Arceneaux’s performance does the talking for Lions
B.C. LIONS 32 EDMONTON 25
VANCOUVER — Emmanuel Arceneaux stood up this week and talked to the B.C. Lions about what it takes to win games — physicality, emotion and desire.
The veteran receiver backed up his words in an impressive performance Saturday.
Arceneaux caught eight passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns, including a brilliant 70-yard score in which he fought off two would-be tacklers, as the Lions defeated the Edmonton Eskimos 32-25 for a key victory in the CFL’s West Division.
“We’re at a point now in the season where it’s kill or be killed,” Arceneaux said. “No home boys, no friends. You’ve got to protect yourself out there. You’ve got to have the mindset that: ‘It’s my job to impose my will on my opponent or he’s going to do it to me.’
“You can’t win every play, but you can win the majority of the plays. It’s a team sport, but it’s about doing your individual job.”
The Lions (10-6) entered play having dropped three of four, including back-to-back losses to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers that was accented by last week’s crushing 35-32 defeat in which they turned the ball over an eyepopping six times.
B.C. played a clean game on Saturday, with Jonathon Jennings rebounding off a threeinterception performance to throw for 273 yards and those two TDs to Arceneaux on 21-of-28 passing. “A feeling of relief,” said Jennings, who also scored on a 20yard run. “After those two losses, we came back and locked in.”
Jeremiah Johnson rushed 17 times for 108 yards, including 87 in a first half. “This was a morale game,” Johnson said.
Edmonton’s Mike Reilly was 24-of-32 through the air for 261 yards and a touchdown to Adarius Bowman, while running in another score. John White also had a TD scamper for the Eskimos (8-8), who were coming off their bye and saw a three-game winning streak snapped.
“We didn’t come out to play and match their intensity,” said Eskimos head coach Jason Maas. “Throughout the game they made more plays than we did, bottom line. When you do that, you’re going to win the ball game.”
The Lions took a 26-19 advantage into the fourth quarter and tried to extend that lead on a 53-yard field-goal attempt from Richie Leone that had the distance, but just hooked left. Edmonton’s Troy Stoudemire returned the ball 50 yards only to have it stripped and recovered by the Lions at the Eskimos’ 49.