‘Sparky’ Raymond ignites Stamps
CALGARY — The B.C. Lions would like to call him some other things, but Keon Raymond believes he’s earned a new nickname.
“We said in the locker-room, we just need a spark to get something going,” the Calgary Stampeders linebacker said shortly after his team’s 35-9 demolition of the B.C. Lions in Sunday’s Western semifinal. “I was just happy to be the spark. “You can call me Sparky.” Raymond, an eight-year veteran, turned around Sunday’s playoff game and took the wind out of the Lions’ sails when he picked off Jonathon Jennings’s pass late in the first quarter and returned it 38 yards for a touchdown.
The Stamps had been trailing 3-1 to that point and produced just one first down. Twelve minutes later, they were leading 24-3 and the Lions were deader than Sonny Corleone.
“I said it after the Grey Cup last year: Offence wins games. Defence wins championships,” Raymond said. “So we have to play up to the level we set for ourselves.”
Raymond’s interception was part of a dominating performance by the Stamps’ defence, which stomped the Lions like a grape all season. On Sunday, they surrendered three puny field goals. On the season, they didn’t surrender an offensive touchdown to the Leos in three games.
“You play a good defence like that and they’re going to make you earn everything all the way down the field,” Lions linebacker Adam Bighill said. “We needed help sometimes. It’s tough to drive the whole field the entire game.”
Instead, the Stampeders dominated the fieldposition game, which played to the strength of their defence. On the night, the Lions produced 288 yards in total offence to the Stampeders 271.
That just meant this game was close everywhere but the scoreboard.
“When you’re behind, they know you have to throw the ball down the field,” Lions quarterback Travis Lulay said. “You’re getting some deeper coverages and they’re going to rally and tackle underneath. That’s how they won the football game.”