In celebration of Halloween, the Black and Orange are having a special Fan Appreciation Night under the dome - the first 2,000 fans through the gates on game day will receive a trick-or-treat bag filled with goodies courtesy of Cadbury and Maynards. In addition, 10,000 fans will be given a limited edition 2009 BC Lions team poster following the game!The Lions Share partner for Friday's game is Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Vancouver. Net proceeds from the Street Party's Taste of Terasen barbecue (located at the Terasen booth) and the Game Day Auction (located at Section 242 on Level 2) will benefit this outstanding charity.
The BC Lions Street Party presented by CFOX kicks off at 5:00 p.m. on the corner of Beatty and Robson streets. In addition to live music by Kelowna's Malibu Knights, the Felions Dance Team and Leo the Lion will be on hand and there will be plenty of family activities, including face painting, inflatable games and poster making. Exciting new Lions merchandise and great food will also be available.
Game Overview
The BC Lions (8-8) host the Calgary Stampeders (9-6-1) in a very important West Division showdown at BC Place Saturday night. The Lions come off a disappointing 33-30 overtime loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders last week, and now face the reigning champions in a win and you're in playoff scenario. The Stamps are in a fight of their own for the West Division regular season crown and cannot afford to drop a game if they want to keep pace with the scrappy 'Riders.
The Lions will have to overcome some recent history against the Stampeders including five straight regular season losses dating back to last season and six games overall including the 2008 West Final. In their last meeting in Calgary on September 25th, the Lions certainly had an opportunity to pull out a win and held first-half leads of 7-0 and 10-7 but it wasn't enough as Calgary found their game and scored a 27-18 win.
The Lions will start Casey Printers at quarterback a week after his 19/31, 339-yard, two TD performance in Regina last week. Having not played since November 1st of 2008, Printers looked to be in great form, dodging would-be tacklers and finding receivers downfield for large gains. One pass he'd obviously would like to have back was the game-ending interception in overtime, but clearly his second tour of duty with the Lions is giving the club an added dimension at the injury-riddled quarterback position. Printers' back-ups in Saskatchewan last week were Zac Champion and Buck Pierce. It was a game time decision to start Pierce over Travis Lulay and their status will likely come down to the final stages of practice this week as well.
While the quarterback decision is somewhat clearer than this time last week, the same cannot be said for what will happen along the offensive line with the injury sustained by centre Angus Reid. A broken foot will likely sideline the veteran for the rest of the season and forces fourth-year guard Dean Valli into the centre spot. As a result, rookie OL Justin Sorensen will start in Valli's left guard position alongside Daren Heerspink. While Sorensen had been seeing the field on converts and short yardage situations, it will be his first real test as Lion. Also look for Bobby Singh to dress in a back-up role just two weeks removed from a knee scope.
At running back, yet more questions surfaced this week as rookie Martell Mallet's status is somewhat clouded after injuring his ankle last week. The absence of Mallett may be somewhat easier to stomach given the performance of A.J. Harris over the past two weeks. The former Eskimo has proven to be more than capable at running the ball (3/26 last week) as well as catching it out of the backfield (1/32 last week). Look for Harris to keep his roster spot and a decision on Mallett to come late in the week. The absence of Mallett will likely allow receiver Ryan Grice-Mullen to reacquire his roster spot in a special teams role.
Geroy Simon continues his second-half comeback in 2009 as he scorched the Saskatchewan secondary for six receptions and 142 yards. The 11-year CFL vet has climbed to fourth overall among receivers with 69 receptions for 1,116 yards and is 45 yards off the pace of Edmonton's Fred Stamps. Simon has had triple-digit outings in three of his last four games and would dearly love to have a good one again Saturday. Paris Jackson picked up three receptions last week for 56 yards in his second game back after suffering a knee injury on October 2nd. Emmanuel Arceneaux does not appear to be affected too much by the broken bone in his left hand; the rookie out of Alcorn State had 68 receiving yards last week including a 34-yard TD. Newcomer Michael Bumpus demonstrated why he's been on the Lions radar for three years. The former Seahawk made a circus catch for a 29-yard TD in the fourth quarter last week.
On defence, the Lions will look to put the brakes on a Calgary offence that ranks first overall in rushing yards (2,023) and third overall in passing offence (4,412). Led by the CFL's leading rusher in Joffrey Reynolds (204/1,295) the Stamps have sharpened their offensive attack in recent weeks and the Lions will have to concentrate their efforts on stopping the run if they hope to slow the Calgary onslaught.
The Lions defensive line which was shorthanded last week after Nautyn McKay-Loescher was unable to dress last week because of back spasms. Not only was the defensive line shorthanded, but the club was forced to dress just 41 players which also affected its special teams game plan. Three-time All-Star Aaron Hunt played the second half of the game in Regina with a broken hand and may suit up this week sporting a cast similar to that worn by teammate Ricky Foley. The Lions did not register a sack last week in a scheme designed to contain Darian Durant and force him to throw the ball. Look for a bit more heat to be brought into the face of Burris on Saturday night.
At linebacker, JoJuan Armour was among the busiest Leos with eight tackles last week. Teammate Anton McKenzie picked up three defensive stops and a special teams tackle in his second visit to Mosaic Stadium since signing with the Lions. The duo along with Javier Glatt will have to sparkle Saturday versus running back Joffrey Reynolds who racked up 131 yards on 17 carries during his last visit to BC Place in July not to mention his dominant performance of 151 yards on 17 attempts in September.
The Lions secondary had a number of big plays versus a slippery Saskatchewan offence including two interceptions by Barron Miles, one of which he returned 42 yards for a touchdown with a little over three-and-a-half minutes to go in the game. The celebrating was premature, however, as the 'Riders battled back with big plays of their own including a 29-yard TD pass to Johnny Quinn who took advantage of a defensive breakdown to help draw his side even and force overtime. In all, Durant was good on 27 of his 46 attempts on the day for 319 yards and two TD's and now the Leos face the equally hot hand of Henry Burris who rang-up 346 passing yards on 22 completions. When the Lions and Stamps clashed in September, Burris was good on just 14 throws for 197 yards but scrambled for another 56 yards on the ground in critical situations. Look for LaVar Glover to return to the lineup this week in place of injured cornerback Trestin George. If safety Barron Miles can't go this week due to a sore hamstring, look for third-year safety Tad Crawford to get the start backed up by Mike McEachern.
On special teams, the Lions will need a better effort this week than the one that saw Jason Armstead pick up 110 yards on four kickoff returns including a 43 yard rumble. Armstead also notched a 54-yard punt return in the game last week helping spark the 'Riders with instant field position. Paul McCallum has been perfect on his last eight field goal attempts since returning to the lineup three weeks ago, but he'd like to have two kickoffs back from last week that went out of bounds and put the Roughriders at their own 45-yardline at critical stages in the game. Linebacker and special teams dynamo Jason Arakgi who missed last week's game with a strained quad is expected to return to the lineup. Arakgi still leads the CFL with 33 stops and is just four shy of the CFL record with two games remaining on the schedule.
After an up and down season, the Lions can take solace in the fact that they still have control of their postseason destiny. Defeating the Stamps would not only get them into the six-team tournament for a chance at the Grey Cup, it would also get them a confidence-building win over a team that has stymied them for close to two years. Plenty of tricks and treats under the dome Saturday, with the Lions hoping to spook the West with a late season surge.
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