Heroics were Long time coming for Lions’ kicker
Ty Long was eager for a special moment and he got one.
Long ’s 39-yard field goal in overtime gave the B.C. Lions a 35-32 comeback victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Saturday night.
“I was really excited for that last kick,” said Long in a jubilant Lions dressing room. “I wanted it to come down to me.”
The winning score came after B.C. and Hamilton exchanged field goals in overtime and Hamilton kicker Lirim Hajrullahu missed another three-point attempt in the extra session. B.C. rallied to tie the game in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter.
“That’s why I grind like I do,” said Long, a 25-year-old Roswell, Ga., native who is in his second CFL season. “Two years I spent without a team. No one wanted me. I was working because I knew I could play.”
Long was good on all four of his field-goal attempts with two of them coming from 50 yards.
The Lions posted their third straight win to even their season record at 6-6, while the TigerCats (6-7) dropped below .500 as they suffered their second straight loss. Before Saturday, B.C. had not sported an even record since the second week of the season.
B.C. receiver Bryan Burnham’s second touchdown reception of the game and his successful twopoint convert reception in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter forced overtime. A video review determined that Burnham kept one foot in bounds on the twopoint conversion after officials initially ruled it an incomplete pass.
“My heart’s beating out of my chest right now,” said Burnham. “I’m excited for this team.”
How close was he to being out of bounds?
“I guess by just a blade of grass,” Burnham said with a smile. “I’m just so glad for instant replay.”
Quarterback Jonathon Jennings picked up his first win as a starter since B.C.’s season-opening home win over Montreal in mid-June. Playing in place of injured No. 1 Travis Lulay (shoulder), Jennings posted his finest performance of the season, completing 32 of 47 passes for 346 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions.
“It feels great,” said Jennings of the win. “We needed it. That’s my job: to do everything I can to help this team win.”
Cory Watson also scored a touchdown for B.C. and Ricky Collins supplied a two-point convert reception.
Mike Jones caught touchdown passes of 75 and 55 yards for Hamilton, but he was not thrilled about his showing afterward.
“After losing, it doesn’t really matter too much,” said a disappointed Jones, whose second touchdown came with 1:46 left in regulation and staked Hamilton to a 29-21 lead.
John White ran for another touchdown. Hajrullahu supplied Hamilton’s other points.
“We knew it was going to go down to the last (play), just like it did last year,” said Hamilton coach June Jones, referring to a one-point Hamilton win exactly one year earlier at B.C. Place.
“I told the guys that before the game.”
B.C. defensive lineman Davon Coleman’s sack on Jeremiah Masoli and a Hamilton pass interference penalty spurred the late B.C. rally, which resulted in a nine-yard touchdown pass from Jennings to Burnham.