BC Place saw more energy and excitement at kickoff on [insert date] than it has in over a decade. Unfortunately, fans were quieted when the Lions offence played 3 straight 2 and outs. The Stampeders defence, aware of the current weaknesses in the Lions offensive line, came in hot and aggressive; sending in multiple 6 and 7 man pressures, putting the heat on quarterback Vernon Adams. With 5.5 minutes remaining in the opening quarter, the Stampeders had a 7-0 lead. On a cleverly designed pick play 10 yards out, Jake Maier and Marken Michel performed a walk-in touchdown pass.
The Lions offence gained traction late in the 1st quarter,and finished off the drive by scoring 3 plays into the 2nd quarter when Adams eluded linebacker Micah Awe before throwing to Justin McInnis, open wide, for an 8 yard touchdown. The extra point was blocked, keeping the Stampeders ahead 7-6.
A few plays after the Lions touchdown, linebacker Ben Hladik intercepted a tipped pass from Maier but the offence failed to capitalize and punted right back to Calgary, scoring a touchback single point. The Stampeders drove the field and on a 2nd & Goal from the BC 3-yard line, Sione Tuehema came up big with a tackle for loss on running back Dedrick Mills, forcing them to kick the field goal and taking a 10-7 lead.
The Lions took their first lead of the night on a 21-yard touchdown pass to Alex Hollins – making up for a drop earlier in the game – and Sean Whyte scored an extra point, sending BC to the locker room up 14-10.
Stampeders started the 2nd half with a 9 play, 84-yard drive, finished off by a highlight reel grab from Reggie Begelton for a 6-yard touchdown, bringing them up 17-14. The Lions responded with a 37-yard catch-and-run by McInnis, setting Whyte up to kick a 30-yard field goal, tying the score 17-17. The rest of the 3rd quarter had 3 drives end in punts, keeping the teams tied heading into the final quarter.
The Lions 1st drive of the 4th quarter was highlighted by a 59-yard pass to Aydan Eberhardt on a corner route, taking the team down to the 1-yard line. The next play had Adams plunging into the endzone, bringing the score to 23-17. The point after was blocked, leaving the Lions ahead by only 6 points.
The Stampeders started driving for the go-ahead-score late in the 4th, but the Lions defence came in strong – Jordan Perryman getting the ball away from Mills and linebacker Josh Woods batting it out of bounds – giving the Lions the ball with 3.5 minutes remaining in the game. The Lions utilised running back Will Standback to put away the game and Whyted landed a 47-yard field goal with 40 seconds left on the clock, ending the game 26-17.
The Lions offence had 2 set-backs that ultimately took points off the board; Hollins dropping a wide open pass deep down the sideline in the 2nd quarter and Travis Fulgham being unable to come down with a ball in the endzone on the 1st drive of the 2nd half – although we acknowledge it would have been difficult.
Jevon Cottoy left the game with a hamstring injury and didn’t return. If he’s unable to play in week 3, it’ll be up to Fulgham or Eberhardt to be that 3rd option for Adams. Hollins led the way receiving – finishing with 97 yards on 8 catches and 1 touchdown. McInnis had 1 touchdown and was 9 yards short of a 2nd consecutive 100-yard game. Standback finished with 69 rush yards on 15 carries and was the kick-starter for Leo’s offence to end the 1st quarter. Adams was poised in the face of pressure, had 0 turnovers and ended the game 17/29 for 277 passing yards and 2 total touchdowns.
Considering the struggles in week 1, how much pressure the Stampeders put the Lions under, and missing 2 starters in the lineup, their offensive line wasn’t an anchor sinking their team this week and made a great come-back.
The Stampeders offence finished with over 35 minutes of possession, and the Lions defence did a great job of bending, only giving up 17 points. The linebackers were much more active this week; Hladick ended with 10 tackles, 3 tackles for loss and an interception. Woods ended with 7 tackles and made what could arguably be called the play-of-the-game late in the 4th quarter. Pete Robertson, Josh Archibald, Marcus Moore and Christian Covington recorded sacks.
If the Lions can start to pressure the opposing teams’ quarterback, it’s going to go a long way to helping out the rest of the defence. For the 2nd week in a row an opposing quarterback was able to have success against the Lion’s secondary, Maier, who finished 26/33 with 339 yards and 2 touchdowns. While this isn’t all on the secondary, someone has to make a play to back off the quarterback.
The Lions will be on another short week, playing against [Winnipeg Team Name Here] on Friday, June 21. The Lions would do well to take advantage of the Bombers current losing streak, especially if they want to host the West Final at home. We could be seeing the 1st “must win” game 3 weeks into the season!