The Hamilton Spectator

Lions score comeback victory over Bombers in Lulay’s first start

- GEMMA KARSTENS-SMITH

VANCOUVER — Travis Lulay’s first start in nearly 10 months didn’t get off to an encouragin­g start.

The veteran quarterbac­k and his B.C. Lions waited until the third quarter to trigger the offence, scoring 20 unanswered points in the second half for a 20-17 come-from-behind victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Canadian Football League action Saturday.

Winnipeg was up 17-0 at the break and looked to have the win within reach, but timely turnovers by the Bombers and a strong drive from the returning Lulay late in the game set up Ty Long’s 16-yard field goal as time expired.

“We just hunkered down,” said Lulay. “It’s gut-check time and we found a way to make enough plays to win.”

Saturday was Lulay’s first start of the year after he underwent off-season knee surgery. He got the nod over a struggling Jonathon Jennings against the Bombers and threw for 326 yards, including one touchdown pass and one intercepti­on.

Long’s field goal gave the Lions (2-2) a split in the home-andhome series and snapped the team’s two-game losing skid. The Bombers, who beat the Lions 41-19 last week in Winnipeg, fell to 2-3 with the loss. Bombers quarterbac­k Matt Nichols was picked off three times while throwing for 214 yards. All told, Winnipeg had five turnovers.

“We killed ourselves,” Nichols said. “Everything we could do wrong we did wrong and still barely lost. I feel like it was a game we had every opportunit­y to win, and we made more than too many mistakes.”

The game had barely started when Winnipeg running back Andrew Harris, a former Lion, sprinted 37 yards down the sideline for a touchdown. B.C. responded by steadily working its way down the field, but Lulay missed badly on a throw to the end zone and it was intercepte­d by Kevin Fogg.

Harris added another touchdown in the first half. Winnipeg kicker Justin Medlock recovered from an early missed field goal with a 50-yarder to extend the Bombers lead to 17.

Meanwhile, the Lions were their own worst enemy. Lulay threw to Bryan Burnham in the end zone at the end of the first half, but the receiver couldn’t hang on to the ball, preventing B.C. from scoring any points.

The Lions finally put some points on the board in the final minutes of the third quarter thanks to quarterbac­k Cody Fajardo, who reached over a massive pile on the goal-line for a touchdown. Long’s field goal at the start of the fourth narrowed the deficit to 17-10.

With just minutes to go in the game, Lions wide receiver Shaq Johnson hauled in a pass from Lulay, evaded a tackler and stretched into the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown to tie it.

The crowd rose to its feet minutes later when B.C. defensive back Anthony Orange intercepte­d a Nichols pass, giving the Lions a chance to win the game in regulation despite never leading once.

The Lions seized the opportunit­y, with Lulay throwing 38 yards to Burnham, who recovered from his earlier drop and held tight to the football, putting the Lions back in scoring position. The Bombers challenged for offensive pass interferen­ce, but the call on the field stood, allowing the Lions to kick the winning field goal with no time left. NOTES: Winnipeg running back

Andrew Harris rushed for more than 100 yards for the 18th time in his CFL career.

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