Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive back Shane Herbert runs the ball against the B.C. Lions during first half CFL action in Regina on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Taylor
Regina, Sask– To add insult to injury, the hometown Saskatchewan Roughriders (5-12) failed to even score a touchdown in the final ever game at Taylor Field. Jonathon Jennings threw for 241 yards and two touchdowns and the defence recorded seven sacks in Saturday’s 24-6 victory. Jeremiah Johnson, in his third straight game as the featured tailback, rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown to open the scoring in the quarter.
“Anytime you come up with the win it’s awesome, it’s great,” said Solomon Elimimian who had two of the sacks and led all Lions’ defenders with ten tackles. “We did a good job of attacking their protection. As long as guys understand what coaches expect from us, we’ll play great defence all year.”
The Lions led 16-6 at halftime and opened the third quarter with a bang: A sack by Adam Bighill, followed by a 50-yard punt return by Marco Iannuzzi set them up on the 17 before Jennings connected with Terrell Sinkfield Jr. The three-play sequence proved to be the knockout punch they needed to close out old Mosaic Stadium with a bang.
“We just came out on a mission and we executed. We left a lot of plays out there on the field that were going going to go in the film room and correct after this, but we’re just going to build off if it,” said Sinkfield. The speedy receiver is now the answer to a triva question: Who scored the last CFL touchdown at old Mosaic Stadium? “It’s my first time being here so I enjoyed it. Hey, Terrell Sinkfield Jr, I did that!”
Manny Arceneaux was the Lions’ leading receiver, hauling in 68 yards on four catches, including a 36-yard TD catch in tight coverage in the second quarter. Earlier in the day, Winnipeg dropped a 23-10 decision to Ottawa meaning the Lions are in sole possession of second place in the West.
“Most importantly, we’re in control of our destiny, which is awesome,” added Elimimian.
With a victory or another Blue Bombers loss next week, Arceneaux and company will host the division Semi-Final on Sunday, November 13th. Winnipeg’s rematch in Ottawa goes Friday night so there is a possibility the Lions could have second place sewn up before they hit the field. Saturday’s win also assures them of finishing no lower than third and not crossing over to the East.
Quotable
” It feels awesome, man. This is a legendary stadium and to come in and get a win is special. We came in here and got it on nothing but straight will. Or front five did it all for us, making it really easy for me to pick holes and run. That’s all you can ask for. – Johnson on winning big to close out Mosaic.
Numbers Game
Jennings is just 81 passing yards shy of 5,000 on the season and he would be joining some elite company as Doug Flutie, Casey Printers and Dave Dickenson are the only Lions’ QB’s to eclipse that total in a single year.
Elimimian is up to 128 defensive tackles in 2016 and 574 for his career. Although it would take a monster game next week to acheive it, he is 13 shy of matching Dante Marsh for the most in franchise history.
Bake’s Takes
Wally Buono and the staff deserve full kudos for having the group ready to play. That’s usually the case, but given how excited the entire province of Saskatchewan was for this grand occasion, the coaches and players had the perfect mindset coming in: It’s just another game. Oh, and the 6-3 road record to close out the regular season isn’t too shabby either. It felt like an eternity between road wins too: 59 days since the the last one which took place in Toronto.
Hat tip to Cameron Ontko who continues to be one of the club’s quietest leaders. He earned the special teams game ball after adding to his leading tackles total amongst the unit. He has proven to be a valuable part of Marcello Simmons’ group after he was added to the roster in Week four.
One of the biggest surprises when camp broke was to see veteran Tim O’Neill not emerge as the starting centre. He deserves kudos for a nice job filling in after Cody Husband went down with knee pain in the third quarter. Husband didn’t appear to be moving around with much difficulty and could potentially be back next week.
I know we have been praising the young duo for a couple of weeks, but how big was the forced fumble by Chandler Fenner that was recovered by Anthony Gaitor? It set the Lions up for Johnsons touchdown run and they of course would never trail all night.
Next Up
Saturday’s Lions and Roughriders clash is a 4:00 kickoff at BC Place!
Matt Baker:mbaker@bclions.com