Aug
Lions finally getting a break or two
Courtesy Vancouver Province:
In a season in which few breaks had gone their way, at least one officially has been chalked up by the Lions. Maybe even more than one. On the same play, no less.
CFL director of officiating Tom Higgins said that upon review the special teams fumble recovery touchdown scored by O’Neil Wilson in the Lions’ game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders at B.C. Place should not have counted.
The league review of the play was that Jason Arakgi of the Lions was ahead of punt cover teammate James Yurichuk when he kicked the ball downfield and as such was not eligible to keep the play alive.
Lions coach Wally Buono and Saskatchewan counterpart Ken Miller were told in separate phone calls on the weekend that the Riders should have been awarded the ball at the spot where Arakgi was offside, near midfield.
Wilson’s touchdown gave the Lions a 19-14 lead just before halftime, sparking them to a 35-20 win.
“There were a lot of moving parts on that play, but it was real simple,” Higgins explained Sunday. “After the dribbled ball it was an offside player who touched the ball. We can’t do anything; there was an error on the field but that comes with the territory.”
The league also reminded both coaches that the call made by referee Murray Clarke was reviewable. Miller said after the game Friday he didn’t throw a challenge flag because his assistant coaches upstairs said no infractions had taken place. However, a CFL official attending the game said if a flag had been thrown the ruling on the field likely would have been overturned.
“I thought there was a no yards but I was told by my spotters that wouldn’t apply,” Miller said. “Then they kicked the ball and we were assured that the person who picked it up was an onside player. Those are the challengeable issues there and so with that information it would have been a waste of a challenge, I think.”
Coaches don’t have to waste a challenge in the final three minutes of a game, when all calls are subject to an automatic review. Miller chose not to use one of his two challenges during the contest, just as Buono held a flag in his pocket a week earlier in Hamilton when Martell Mallett appeared to score a touchdown a play before quarterback Jarious Jackson fumbled on the goal line.
“We’ve never officiated a perfect game, just as I never coached a perfect game,” said Higgins, a former head coach in Calgary and Edmonton. It could be the Lions actually received two breaks Friday.
