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CFL B.C. Lions

Lions and Tiger-Cats ready to claw it out Friday night

July 9, 2009 - Canadian Football League (CFL)
B.C. Lions News Release


The BC Lions (0-1) kick off their 2009 home schedule versus the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (0-1) and they will look to rebound from a disappointing opening day loss in Saskatchewan last week. Not surprisingly, GM and head coach Wally Buono and his staff were not pleased with the outcome in Regina and if this week's increased tension at practice was any indication, players too are looking for a better effort as well as a better result.

Hamilton comes to Vancouver after dropping a 30-17 decision to the Toronto Argonauts last week and will not have recent history on their side with four losses in as many visits to BC Place dating back to 2005 and just one win on the West Coast since 1997.

Compounding the 28-24 defeat in Saskatchewan were the loss of receiver Emmanuel Arceneaux and running back and returner Ian Smart. Arceneaux suffered a bruised shoulder and will likely be a game day decision while Smart tweaked his groin muscle and is on the injured list this week.

Buono wasted little time in maintaining depth on offence by scooping up former Edmonton Eskimos and Toronto Argonauts running back Tyler Ebell. The former UCLA/UTEP product who was Edmonton's Outstanding Rookie nomination in 2007, hasn't seen regular season action in almost two seasons after rupturing his achilles in training camp with the Argos in 2008. What Ebell does possess is the ability to carry the ball effectively as well as catch it coming out of the backfield and it appears that he may get an opportunity to show his stuff with Smart missing practice all week.

On offence, the question hanging over the club is how it will bounce back from giving up nine sacks and six offensive turnovers last week. Despite the ‘ugly' there remained plenty of opportunities to steal a win from a division foe and the team did manage to claw back from a three-touchdown deficit to make it close. "Football is about protecting the quarterback and affecting the quarterback," said Buono. "It all comes down to controlling the line of scrimmage."

At quarterback, Buck Pierce managed to peel himself off the turf at Mosaic Stadium in time for the team's flight home and is likely still feeling the effects of some stiff hits. He will now turn his attention to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats who surrendered 348 yards of offence last week versus Toronto. Pierce too will look to elevate his play after notching just 186 passing yards and throwing two interceptions. He'll see some familiar faces across the line of scrimmage with linebackers Otis Floyd and Jamall Johnson now teamed up in Black and Gold.

Increasing the level of athleticism of the receiving corps. was a primary objective of the Lions and almost 1,000 yards of offence in two preseason games gave every indication that the club was well on its way to achieving its goal. Three receptions last Friday by Geroy Simon for just 14 yards (10 coming on one reception) is not remotely close to the kind of production the Lions need from their premiere pass catcher. Narrowly escaping injury to his right knee after going down awkwardly only added to the frustration for Simon.

Paris Jackson fared somewhat better than Simon with four catches for a team-leading 43 yards including a 29-yard catch in the game's late stages. Ryan Grice-Mullen notched three receptions for 39 yards but dropped a tough ball on the game's second-last play which may have possibly given the club a win. Rookie Emmanuel Arceneaux scored his first pro touchdown on a 23-yard catch and run in the second quarter and finished with three catches for 40 yards but did not return after halftime due to a shoulder injury. Second-year Lion Greg Hetherington came on in relief of Arceneaux and picked up his first career reception after making his pro debut almost two years to the day with the Calgary Stampeders in 2007.

Up front, Dan Dorazio's crew will put last Friday's game in the memory banks and look ahead to taking on the Ti-Cats. While head coach Wally Buono indicated that the nine sacks surrendered to the Roughriders were a shared responsibility among linemen, running backs and quarterback Buck Pierce, look for renewed focus from Reid, Jimenez, Valli, Stith and Haji-Rasouli. If there was a bright spot in the loss it might be the 114 rushing yards the club racked up. Beyond Pierce's 21 yards in scramble mode, rookie running back Martell Mallett quietly put up 63 yards on six carries (10.5 average carry) while Ian Smart added another 30 out of the backfield.

On defence, there wasn't too much that coordinator Mike Benevides could be critical of from his side of the ball. Three interceptions with one returned by Ryan Phillips for a 60-yard touchdown to go along with three forced fumbles made things rough for the ‘Riders. As a team the Lions surrendered 28 points with seven of those coming at the expense of special teams which left 21 points against the D over four quarters and only three of those in the second half. Still, Benevides was extremely vocal with his squad during the week making sure his charges understood that producing six turnovers is the expectation not the exception.

Along the defensive line Ricky Foley recorded his first sack of 2009 and appears to be solidifying his position as the Lions primary pass rusher. Fellow D-lineman Jeremy Gibbs made his pro debut a memorable one with a forced fumble and two defensive tackles while veteran Aaron Hunt chipped in with two defensive tackles and a pass knockdown. Meanwhile, the addition of Nautyn McKay-Loescher appears to having the desired effect with Brent Johnson reporting he felt strong in the Saskatchewan game's later stages as a result of the new rotation.

At linebacker, newcomer Anton McKenzie enjoyed a great start to his Lions career with six defensive tackles as well as a sack, a forced fumble and a special teams stop against his former team. Javier Glatt celebrated his 100th pro appearance by notching seven tackles of his own including one for a loss as well as an interception that he returned 38 yards. Back-ups Terna Nande, Jason Arakgi and James Yurichuk combined for six special teams tackles.

In the secondary, halfback Ryan Phillips doubled his interception total from a year ago picking off Darian Durant twice last week. Overall however, the ‘Riders still managed 313 net passing yards including gains of 39 (twice), 45 and 43 yards with Weston Dressler racking up 159 yards on seven catches. Korey Banks continues to adjust to his new role as a nickel back and added yet another sack to his career total. Newcomer Darren Toney garnered plenty of attention last week and that was reflected in his team-leading seven defensive tackles.

On special teams, Paul McCallum had a night he'd like to forget after hitting an upright on a field goal attempt and fumbling a snap on a punt which resulted in a Roughriders touchdown. Look for McCallum to bounce back in Friday's tilt. With Ian Smart's injury the Lions have auditioned a number of players during practice week for punt and kickoff return duty. "It doesn't matter who's back there, we need better production by the entire return team," said Buono. Look for Martell Mallett, Tyler Ebell, Ryan Grice-Mullen and others to pick up the slack.

While the 2009 season is in its collective infancy, the Lions will need a strong effort from all three phases of the game in order to get back on the winning track and keep pace with division rivals.

For more information on the BC Lions Football Club please visit our website at www.bclions.com.

Note: Limited quantities of printed statistics, rosters and game notes will be available at BC Place on game nights. Members of the media can access, download and print everything Lions at our FTP site ftp://surrey.bclions.com - username: media and password: media.

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