WESTERN FINAL: Stamps stomp Lions pride. Calgary-Ottawa Grey Cup
Bo Levi Mitchell and Co. lay a world-class beatdown on the visiting Leos
There will be other days for the B.C. Lions as long as Jonathon Jennings is their quarterback, days when they’re the most feared team the in CFL, days when they’re preparing for the Grey Cup.
But Sunday wasn’t one of those days. Not by a million miles. As much as the Lions believed they were peaking for the West Division final and prepared to announce the beginning of the Jennings era this post-season, the Calgary Stampeders had an agenda of their own on Sunday.
In a complete and comprehensive beatdown, the CFL’s super team pounded the Lions like a nail, opening a stunning 32-0 lead after two quarters before coasting to a 42-15 win. Dave Dickenson’s team now advances to the Dominion championship next weekend in Toronto, where they’ll be the prohibitive favourites against the Ottawa Redblacks.
The Lions, for their part, will still be wondering about the truck that ran over them at McMahon.
“You’ve got to,” Lions head coach Wally Buono answered when asked if his overall take-away from this season would be positive. “We’ve made a lot of strides in our market and in our organization.
“But if you’re going to measure yourself against the Stampeders, we have a ways to go. I’ve been here before. When you win, it feels good. When you lose you understand how far you have to go.”
“There is no next week,” said linebacker Solomon Elimimian. “This year is over and we didn’t win the Grey Cup so, yes, the season is disappointing.”
And that was especially true of the final act.
On the game’s opening kickoff, two Lions tacklers met Stamps return man Roy Finch at his own 20 which seemed like an auspicious start for the visitors until Finch bounced off the contact and raced 35 yards to midfield. Four plays later the Stamps were in the end zone and the blood was in the water.
In the ensuing first-half slaughter, Stamps quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell engineered touchdown drives of 57 and 103 yards, tossed a 76-yard strike to DaVaris Daniels, then watched Jennings serve up a 46-yard pick six to Jamar Wall in the final 30 seconds of the second quarter to complete the nightmare.
The Lions’ defence stabilized things to some degree over the final 30 minutes as the Stamps took their foot off the accelerator. But that was scant consolation for an embarrassed group of Lions who absorbed a pointed lesson from the CFL’s gold standard. Mitchell, who finished with 365 passing yards and three TD passes, took his team on a final fourth-quarter touchdown drive to account for the final score.
That just left the post mortem which wasn’t any happier for Buono’s team.
“A loss is a loss,” said receiver Manny Arceneaux. “There aren’t any other words that can be said. We didn’t finish and we didn’t execute. Any other question after that doesn’t really need to be asked.”
In another corner of the Lions dressing room, Jeremiah Johnson sat in tears.
“Honestly, I still feel blessed to be with these guys and blessed Wally gave me this opportunity,” the running back said before burying his head in a towel.
Aside from the depressing nature of the final score, the most troubling aspect of this loss concerned the Lions’ start and the offence’s inability to generate anything of significance.
The Lions’ first six possessions all ended in punts before Johnson served up the pick six to Wall to close out the first half. The Lions’ defence actually forced a pair of two and outs in the first quarter when the score was still close but Jennings and his colleagues couldn’t make a dent in the Stampeders’ defence.
“We played flat but they had a good game plan,” said Jennings. “Our offence wasn’t as explosive. We didn’t get the ball downfield like we usually do.”
Jennings was asked if his team was ready to play at a championship level.
“We felt like it,” he said. “But sometimes you just get beat.”
Buono, however, wasn’t ready to give his charges a free pass in that department.
“Did I feel the energy we wanted (before the game)?” he asked rhetorically. “No. I didn’t feel the energy. That’s not necessarily who our team is.”
He continued: “They were the much better team. Three times we couldn’t convert on second and two (in the first half ). All of a sudden you’re punting, you’re punting, you’re punting and your defence is exposed, exposed, exposed. The last thing you want to do is be exposed to Bo Levi because he’s going to hurt you.”
And he hurt them badly on this night, a hurt that’s going to last a while.