BOTCHED SURPRISE PUNT SUMS UP LIONS’ INCOMPETENCE
B.C. coach calls team’s effort in blowout semifinal loss ‘tragic’
Late in the third quarter of the CFL East semifinal and already trailing 29-3, the B.C. Lions called a short pass in the right flank to wideout Marco Iannuzzi near their own end zone.
Iannuzzi caught it, took a couple of steps, then tried to kick the ball. It was, as best anyone could tell, sort of like an onside kick attempt — he dribbled it off his instep, tried to flop on the ball, but it ended up hitting a teammate and was thus rendered a punt. A punt that drew a penalty flag because B.C. hadn’t given the Montreal Alouettes a chance to recover it. The Als took over on downs, scored two plays later and probably had someone in their front office booking transportation to Hamilton for the East final next week.
The botched surprise kick was a roaring tire fire of a play, and as such it was wholly indicative of B.C.’s performance on the day: a 50-17 blowout that included two Lions touchdowns long after the Alouettes had laid down their arms.
B.C.’s display of ineptitude wasn’t exactly a ringing endorsement of the CFL’s crossover playoff rules that put them in the East bracket: they managed six completions and two interceptions from starting quarterback Kevin Glenn, a fumble that was returned 103 yards for a touchdown, four major penalties and that gong show of a two-yard punt. The Lions finished with more penalty yards (105) than passing yards (102).
“There’s no way to explain it,” said Lions head coach Mike Benevides after the game. “It’s tragic.”
Asked if the game was indicative of B.C.’s flat season, which finished with 10 losses against nine wins, Benevides conceded that “there were some things that occurred out there that seemed to occur throughout the season.”
The coach said there were “discussions” on the sideline about pulling Glenn in favour of Travis Lulay, who was trying to return from a shoulder injury, but it was felt that he wasn’t healthy enough to help.
Glenn finished 6-of-18 for 64 yards, those two interceptions and a passer rating of minus-1.6. Seriously: minus-1.6.
For the Alouettes, it was another redemption story in a season that has been full of them. Running back Brandon Rutley, who had been cut by the team in August and then signed back to the practice roster two weeks later, was playing for only the second time all year. He ran for 98 yards on only 15 carries — an average of 6.5 yards per carry — and caught three passes for another 21 yards. After the game, he sat in front of his locker, talking to his girlfriend on his cellphone and wiping away tears.
“That’s what I’ve been working for these last few years,” Rutley said afterward about his game. He said there were times when he thought about giving up the sport, especially after being released in the summer. On Saturday, he had talked about how excited he was to finally get the chance to see game action and expounded on his various abilities. He talked, frankly, like a guy who wasn’t aware that he had all of one rushing attempt, for six yards, on his resumé this season. But on Sunday, he backed it up. “I feel good, man,” he said in the locker-room, his eyes still red from the tears.
Alouettes coach Tom Higgins had also said on Saturday that he didn’t expect the running game to fall apart, even with Rutley in for the injured Tyrell Sutton, who was himself in for the injured Brandon Whitaker. On Sunday after the game, he had the serene look of a man who had witnessed only what he had foretold.
“I truly believed that’s what you were going to see,” Higgins said. “(Rutley’s) a consummate pro. He knew that if something was going to happen, he had to be ready to go. He didn’t know it would be in a semifinal playoff game, though.”
The Alouettes, forced to played in the semifinal at Percival Molson Stadium after they blew a chance at a first-round playoff bye with a messy loss to Hamilton in the final week of the regular season, bounced back with a performance that was more reminiscent of recent glory years than the patchy display they put up for most of 2014.
After completing only one pass for eight yards in the first quarter, Jonathan Crompton went 13 for 17 in the middle two quarters for two touchdowns and an interception. He finished with a modest 155 yards passing, but a tidy quarterback rating of 99.9 on the day.
Higgins said that his quarterback missed a few throws in the early part of the game, but by the second quarter it looked like he was in a rhythm. Crompton, helped immensely by a passinterference call against defensive back Cord Parks that negated an interception in the end zone, and an unnecessary roughness call against defensive back Ryan Phillips that extended another drive, quickly threw two touchdown passes that put the Als in front 15-3. When Montreal took the second-half kickoff and moved 78 yards for another six points — the first of three touchdown plunges for short-yardage quarterback Tanner Marsh — Higgins said he “felt the game was ours.”
Crompton, who only became the starter after Montreal began the season an abysmal 1-7, was in the end his usual self: not flashy, but effective.
“Pressure doesn’t seem to bother him at all,” Higgins said of his quarterback. “He continues to win. That’s the only criteria you need to judge a quarterback by.”
B.C. will now head home — on the longest possible flight for a team after an Eastern playoff loss — and Montreal will prepare for an East final and a rematch with the Tiger-Cats. The Alouettes were a train wreck after eight games, then recovered to save their season. Then they flopped in the season finale, and turned around to put up 50 points in a playoff game.
Rutley, Crompton, the team as a whole: resilience has been a theme.
“My hat’s off to the athletes,” said Higgins, relaxed and smiling. “We have a chance to write a real nice story now.”