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CFL B.C. Lions

Lions and Stamps clash Friday night

July 23, 2009 - Canadian Football League (CFL)
B.C. Lions News Release


The BC Lions (1-2) welcome the Calgary Stampeders (1-2) to BC Place for a pivotal West Division showdown. Both clubs enjoyed their first win of the 2009 season last week with the Lions hammering the Edmonton Eskimos by a 40-22 score and the Stamps drubbing the Toronto Argonauts by a 44-9 margin.

The Leos will look to pick up their first win versus Calgary in the last four games including the 2008 West Division Final which the Stamps took 22-18 on their way to a Grey Cup championship. The two teams have split the last 10 meetings dating back to 2006.

The question heading into the week for Lions GM and head coach Wally Buono, who collected his 228th career win last Thursday, is whether or not he would have his designated starting quarterback, Buck Pierce, back behind centre for Friday's tilt with the Stamps. Pierce was knocked from the game in the first quarter last week after experiencing concussion-like symptoms following an Elliot Richardson hit and subsequently hitting his head on the Commonwealth Stadium turf. While Pierce was cleared to practice following the game, his progress was monitored closely while he split reps with Jarious Jackson. Look for Pierce to start Friday.

For his part, Jackson certainly makes a good case for getting his own opportunity after coming off the bench in Edmonton to lead the retro-look Lions to their first win on the season. Throwing for 362 yards and four touchdowns on 19 completions, Jackson went deep early and often versus a banged-up Eskimo secondary and helped to demonstrate the athleticism Buono had been yearning for heading into the season. The lofty numbers earned Jarious Offensive Player of the Week honours.

At receiver, veterans Geroy Simon and Paris Jackson led the way with tallies of 122 and 126 yards respectively. In addition to snags of 40 and 45 yards, Simon also added two TD's to his best night of 2009 while Paris Jackson also notched his second TD in as many games and got the league nod as Canadian Player of the Week. Rookie Emmanuel Arceneaux added two catches to his total including a 26-yard TD - his third of the year. Sophomore Rufus Skillern saw his first action of the year and picked up 55 yards on two receptions with 46 coming on one play in the third quarter. His quality showing may give Buono a reason to keep Ryan Grice-Mullen parked on the sidelines.

A big part of the Lions' success on offence last week came from the big bodies up front which surrendered just two sacks on the night. Newcomer Daren Heerspink, who took over for Walter Stith, did not look like a left tackle in his first CFL game much to the pleasure of coordinator Dan Dorazio. Heerspink will have his hands full this week, however, with Stamps DL Tom Johnson who enjoyed a strong game versus former Lion Rob Murphy last week. Johnson picked up a sack, two tackles and a pass knockdown in the win.

The Lions will also look to improve their fortunes on the ground against Calgary after rushing for just 66 yards last Thursday. Of that total, 34 yards came by way of Pierce/Jackson with Martell Mallett, Tyler Ebell and combining for just 32 yards. Mallett (15/26) did add a TD, but the Leos will need his best effort and a balanced attack offensively versus a reshuffled 2009 Stampeders defence that put up three touchdowns of their own last week.

On defence, the Lions experienced a little bit of everything versus Edmonton including surrendering receptions of 23, 25, 26 and 38 yards and 351 yards of total offence. Despite what appeared to be good on paper for the Green and Gold, the defence was also opportunistic recovering a fumble to snuff out one drive as well as picking up two interceptions which put the offence back on the field and led directly to 10 points on the scoreboard.

Up front, linemen Jeremy Gibbs, Nautyn McKay-Loescher and Ricky Foley each picked up sack on the night and the Leos currently sit in second spot overall with 10 on the season - Foley is tied for the league lead with three. Aaron Hunt made a key fumble recovery while Brent Johnson and Gary Butler combined for three defensive tackles. Look for the Lions to try and keep up the pressure against Henry Burris who passed for 348 yards and ran for 50 more against the Argos last Friday, but had just 136 passing yards at the half before breaking out.

Linebackers Javier Glatt and Anton McKenzie combined for nine defensive tackles as well as two more on special teams. Terna Nande is also factoring into the Lions' defence and contributed a couple of defensive tackles as well as a special teams stop. They will look to help fill the holes up front and keep Stamps running back Joffrey Reynolds in check. In spite of being held to just 20 rushing yards last week, the Calgary offence is at its most dangerous with Reynolds hitting on all cylinders. Staying with the LB's, rookie James Yurichuk had three special teams tackles versus the Eskimos and sits tied with Nande for the team lead with six. Jason Arakgi also resides near the top of the category with five.

In the secondary, the Leos picked up interceptions by Barron Miles and Korey Banks which not only snuffed out any possibility of an Eskimo comeback but also sent Ricky Ray to the bench in favour of back-up Jason Maas in the fourth quarter. The picks give the Lions five on the season, good enough for second spot in the CFL. While Darren Toney and LaVar Glover combined for nine tackles last week they are also receiving the majority of the attention by opposing offenses. Rookie Trestin George took a number of first team snaps on the corner and may make his pro debut Friday night. The task in Week Four does not get any easier for the defensive backfield as they will no doubt be challenged by the Calgary's outstanding group of receivers led by Jeremaine Copeland who caught five passes for 81 yards last week including a dazzling 57-yarder versus the Argos.

On special teams any concern about the comfort level of pseudo-rookie Sean Whyte were quickly put to rest last week. While considered a first-year player by CFL rules, the White Rock, BC native has been practicing for more than two seasons and showed veteran confidence averaging 43.4 yards on seven punts including a 57-yard job as well as 60.1 yards on seven kickoffs and topped off the debut made his only field goal on the night. On the return side, look for Ian Smart to return to the line-up this week after missing two starts with a pulled groin.

The Lions will be Calgary's first inter-divisional game of 2009 and they would like nothing better than to end the Stamps' recent string of success they have enjoyed at their expense. Look for plenty of fireworks as the Leos look to climb the West Division ranks.

All BC Lions team statistics, rosters and game notes have been updated - members of the media can access, download and print everything Lions at our FTP site ftp://surrey.bclions.com - username: media and password: media.

Following the Lions daily on Twitter throughout the 2009 season! For more information on the BC Lions Football Club, please visit our website at bclions.com.

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Canadian Football League Stories from July 23, 2009


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