Hamilton Tiger-Cats 17 British Columbia Lions 23 (October 21, 2006)
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0 commentsThe British Columbia Lions finally put the Hamilton Tiger-Cats out of their misery Saturday night.
Defensive back Mark Washington returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown and quarterback Dave Dickenson looked sharp over 30 minutes as the Lions defeated the Tiger-Cats 23-17 in Hamilton's final game of the CFL season.
With first place in the West already wrapped up, the Lions were looking to build momentum heading into the playoffs.
"We didn't want to lose this game," said Washington, who scored B.C.'s eighth defensive touchdown of the season. "You want to go into the playoffs with your ship headed in the right direction.
"It was big for us. You might say it was an ugly win but it was a good win in that we were able to pull it out when we weren't performing well early."
The loss ended a disastrous 4-14 season for the Tiger-Cats.
"It was a disappointing year," said Ron Lancaster, who took over as coach when Greg Marshall was fired July 10 after a 0-4 start.
"We thought we had a football club that could make the playoffs. We hit a stage in August when we played three games in a row against Saskatchewan and Winnipeg that it looked like we forgot how to play all together. We got lost and we're not going to get to play in November."
Lancaster didn't hesitate when asked if this was his final game as a coach.
"Yes, it probably is," he said.
As planned, Dickenson played the second half, completing 11 of 15 passes for 152 yards. It was his first appearance since being pulled from a Sept. 24 game in Regina.
"The decision-making was there," said Dickenson, who had missed the previous three games suffering from post-concussion syndrome. "That's what wasn't there when I was playing with the concussion.
"I felt that mentally I was pretty sharp."
The vocal crowd of 31,294 held its breath early when Dickenson took a couple of solid blows, then heaved a sigh of relief when he jumped back to his feet.
With Dickenson at the helm, B.C. scored 20 unanswered points in the third quarter. During one stretch he had nine straight completions.
B.C.'s record improved to 12-5 but Dickenson said the team still must play better if the Lions hope to advance to the Grey Cup for the second time in three years.
"We made a couple of mistakes and that's a concern," he said. "The intensity, we're trying to find it but it's still not the same as when you know you lose and you're going home.
"Those games are coming so we have to get ready."
Hamilton used the game to do some auditioning for next year.
Quarterback Jason Maas was left on the bench and Kevin Eakin started the game.
Eakin built a 10-3 half-time lead and threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Terry Vaughn. He was replaced early in the third quarter by Ritchie Williams after throwing the interception to Washington.
Williams threw a 18-yard touchdown pass to DaVon Fowlkes late in the fourth quarter.
Eakin finished the game 10-for-20 for 148 yards, the touchdown and two interceptions. Williams was five-for-10 for 103 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
Buck Pierce played the first half at quarterback for B.C. He completed eight of 12 passes for 91 yards and threw an interception.
Joe Smith scored on a one-yard touchdown run for the Lions. Paul McCallum kicked field goals of 20, 18 and 28 yards.
B.C. slotback Geroy Simon made the first two catches of the game for 20 yards, putting him over 1,750 receiving yards for the season, breaking his own franchise record set in 2004.
Simon also scored on a 55-yard touchdown pass that was called back due to a holding penalty.
The Lions wrap up their regular season at home against Winnipeg Saturday. B.C. then waits to play either Calgary or Saskatchewan in the West Final on Nov. 12.
Notes: Simon came into the game needing 326 receiving yards to break 2,000. ...The Lions have used two or more quarterbacks in nine games this year. ... B.C. was 5-4 on the road this year, the fourth consecutive year the team has had a winning record away from home.
Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER
- BC -- P. MCCALLUM Field Goal (20 yds) - Field Goal (3:41)
- HAM -- K. EAKIN Completed Pass to T. VAUGHN (14 yds) - Touchdown (9:22)
- HAM -- J. BOREHAM Convert - Convert(1) (9:45)
SECOND QUARTER
- HAM -- J. BOREHAM Field Goal (11 yds) - Field Goal (8:18)
THIRD QUARTER
- BC -- P. MCCALLUM Field Goal (18 yds) - Field Goal (3:37)
- BC -- M. WASHINGTON Interception Return (40 yds) - Touchdown (4:13)
- BC -- P. MCCALLUM Convert - Convert(1) (4:39)
- BC -- J. SMITH Run (1 yds) - Touchdown (11:46)
- BC -- P. MCCALLUM Convert - Convert(1) (12:08)
- BC -- P. MCCALLUM Field Goal (28 yds) - Field Goal (15:00)
FOURTH QUARTER
- HAM -- R. WILLIAMS Completed Pass to D. FOWLKES (18 yds) - Touchdown (10:40)
- HAM -- J. BOREHAM Convert - Convert(1) (10:56)
courtesy of cfl.ca
Date
October 21, 2006
