Argos swamped by touchdown tsunami
Reilly connects with Lions receivers for five majors through the air in laugher
The B.C. Lions obviously practised their dance routines this week with Saturday night’s game against the Toronto Argonauts in mind.
They did a lot of it; on the sidelines, in the backfield and in the end zone, as the Leos came out and danced to one of the biggest wins in team history, triumphing 55-8 at B.C. Place over the Boatmen.
There was no rug-cutting from the hapless Argos, who played like they had two left feet. They turned the ball over three times in the opening two quarters, leading to 21 of those points, including an ill-considered lateral play from Chris Rainey that gave B.C. the ball on the one-yard line with a minute left in the half.
The biggest margin of victory in B.C.’s history was a 67-15 thumping of the Shreveport Pirates on Aug. 27, 1994. A touchdown and two-point conversion from the Argos Saturday kept the Lions from breaking that, but they did equal No. 2 on the list — a 51-4 whupping of the Argos in Toronto on Aug. 24.
The late score also prevented the Lions from setting a new mark for the largest shutout victory in history, set in 1958 when they downed the Calgary Stampeders 42-0.
Here’s what we learned …
WHAT THIS MEANS
The playoff dream is very much alive.
Knowing that they have to win out the season for any shot at the post-season, the Lions came out on fire, and stayed that way. They went until the 3:37 mark of the fourth quarter without punting as they continued their quest to narrow the gap with the Edmonton Eskimos in the standings.
The Esks did their part, dropping their fifth decision in six games on Friday, falling 42-12 to Hamilton.
That sets up a major clash next week when the Lions visit the Eskimos at Commonwealth Stadium.
The following two weeks, B.C. plays Saskatchewan and Calgary, both at home.
Edmonton (7-8) plays the Roughriders, who lead the West at 10-4, in back-to-back games to close out the season.
LEADING THE WAY
Bryan Burnham took back the CFL lead in receiving yards from Hamilton’s Brandon Banks with a vintage performance. He had two touchdowns before the game was 30 minutes old, including a one-handed grab in double coverage in the corner of the end zone that rivalled the catch made by Seattle Seahawks receiver Tyler Lockett
on Thursday night.
His third score was almost as impressive, a spinning, juggling one-handed grab to push it to 48-0 late in the third quarter — another team record for biggest lead after three quarters.
Burnham finished with his sixth 100-yard night of the season, making 10 catches on 12 targets for 145 yards and three touchdowns.
Banks had 81 yards on Friday to push his season total to 1,233. Burnham now has 1,290. Both pace the CFL with nine touchdown grabs.
Quarterback Mike Reilly supplanted injured Eskimos pivot Trevor Harris (3,706) atop the passing charts, pushing his season total to 3,891 yards with a 21 of 27, five-touchdown and 276-yard night.
He also took the lead for most passing touchdowns from Toronto’s McLeod Bethel-Thompson, now with 20 on the season to Bethel-Thompson’s 19.
WHITE SHOES’ BIG NIGHT
Lions tailback John White IV, who hasn’t had a 100-yard game since August, got twothirds of the way there with a strong first half, ripping off four runs of double-digit runs in the opening two quarters.
He had 121 yards on 20 carries, gashing the left side of the Argos defensive line at will, before sitting for the fourth quarter.
BY THE NUMBERS
The Lions put up 455 yards of offence including 30 first downs, and had the ball for nearly three quarters: 43:06.
Receiver Duron Carter, who went without a receiving touchdown the first 12 games, now has four in his past five games after grabbing two Saturday night. He had seven catches on seven targets for 90 yards.
Kicker Sergio Castillo hit two chip-shot field goals to push his CFL-leading percentage to 91.9 per cent, now 34-of-37 on the season.
Backup quarterback Danny O’Brien, who came into the night without a rushing touchdown, had two, along with handling the fourth-quarter passing duties, going 2-of-3 for seven yards.
The Argos had possession for just 10:39 through three quarters, and six rushing attempts for the game. They ended the game with 167 yards of total offence in 16:36 minutes, the bulk of that coming on their final drive.
Their season-long quarterback carousel continued to spin, with starter James Franklin going just 6-for-9 for 32 yards and an interception, while Bethel-Thompson came in for the fourth quarter, going 9-for-14 for 94 yards and a touchdown, to receiver Armanti Edwards.
There wasn’t much opportunity for the Lions to make many defensive plays, but defensive end Jonathan Newsome had a sack and forced fumble, as well as the batted ball that led to T.J. Lee’s interception on the Argos’ first offensive play.