Calgary Stampeders 13 British Columbia Lions 39 (October 6, 2006)
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The British Columbia Lions clinched home field advantage in the CFL playoffs and took a stranglehold on the West Division title with a convincing 39-13 win over the Calgary Stampeders on Friday.
The win, which combined with a Saskatchewan Roughriders loss or tie against the Montreal Alouettes on Monday would secure the division for B.C., was the 200th of head coach Wally Buono's CFL career.
MVP candidate Geroy Simon, who recorded his 10th 100-yard receiving night, caught one touchdown for the Lions while running back Joe Smith rushed for two more TDs. Quarterback Buck Pierce and defensive back Ryan Phillips, on a 23-yard interception return, also ran in touchdowns.
Pierce, who was starting again in place of Dave Dickenson (post-concussion syndrome), showed no ill-effects from an arm injury that took him out of last week's win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
He had his best night as a B.C. Lion, completing 25 of 31 pass attempts for 297 yards before he was replaced by Jarious Jackson early in the fourth quarter. That gives Pierce more than 1,500 passing yards on the season - an impressive number considering he's No. 2 on the depth chart.
The Lions, who have won nine of their past 10 games, improve is 11-4 on the season and have a game in hand over the second-place Stampeders, who drop to 9-7.
Calgary quarterback Henry Burris struggled against the B.C. defence, as he was forced to throw away the ball on a handful of occasions, including one time that cost him an intentional grounding penalty.
Burris finished the night with just 8 completions in 21 pass attempts for 129 yards before being replaced by Danny McManus with just over nine minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Burris also threw two interceptions.
McManus led the Stampeders to their only touchdown-scoring drive, a one-yard run by CFL rushing leader Joffrey Reynolds with under three minutes to go in the game.
Stampeders kicker Sandro DeAngelis kicked two field goals for Calgary and is now six shy of tying the single-season record for field goals in a season. The record of 59 was set by Saskatchewan's Dave Ridgway 16 seasons ago.
B.C. made it 7-0 when Pierce ran the ball into the Calgary end zone after a couple of passes to Simon and Ryan Thelwell got B.C. down to the three-yard line.
The score stood until early in the second quarter when Pierce and Simon connected first on a 32-yard reception, then on a four-yard catch in the end zone to make it 14-0.
DeAngelis got Calgary on the board with a 45-yarder midway through the quarter.
The Lions made it 21-3 when Smith scored on a one-yard run. They had a chance to add to their lead late in the half when Ian Smart ran a punt back 82 yards, but the play was called back due to a holding penalty.
Calgary gave up a safety but picked up three points on a 45-yard field goal by DeAngelis to make it 23-6 going into the final quarter.
B.C. put the game out of reach in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter with a 28-yard Paul McCallum field goal and a two-yard touchdown run by Smith that made it 33-6.
Notes: B.C.'s Brent Johnson recorded his league-leading 15th sack in the first quarter, while Baron Miles snared his ninth interception, also tops in the CFL. . . . The Lions beat Calgary 43-20 earlier this season. . . . B.C. is the only team Calgary hasn't beaten with Tom Higgins at the helm. . . . The Lions have dominated the Stampeders under the British Columbia Place dome in recent years, going 9-2 in Calgary's last 11 visits. . . . The Lions and Stampeders square off again in Calgary on Oct. 15.
courtesy canadian press
Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER
- BC -- B. PIERCE Run (3 yds) - Touchdown (6:38)
- BC -- P. MCCALLUM Convert - Convert(1) (6:56)
SECOND QUARTER
- BC -- B. PIERCE Completed Pass to G. SIMON (4 yds) - Touchdown (4:54)
- BC -- P. MCCALLUM Convert - Convert(1) (5:08)
- CAL -- S. DEANGELIS Field Goal (45 yds) - Field Goal (7:55)
- BC -- J. SMITH Run (1 yds) - Touchdown (13:04)
- BC -- P. MCCALLUM Convert - Convert(1) (13:04)
THIRD QUARTER
- CAL -- S. DEANGELIS Field Goal (25 yds) - Field Goal (10:18)
FOURTH QUARTER
- BC -- P. MCCALLUM Field Goal (28 yds) - Field Goal (0:35)
- BC -- J. SMITH Run (2 yds) - Touchdown (2:28)
- BC -- P. MCCALLUM Convert - Convert(1) (3:25)
- BC -- R. PHILLIPS Interception Return (23 yds) - Touchdown (5:01)
- CAL -- J. REYNOLDS Run (1 yds) - Touchdown (12:14)
- CAL -- S. DEANGELIS Convert - Convert(1) (12:14)
Date
October 6, 2006
