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August 31, 2016

Roar Report: Lions oust Argos on last-play field goal

The road warriors struck again. And for the second time in as many weeks, they clutched up with the game on the line. Richie Leone’s 31-yard field goal as time expired gave the BC Lions a 16-13 victory in Toronto Wednesday night. The result improves the Leos to 7-3 and also completes a road sweep of all four Eastern Division teams in 2016, something the franchise had not accomplished since 1985 when they went on to win their second Grey Cup championship.

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“I kind of wanted that one,” Leone said when asked about his last-second heroics. “Wally challenged me all week because the past couple games have been tough but it was great to get an opportunity like that.”

After struggling in last week’s win in Ottawa, Leone spent some time with sports psychologist Frank Lodato, with emphasis on staying focussed. “Everybody gave me words of encouragement. It was fun to be around everybody as much as we were because we were on the road. A lot of games left to go and a few more game winners I think.”

You have to hand it to the confident kicker from Atlanta: the odd seeds of doubt on his field goal abilities were beginning to seep in and he responded by going 3-for-3 and kicking the winning points.

Jonathon Jennings was 22 of 31 for 199 yards, while Anthony Allen had the lone Lions touchdown, rumbling in from the one-yard line in the second quarter.

 

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Quotable: Solomon in the record books

There was some team history made tonight as well. Solomon Elimimian recorded 14 tackles to eclipse the franchise single-game mark by one.

“Us winning supersedes everything. The only reason I’ll be able to celebrate anything that I’ve done is because of my teammates and us winning. I am thankful to be able to play with the group of guys that we have,” Elimimian said.

Prior to this evening, Adam Bighill and Dante Marsh had each recorded 13 in a game, Bighill doing it twice.

Bake’s Takes:

While Mark Washington was very deserving of the defensive game ball, Keynan Parker should also get some recognition for clutching up on short notice. After Ronnie Yell suffered a left foot injury in pre-game warm-ups, Parker was pressed into service after Brandon Stewart was moved over to Yell’s position at the short-side corner. Parker was beat by Kevin Elliott for the game’s opening touchdown, but then recovered nicely and broke up a pass intended for Tori Gurley that forced Toronto to kick a field goal early in the 4th quarter. The secondary may be banged up, but every guy is relishing the chance to fill in. Yell will be re-evaluated when the club returns home on Thursday.

About that road record: 5-1 away from BC Place, with four of the wins coming in the Eastern time zone, is something this organization should be proud of. Establishing this type of dominance outside your own area code is what separates the contenders from the pretenders. Just think; they could be a perfect six for six if not for that late collapse in Calgary on July 29th. The most important aspect is it sets them up quite nicely for post-Labour Day where the club will play five of its final eight games at home.

Hey, sometimes you have to grind it out. Jennings and the offence will admit there is room for improvement after the low-scoring affair, but the fact they have delivered with the game on the line in back to back weeks is a nice feather in the cap to go along with the 7-3 start. And Jennings has not engineered a CFL-leading four game winning drives this season. No other quarterback has three thus far.

Play Of The Night:

How about Bo Lokombo channelling his inner-Olympic hurdles skills by leaping over Brandon WhitakerThe ensuing pressure on Ricky Ray led to an interception by Elimimian and Leone’s second field goal of the night to give them a 13-10 lead.

Next Up:

The Montreal Alouettes pay a visit to BC Place on Friday, September 9th, a 7:00 kickoff.

Matt Baker: mbaker@bclions.com