Kamloops- The BC Lions survived a long travel day, some inclement weather, and of course the 75 minute halftime power outage in their 28-16 win over Saskatchewan to open the pre-season on Saturday. Although Wally Buono told his players there is still plenty of work to be done, starting off on the right note is always essential, even before you start playing for real. Although the offence started slow, it picked up after the lengthy delay when they were able to establish a running game. The defence had three takeaways, including a Ronnie Yell 50-yard interception return for a touchdown to turn the tide before the lights went out. Special teams coverage was excellent all game long and it paid off with a Stephen Clarke fumble recovery to help seal the deal. We caught up with a few members of the team, including Anthony Allen who was part of the infamous Super Bowl 47 power outage as part of the Baltimore Ravens. The running back was not on the trip to Regina but was watching it all unfold from his room.
On Super Bowl power outage: “It was different than this one. We kind of heard noises in the Super Bowl. I remember sitting next to Jacoby Jones and Joe Flacco and when it went out Jacoby was like ‘what the heck.’ I stood up and remember just seeing half the lights on and the coaches gathering us together to tell us to stay loose because we didn’t know how long it was going to last. I could just imagine what our guys were going through in the locker room.”
On keys to staying focused: “An old man once told me one of the greatest things about football is that you have to focus and then re-focus. Once you have that focus you get a little complacent thinking that you have it all together. What happened in the Super Bowl is we kind of lost focus, we were complacent that we were up and we almost lost that game.”
On victory: “We for sure wanted to come in and find a way to win. Regardless of pre-season, we want to establish a culture of winning so that part of it was important. Some of the execution looked like pre-season week one. It needs to be cleaned up, it needs to be better. There was a few too many discipline-type penalties. Guys are excited and playing in different spots so those things are going to happen. No doubt about it, we’ll be better next time around with our discipline and overall execution.”
On power outage. “It was hard to be honest. We’ve had a few delays before, thunder and lightning delay in Edmonton (2010) and Ottawa, (2014) but a pure power outage in pre-season really made for a weird feel. There was a lot of talk about if the game would continue, fans were leaving and before you knew it the lights were on and we were warming up. It took us a while to get back into it, but we hunkered down and finished the game out.”
On victory: “It feels good to start the year with a victory, it just sets the tone for the guys. Wally preaches we want to have a winning tradition and that just gives the guys a glimpse of the identity we want to have throughout the season.”
On Yell pick six: “That lifted us really good. I helped out with the block so I am happy to be part of the play. Ronnie did a good job and he’s one of the leaders on this defence. I’m glad he set the tone for us.”
On power outage: “I had experienced it before in college. We were playing against Sam Houston State and the game was delayed at half and we were two hours in the room doing Instagram and all that stuff. The key to staying focused is just talking to the guys and keeping things together.”
On beating the Riders: “It wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win. We came together as a team to get the win and it was a good first step. Once you get it moving, the defence can do some really amazing things and we had some big plays. We’re still growing, so the sky is the limit for us.”
On winning for Buono in his return: “It was huge to start off on the right foot for him. There’s things that need to be cleaned up. We trust that he’s going to get it done, he trusts us we trust him and that’s the way the coach-player relationship goes.”
The Lions will depart Kamloops on Wednesday before closing out pre-season at home to Calgary on Friday night. The Stampeders return to BC Place eight days later to kick off the 2016 regular season.
Matt Baker: mbaker@bclions.com