the Lions favour. But the TD proved costly, as Miles tweaked a hamstring on the return and had to come out on the next Rider drive. The Riders took advantage targeting backup Tad Crawford and marching down field for the tying touchdown with the successful two point convert.

The Lions were forced to punt and the Riders had enough time to get into position to try a 50 yard field goal but the kick was a little off target and hit the upright, sending the game to overtime. With the Riders having the first possession they appeared to have scored a go ahead TD but the replay showed former Lion Jason Clermont did not maintain possession on the catch and Riders settled for a field goal.

Crowd noise and the Riders continuous practice of blitzing then played a factor as the Lions took two procedure calls costing them nine yards on their drives. Still though, Printers got them close, hitting Paris Jackson over the middle and setting the Lions up first and goal. But the Riders brought the pressure again, and Printers, scrambling for his life chose to throw to Simon in triple coverage, and the Riders intercepted it, ending the game, and giving the Riders the 33-30 overtime win. It looked like Simon was held on the play, but there was no flag.

The Lions battled hard, but came up just short. Casey Printers finished the game 19-of-31 for 339 yards for two touchdowns and the one interception.

Extra Yards:

• S Barron Miles had his 64th and 65th career interceptions in the game.
• WR Michael Bumpus likely earned himself another look after replacing Ryan Grice-Mullen with a nice return and a great touchdown catch.
• Casey Printers finished the game 19-of-31 for 339 yards for two touchdowns and the one interception.
• The game was tough injury-wise for the Lions with Angus Reid (ankle), Martell Mallet (leg/foot), Barron Miles (hamstring) all getting nicked up.
• Travis Lulay (shoulder) didn’t even dress for the Lions, while Buck Pierce did.

This past March, one of the CFL’s biggest and most knowledgeable fans, Ritch Dowrey was the victim of a senseless and brutal assault that left him with severe brain injuries. The road to recovery will be a long one, as Ritch has to relearn to do life’s most routine things. Fighting his way through the coma he was left in by his attacker, Ritch is now in a group home in Langley where he needs constant care and he’s receiving daily rehab to try and get his speech and coordination back.

Anyone who knows Ritch or “3rd Down” as he’s known to his CFL friends will know that he loves his Lions, and he loves the CFL. Ritch could tell you stories of old Lions games, and recall great memories and stats from the past. He was never shy to be controversial on his opinions on the game, or the events surrounding it. For instance, when the BC Lions traded Ritch’s favourite player Damon Allen to the Toronto Argonauts, Ritch showed up at the tailgate with a BC Lions white jersey, that he unsuccessfully tried to dye blue. The point was made and his loyalty to “Gumby” never wavered.

Part of the rehab process for Ritch is to try and engage him in activities that used to interest him in the past, and the BC Lions certainly qualify. This day had been planned for about a month by his friends and family and the Lions organization. Ritch had plenty of interaction with players, and proudly sported his #1 Dowrey jersey that the club gave him when he was in the hospital. But sometimes things were truly meant to be. One of Ritch’s favourite Lions, Casey Printers, just happened to sign with the team the day before, and was attending his first practice on this day. Ritch was a staunch supporter of Casey through the years, and was always calling for the return of “Caseymania” to BC. Casey was the last one off the field, but took the time to sign Ritch’s jersey, talk to him a bit and pose for a picture with his biggest fan.

I’ve been visiting Ritch since he was in a coma. I’ve seen him make a lot of progress and I’ve often left him after a visit feeling sad. Not so today because it was inspiring to me to see his face light up when Geroy Simon came to say hello. To watch his eyes light up when his daughter Carolyn arrived, and the connection they had.

There is no doubt that Ritch is facing a third and long in life but he’s a fighter, and he’s come a long way. He seemed to enjoy and thrive at times today, and the next step will be to have him attend a game, hopefully this season.

Thanks should go out to Jill and Sheila from Connect Communities, Brittany Ramsay of the BC Lions and Ritch’s friend Lindsay Wincherauk for their help in making this day happen for Ritch, and to the players who came to spend some time with him after practice. I think it was a positive experience for him and I was happy to be able to experience it. I am sure I speak for all of Ritch’s CFL friends when I say to Carolyn, Curtis, Jean, Allan and the rest of Ritch’s family, that is there is anything we can do we’ll be there.

I took some photos and I’ve compiled them in the photo gallery below. Please feel free to leave comments for the family, or for Ritch himself and spread the word to his CFL friends.

[flickr album=72157622512979959 num=20 size=Thumbnail]

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)

Radio station CKNW is reporting that quarterback Jarious Jackson could be done for the season with what is speculated to be a torn rotator cuff on his throwing shoulder.

The Lions have neither confirmed or denied the report, saying only that Jackson had underwent an MRI Thursday. Jackson has missed the last two days of practice and Buck Pierce will get the start Saturday against Toronto.

Pierce’s injury woes are well known and he’s coming off a break after suffering his second concussion of the year before the bye week.

Jackson’s injury means Zac Champion will likely be added to the active roster, and speculation will now begin if a phone call could be made to former Lion Casey Printers, who has yet to find a new home after being released by the Hamilton Tiger Cats. Buono has never ruled out bringing Printers back to the club where he had his most success, winning the leagues most outstanding player award in 2004.