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Lions wade into the shark tank ...BC 19-Saskatchewan 28

By 250 News

-by John Goodwin

These two teams don’t like each other, and Leo followers did not expect their heros to fold like a tent or put up a 2nd dispassionate showing in a row. They didn’t .

The Riders on the other hand were bound to exploit the suspect BC offensive line with their very active line-backing corps and they didn’t disappoint. Dave Dickenson and backup Buck Pierce were sacked 5 times before the night was out.

This was the second opportunity of the season for Saskatchewan to get retribution for the infamous missed field goal and OT loss to BC in last yr’s. CFL West final. The outcome of that game was a heartbreaker for both the team and their fans, and the overflowing passion resulted in threats to the well being of kicker Paul McCallum bringing the long arm of the law down on a few of the prairie faithful.


Tale of the tape:

It was a bar fight!
With the exception of the injury to their #1 QB Dave Dickenson, poor play for most of the game by their offensive line, the hole left by the absence of their DB Mark Washington (who may be gone ‘til season’s end), and the total collapse of the kicking game by Duncan O’Mahony the contest was actually a classic battle between arguably the two best teams in the CFL.

O’Mahony would enter the game struggling badly with a 65% success rate and his troubles would continue when he missed his first opportunity for the three at 4:25 of the first quarter..a 48 yarder that would go for a single.

The score would go to 2-0 BC on another missed FG by O’Mahony midway through the opening frame.

To this point in the game the Lions defense were shutting down the much heralded Rider running attack and ending their drives before any points were scored. As well 13.5 minutes had ticked off the clock before the Riders would complete their first pass. This partially because Crandell’s receivers were simply dropping his passes.

The goose egg was broken with no time left on the clock to end the first when Marcus Crandell completed a 30 yard pass to Elijah Thurmon in the end zone beating Tony Tiller (Mark Washington fill in) for the major....7-2 Regina.

A safety conceded by Paul Mc Callum midway through the second quarter along with a 1 yard touchdown run by Dave Dickenson on a 109 yard march from his own one yard line closed out the half...11-7 BC.

The first half was a defensive battle with Marcus Crandell 7 for 15 and 118 total yards of offense and Dave Dickenson 13 of 20 for 141 yards.

The O’Mahony horror show continued into the 3rd, as he missed two FG’s, one from the Sask 46 and another to close out the quarter from the 49. The impatient BC boo birds where now perched squarely on their kicker’s back at this point.

Midway through the 3rd Dave Dickenson would be intercepted by LB Jackie Mitchell who took it to the house for 7 and a 14-12 lead.
It was on this play that Dave Dickenson would become collateral damage as he was helped from the game, wobbling down the sideline with rubber legs, believed to be gone with a concussion. Is it any wonder, as he was under tremendous pressure in this game, hit 10 times, hurried 4, and sacked twice.

Enter 3rd stringer Buck Pierce.

The 3rd quarter would end on yet another O’Mahony missed FG, and the single closed the gap to one point....14-13 Sask.

Early in the final frame Buck Pierce looked confident and seemed he could do little wrong by marching the ball from mid field to completing a 14 yard pass to Geroy Simon for 6. The 2 point conversion was unsuccessful...19-14 BC.

Elijah Thurmon would strike again by burning Tony Tiller for his second score late in Q4 on a 10 yd. pass from Crandell,.The two point conversion was good...Crandell to Thurmon...22-19 Sask.

At 15:00 a Bret Anderson FG attempt to tie the score was blocked by DB L McCalla and taken to the Lion end zone to snuff out any BC hope of a comeback.


CFL stuff:

The Eskimos in their relentless pursuit of mediocrity, to my mind “again” proved their lack of legitimacy as a serious contender in a Friday night no brainer when they fell to 8-6 with a 40-14 humiliating beating, by the league’s last place team the Hamilton Tigercats.
Dasboat sinkink!!

The win for Hamilton was just their third of the season.

The Lions had been looking to keep the home game win streak alive, having not lost a game at BC Place Stadium since July 9th/04. Halted now at 13 games with tonight’s loss.

Good to see Carl Kidd (the guy all the bad girls want), who has seen limited action this season getting more playing time at the linebacker and safety positions in the defensive backfield.

Coming into tonight’s contest the rider’s season record was a graphic depiction of their inconsistent play...starting 3-1, than going 5 straight without a win and currently on a 5 game win streak.

34,700 fans took in this game at BC Place Stadium.
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