Jul
Lions struggle; lose to Ti-cats
Courtesy Vancouver Province:
A long streak of futility for CFL teams east of Manitoba came to an end when the Hamilton Tiger-Cats recorded a 31-28 win over the B.C. Lions Friday.
The win was the first for a team in the Eastern time zone in Vancouver since the Ticats defeated the Lions in the first game of the 2004 season. The home-opening setback for the Lions (0-2) stunned a crowd of 26,885 at B.C. Place Stadium, who watched starting quarterback Buck Pierce struggle again and veteran kicker/punter Paul McCallum injure his knee in the contest.
Hamilton was paced by fourth-string tailback DeAndra’ Cobb, who sealed the win with a 48-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter.
Hamilton’s Nick Setta opened the scoring with a 51-yard field goal, the longest field goal kicked against the Lions in more than six seasons. However, the Lions responded with a six-play scoring drive which ended with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Pierce to Paris Jackson.
Pierce threw his second touchdown of the quarter to Geroy Simon and the Lions, drawing from the running success of rookie Martell Mallett, had opened an 11-point lead.
However, Ticats counterpart Quinton Porter responded with a 13-yard touchdown run, reducing the lead to 14-11. Setta’s second field goal, a 42-yarder, drew the Ticats even just before the half. Cobb, making his CFL debut, jump-started the Ticats offensively with 76 yards from nine carries before the break.
Another Hamilton rookie, Marquay McDaniel, contributed as well, opening the second half with his second kick return in excess of 50 yards. McCallum injured his right knee making a tackle on the play and did not return. Third-string quarterback Travis Lulay served as the Lions punter initially, getting 56 yards from his first kick, but gave way to Paris Jackson.
It got worse from there for B.C. Ticats defender Geoff Tisdale picked off a pass from Pierce intended for Simon and ran in unmolested 40 yards for a touchdown. Setta hit a 28-yarder to give the Ticats a 24-14 lead as the Lions were unable to stop Cobb on the drive.
B.C.’s rookie runner responded to keep the Lions in the contest. Mallett was the featured attacker in a drive which culminated with a one-yard scoring plunge by Jarious Jackson. Backup safety Tad Crawford hit the convert on his first CFL attempt.
However, Cobb restored order for Hamilton (1-1) when Porter found him on a screen pace when facing a Lions blitz. He did the rest on his own to score, ending a long streak of futility.
Pierce had a chance to tie the game on the Lions final drive, but his final pass of the game was intercepted by former B.C. linebacker Otis Floyd.
