Edmonton Eskimos 17 British Columbia Lions 34 (August 4, 2006)
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0 commentsSimon turned a short Dave Dickenson pass into a 92-yard touchdown, then galloped 56 yards off a catch from Buck Pierce as the B.C. Lions posted a convincing 34-17 win over the Edmonton Eskimos in CFL play Friday night.
"I just want to go out there and make plays," said Simon, who had five catches for 196 yards. "Everybody knows we don't like Edmonton. We wanted to take it to them and this was a perfect opportunity."
The Lions lost Dickenson in the second quarter when he limped off the field with an injured right ankle after connecting with Simon for B.C.'s longest touchdown pass of the season. Dickenson said he had a high ankle sprain but expects to play Thursday when the Lions face the Blue Bombers in Winnipeg.
"I heard I got rolled up on by my own guy," said Dickenson, who finished the night completing nine of 14 pass for 180 yards. "It's nothing too serious.
"We had guys who stepped up and made big plays."
Simon got a little more incentive when Eskimo defensive back Keyuo Craver directed some trash talk his way.
"If guys are out there saying stuff it just gives more motivation," said Simon. "It's going be a tough night for him."
Pierce also threw a 16-yard strike to defensive end Brent Johnson on a second-short play.
Simon scored the game's first touchdown with the Lions facing a second-29 on their own 18-yard line.
The shifty receiver took a short pass over the middle from Dickenson, made a couple of Eskimos miss him as he headed for the sidelines, then got a key block as he raced for the endzone.
Later, Pierce threaded a pass to Simon between two Edmonton defenders. Simon caught the ball then rambled for his eighth touchdown of the season.
"We have confidence in all our quarterbacks," said Simon. "It doesn't matter who is in there, we have confidence they are going to make the right throws."
Pierce finished the night completing 11 of 14 passes for 182 yards.
It was the third consecutive win for the Lions who improve to 5-3 and cement their hold on first place in the CFL West. It also snapped a four-game losing streak against Edmonton.
The slumping Eskimos suffered their third consecutive loss and are last in the West with a 2-5 record.
"We're just not playing good football now," said quarterback Ricky Ray who completed 15 of 24 passes for 135 yards. "We can't throw the ball, we're not making the right reads and we're having some tough times protecting.
"We're not playing smart football. We're not going out there and doing our job."
Ray threw a five-yard touchdown to Jason Tucker and Troy Davis scored on a one-yard run late in the game.
Johnson celebrated the first touchdown in his six-year career by throwing the ball high into crowd of 27,312. Earlier he had recorded his league-leading eighth sack of the season.
"We wanted to kick their ass tonight and I think we did that," said Johnson.
A swarming Lions defence limited the Eskimos to just 177 yards total offence and collected five sacks.
The Lions led 17-0 at halftime and could of had another touchdown except Aaron Lockett's 89-yard punt return was called back for a penalty.
The Eskimos did little right in the first half and when they did, managed to shoot themselves in the foot.
Edmonton had minus-five yards total offence in the first quarter and didn't manage a first down until 5:41 of the second quarter.
Stupid penalties also took their toll. Edmonton took 14 penalties for 116 yards.
LIONS PAWS - Slotback Jason Clermont, out since the first game of the season with a MCL knee injury, is expected to return for Thursday night's game against Winnipeg. ...The two teams meet again at B.C. Place Aug. 18. ...The Lions have outscored their opponents 143-53 in the first half.
Courtesy of cfl.ca
Date
August 4, 2006
