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Heere's Johnny! Lions 25 -Eskies 19

By 250 News

Hell Hath No Fury Like Two Big Dogs Fighting Over the Same Bone.


Game Night...setting the table: 3:00 PM PST

Lions QB Dave Dickenson learns Thursday of his prestigious CFL player of the month award. What the hey, the dude has up ‘til game time completed some 75% of his passes for 1630 odd yds. [just 130 yds. short of a mile] and only 3 interceptions..[no mis-print]. His performances not lost by the way on the delirious fan faithful.

Sure, surprisingly there have been a few detractors...those who will eventually discover they don’t know what they got ‘til it’s gone. Fortunately however, it seems many of these misguided souls vent their frustrations by complaining on late night talk shows, which as luck would have it most of the time finds me in my BC Lions jammys fast asleep.

Without question this BC quarterback is street wise, understanding his job is to win and not to spend a whole lot of time worrying about offending the sensibilities of a few Lion’s followers.

Conventional wisdom says, that as good as you believe you are there is always another gun slinger waiting patiently just around the corner looking to take you out.

As he readied himself to go head to head with former NFL’r Ricky Ray, who so far has the best passing stats. in the CFL throwing for 2048 yds. and 14 TD’s. with 7 intercepts, Dave Dickenson was likely less concerned with his personal stats and being outplayed, than he was with his team’s overall performance and beating the Eskimos.

BC kicks off the game looking to improve upon a perfect 5 and 0 record this season and running up a 10 game home winning streak to11.The Lion’s defense are best in the league in the category of allowing the fewest number of first downs with just 82.

In spite of some underachieving, as all legitimate contenders are known for they have managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat when required. They are an explosive offensive ball control powerhouse, steeped in speed and talent.

The 5 and 1 Edmonton Eskimos, their only loss inflicted at the hands of the Montreal Alouettes one month ago, are a force to be reckoned with [this is a very good football team] and the road to a Lion’s Grey Cup runs directly through Commonwealth Stadium.

They are well lead, have a great defense that can be difficult to read, to include a good pass rush but for the most part a strong game on both sides of the ball, along with a QB in Ricky Ray who has played the game at the highest level.

While FG kicker Sean Flemming has struggled of late [only connecting on 4 out of his past 11 attempts] he’s bound to get back on track, and Fri. Night on national television is a great time for a breakout game.

Punt returner Tony Tomkins is tops in the league at his trade and has also taken 2 home for TD’s. Neutralizing him will be key as there’s bound to be an epic battle for field position.

I can’t help out with your bake sale tonight Grandma cause it’s Friday Night Football!


The Game: 7:00 PM PST

A shocker! Dave Dickenson will not play tonight...sitting out with back spasms. Casey Printers gets the start, his first of the season and to date he hadn’t taken a single snap from center in a game situation. A spike of adrenalin went to my heart...NOT TONIGHT..NOT THIS GAME!!!

Moving slowly behind his center to start the Lions first series Printers looked like a deer in the headlights and he played much like he was in shock, going 0 for 4 and 2 straight 2 and outs. The pressure to do something of substance came off with a 5 yd. scamper into the end zone by the BC backup on his first play from scrimmage in the 2nd. Quarter. 7-0 Lions. Before the half ended it was Duncan O’Mahony with 2 field goals and Antonio Warren with a major from the 1 to round out the scoring.

The Lions were giving the Esks a lot of different looks with their complex defensive alignments. This paid off in the form of some success on their pass rush on the Edmonton QB.
It appeared in the first half that the defensive pressure along with a deafening home crowd had the Eskimos off their game as Ray’s game plan blew up like a frog in a microwave. A steady procession of momentum killing penalties against the Esks [the most penalized team in the league] added to their futility. Adjustments at half time would bring him some success in the final 2 frames.

The Lions dominated in every fascet of the game for the first 30 minutes running the score to 20-0 when just before the break Sean Fleming hit for 3....20-3 BC.

Tony Tomkins the CFL top punt return specialist was held to minus yards on 3 carries as the Leos came with great down field coverage.

The Esks came out with renewed commitment in the 3rd quarter and were rewarded early with a Jason Tucker Major at 1:36...20-10 BC.
The Lions quickly respond with an O’Mahony three pointer and then a BC safety moves the Esks 2 points closer..23-12.

When it’s all said and done with Ricky Ray’s 16th touchdown of the season on a Derrell Mitchell major from the 10, the Esks outscore the Leos 16-3 in the 3rd quarter to pull themselves within 4...23-19 BC. This effectively took out the crowd and took away the BC momentum.

The Esks had some success in the 2nd half by containing Printers. When he had pressure and retreated to the pocket for protection he was met with yellow and green jerseys. The BC QB eventually overcame the containment and as he managed to get away from the pocket he was able to move the offense. This was his Achilles heal last season as well as teams began to figure him out, stifling his mobility and slowing down his success late in the season.

The score went to 25-19 with 8:24 left to play as the Eskimos finding themselves deep in their own territory concede a safety.

Duncan O,Mahony had a golden opportunity to put the game out of reach late in the 4th quarter but instead missed a 14 yard chip shot, giving the Eskimos a chance to steal the game. The Esks would take the ball down field deep into BC territory but the Lions would deliver the death blow with a Dante Marsh interception in the final seconds on the BC goal line.

The Lions play the Esks. 3 times this season but will see them only this once at BC Place Stadium.
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