Edmonton Eskimos slotback Adarius Bowman (4) gets tackled by BC Lions defensive back Mike Edem (11) and Loucheiz Purifoy (0) during first half CFL football action, in Vancouver on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
The Manny Show was in full force on Saturday night: Emmanuel Arceneaux caught two touchdown passes from Jonathon Jennings to help lift the BC Lions past Edmonton 32-25 and improve their record to 10-6 in the ultra-competitive West Division. All week long the Leos’ players and coaches preached the importance of finishing and that’s exactly what they did against the Green and Gold. They are now tied with the idol Winnipeg for second place, although the Bombers hold the head to head tiebreaker. For now, Arceneaux and company will saviour their tenth win of the year and not worry about anything else besides next Saturday’s clash with the Roughriders in Regina.
“My thing is just to get the guys around me to follow my lead,” Arceneaux said of his clutch performance. “With my number dialled, i’ve got to make plays. “It ain’t about me, it’s the guys around me that’s getting me open. You can’t just cover everyone. It’s the pizza theory, everybody get a piece and when your number is dialled, you got to be ready to make a play.”
Manny’s two scores propelled the Lions to an 18-5 halftime lead. A Richie Leone single on the opening kickoff of the second half put them ahead by 14 before the Eskimos hit pay dirt on a one-yard plunge by Mike Reilly. His counterpart, Jennings, responded with a 20-yard touchdown run of his own to restore the 14-point advantage. The Lions’ pivot ended his night by throwing for 273 yards and the two majors to Arceneaux.
“We did a good job of running the football all night and when you do that it’s going to make it tough for any defence to stop you,” Jennings said. “Our whole receiving corps is special and I am excited about playing with them every week. We just needed to get back on track and get ourselves out of the funk we’ve been in.”
In the fourth quarter, Leone hit a pair of field goals and the Eskimos got to within seven when Reilly found his favourite target Adarius Bowman in the end zone with 34 seconds on the clock. It was as close as the defending Grey Cup champions would come. The seven-point victory also assures the Lions have won the head to head tiebreaker with Edmonton. There was a little CFL history in this one as well: Adam Bighill recorded his 100th defensive tackle of the season, making him and Solomon Elimimian the first teammates ever to reach the century make in the same season. The Lions also have their first ten-win season since 2012 when they finished 13-5 before losing to Calgary in the Western Final. With wins over Saskatchewan in their final two games, combined with one more Blue Bombers loss ( they have a home and home with Ottawa), they would host the Western Division Semi Final on November 13th. The only way the Lions can crossover to the East is in the unlikely event there is a three way tie with Edmonton and Winnipeg. In that case, they would lose the tiebreaker by virtue of a 1-2 combined record against those teams. That is also the only scenario that would see Edmonton finish second.
Quotable
“Wally took a chance on us and we answered the call. You should see us going for 3rd downs like that from now on. At the end of the day it was about the grit the grind and the hard work for us to get that 1st down. 2 full yards. We don’t usually go for those. For Wally to trust his O-linemen, trust his running back, it was an honour and a blessing. We did it for him.”- Johnson on converting a key 3rd and 2 before Jennings’ third quarter touchdown run. Buono left his offence on the field instead of trying a 44-yard field goal.
Bake’s Takes
Speaking of that gutsy 3rd and 2 call: that decision represented exactly how the Lions approached this game and that was the fact they wanted to win at all costs. What’s even more impressive is the fact Jennings’ TD scamper capped off an 11- play, 95-yard drive which chewed 5:48 off the clock. We would have to go back and look it up, but that may have been one of the club’s more impressive drives of 2016.
Hat tip to the offensive line. Jennings was able to take advantage of outstanding protection all night long. Dan Dorazio will no doubt be proud of the grit showed by his unit in this one. It’s a big reason the offence as put up an average of almost 35 points per game the last four weeks.
Although they did not receive game balls, a major shoutout should be in store for Anthony Gaitor and Chandler Fenner who led the defence with seven and six tackles respectively. These two players have improved each week and it should be a huge feather in their cap to have held Reilly and Bowman at bay for most of the night. The CFL’s leading receiver had just 89 yards on seven catches.
For all those who complain about the frequent two-point convert attempts: the Lions are now 11 for 21 on the season. Not bad when you do the math eh?
Next Up
The Lions will return to practice on Tuesday to begin preparation for Saturday’s trip to Saskatchewan. The Riders are 5-11 following Saturday’s 19-14 loss to Montreal. Next week will mark the final game ever at historic Mosaic Stadium.