Courtesy Winnipeg Sun:

He started the season with a barely a whimper, but B.C. Lions slotback Geroy Simon ended it with a bang.

Simon had five catches for 211 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Lions past the Calgary Stampeders 25-24 late Saturday night.

The victory was not only B.C.’s club-record 14th of the season, but the big night made Simon the CFL’s receiving leader for the second consecutive year with 72 catches for 1,293 yards.

“It means a lot,” said Simon, who struggled with back, foot and hamstring injures. “I struggled early in the year, I just persevered, kept working.

“I got on the same page with the quarterbacks and it worked out.”

Terrance Edwards of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers had the receiving title all but locked up going into the final week, as he had a 178-yard lead on Calgary’s Nik Lewis, who didn’t even dress for the Stampeders’ last game, and a 197-yard edge on Simon.

FINISH BIG

Edwards, however, had one catch for one yard in Winnipeg’s regular-season finale on Friday night — well short of his average of 75 yards per game heading into the contest — allowing last year’s outstanding player to sneak past him.

Edwards finished with 80 catches for 1,280 yards.

Lions quarterback Dave Dickenson was happy to see Simon finish big.

“Geroy had a lot of people doubting him and telling him he couldn’t get it done this season like he did last year,” said Dickenson. “He kept getting stronger. It was good he finished with his best game of the year.”

Simon wasn’t the only Lion to capture a regular-season statistical crown.

Running back Joe Smith had just 28 yards on eight carries, but still claimed his first rushing title with 1,510 yards. Smith, snubbed in voting for the West Division nomination for the outstanding player award, easily outdistanced runner-up Charles Roberts (1,379 yards) who missed the Bombers’ final two games with a thigh bruise.

Smith also ended the regular season with a league-best 18 rushing touchdowns, one short of the league’s single-season record of 19 held by former Montreal Alouettes star Mike Pringle.

“It’s good, especially since we are winning, it’s big,” Smith said about winning the rushing title. “Going into the playoffs we have a little momentum on our side. We feel good about ourselves. We just have to go into the playoffs with that backing us.”

Lions defensive end Cameron Wake, the West Division nominee for outstanding rookie and defensive player, failed to register a sack Saturday night but still finished the season as the leader in that category with 16.

As a team, the Lions had four sacks against Calgary to end the regular season with a league-leading 61.

Ian Smart, a finalist for the outstanding special-teams player, ended the season as the league’s top punt returner (92, 912 yards, one TD) and kickoff returner (53, 1,228 yards) while defensive back Ryan Phillips had a CFL-best 12 interceptions.

Winnipeg’s Kevin Glenn, the East Division finalist for the CFL’s outstanding player award, finished with a league-high 5,144 yards. Glenn is the only quarterback this season to surpass the 5,000-yard passing plateau.

Calgary quarterback Henry Burris, who didn’t play Saturday against B.C., had a CFL-best 34 touchdown passes.

B.C. and Winnipeg finished the regular season with the best home record (7-2). That’s important because the Bombers host the Montreal Alouettes in the East semifinal Sunday while the Lions face either Saskatchewan or Calgary in the West final Nov. 18.

The Lions will also enter the playoffs as the CFL’s hottest team, having won their final eight regular-season games. The Toronto Argonauts are next, finishing up with seven straight victories.

The expectation is Winnipeg slotback Milt Stegall will retire at season’s end to cap a brilliant 13-year CFL career. If Stegall does hang it up, he will do so as the second-leading receiver in league history with 14,695 career yards, 196 behind Hall of Famer Allen Pitts, the former Calgary Stampeders standout.