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.

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.