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Lions win the Gre

A play-by-play of the big game

By David Hollinshead

he last team to win the Grey
| Cup at home was the BC
Lions. That fact remains,
following the Lion’s championship
win against the Winnipeg Blue
Bombers by a score of 34-23 on
Sunday.

The 1994 Lions won the Grey
Cup under the dome against the
Baltimore Stallions 26-23 after
legendary kicker Lui Passaglia
kicked a last-second field goal. That
was also the year the Vancouver
Canucks lost the Stanley Cup Finals
in game seven to the New York
Rangers. The Vancouver teams of
2011 mirrored these circumstances
17 years later, as the Vancouver
Canucks lost their Cup in seven
games to the Boston Bruins, sending
the city into a frantic depression.

Leave it to the BC Lions to
make amends, as after starting
the season at 0-5, they came
into this weekend’s Grey Cup
Championship game as favourites
to win the title as they faced off
against the Blue Bombers.

18

After exchanging punts, BC
running back Andrew Harris took
it in from 19 yards out to give the
Lions a 7-0 lead, and after kicker
Paul McCallum connected on a
22-yard field goal and a 57-yard
single, the Lions led the first quarter
11-0. The rest of the first half was
completely defensive as both teams
could only amass field goals; one
being from McCallum and two
coming from the boot of Winnipeg’s
Justin Palardy.

The game went into half time,
which featured a great performance
by Nickelback, with the score 14-6.

Once the teams came back from
the half, they traded another pair of
field goals—until Lions quarterback
Travis Lulay hit rookie wide
receiver Kierrie Johnson on a 66-
yard bomb for Johnson’s first CFL
touchdown. This gave the Lions a
24-9 lead heading into the fourth
quarter, where things got hectic.
After Lulay hit slot back Arland
Bruce on a six-yard touchdown
play, it was assumed the game
was all but over. This was not the
case, as ex-Lion’s quarterback Buck

Pierce hit receiver Greg Carr on a
45-yard touchdown play, and less
than two minutes later hit receiver
Terrence Edwards on a 13-yard
touchdown play.

With the score 31-23, it only
took a Paul McCallum a 34-yard
field goal to put the game away
for good 34-23. Lions quarterback
Travis Lulay, who led his team to
his first Grey Cup appearance in his
first season starting after winning
the league’s Most Outstanding
player award finished the day
21 of 37 for 320 yards and two
touchdowns. Lulay was also
awarded the Grey Cup MVP.

Lulay though, did not play a
perfect game, admitting that he
missed several throws—for a bit it
looked as though the pressure of
the championship game was getting
to him. He wasn’t making too many
bad decisions, but saw balls going
over receiver’s heads repeatedly.
Still, overall he played a great game
and showed why he will be a star in
this league for many years to come.

Lulay’s counterpart, Buck
Pierce, who was released from

y Cup 34-23

   

  

the Lions two years ago for being
injury prone, went 19 of 37 for 250
yards with two touchdowns and an
interception. Despite losing, Pierce
showed poise running when he had
to and with toughness, in the end
the Lions defence held the entire
Blue Bomber offence.

Lion’s running backs Andrew
Harris and Tim Brown had very
successful days in their own
right. Harris ran 10 times for 65
yards, and a touchdown. Harris,

a Winnipeg native, won the Most
Valuable Canadian in the Grey Cup
game. Brown on the other hand had
a very good day returning kicks.
Every time he punted the ball,

it looked like he had the chance

to take it back for a touchdown,
something he hadn’t done since
week one against the Montreal
Alouettes. He amassed 72 yards
returning on the day.

Bombers running back Chris
Garret—who did a fantastic job
replacing injured star Fred Reid
and ran for 190 yards against the
Hamilton Tiger-Cats the week
before—struggled in the big stage,