Leos’ Jennings almost purr-fect in one-sided cat fight
Are you ready for some football, Jon Jennings style?
The Hamilton Tiger- Cats weren’t.
After scoring on just their second play from scrimmage Friday night — a 64-yard touchdown pass from Jeff Mathews to Luke Tasker — it looked as if the Tiger-Cats would be off to another romp, reminiscent of their 52-22 Canadian Football League blowout of the Lions on Aug. 15 at Tim Hortons Field.
Despite that shaky start, the Lions regrouped and exploded for three first-half touchdown passes by their rookie quarterback, then scored their first offensive touchdown in the fourth quarter in nine games on a 15-yard run by Andrew Harris to defeat the Tiger-Cats 40-13 at BC Place Stadium.
Harris, playing in his 100th career game, added a second touchdown on an eight-yard run with 1:50 left as the Lions won going away. The Lions’ feature back lived up to that designation. He finished the game with 119 yards on 16 carries. Earlier Friday, the Montreal Alouettes defeated the Toronto Argonauts, 34-2, to go to 6-10, placing them in a crossover position in the West Division playoffs. But the Lions responded with their win over the Tiger-Cats, which also moved them to 6-10.
Montreal, however, must finish ahead of the Lions or Winnipeg Blue Bombers to earn a playoff berth in the West, which would be the first for an East Division team in CFL history. After Tasker’s touchdown, the Lions got a 66-yard kickoff return by Chris Rainey following a twopoint safety to set up a 20-yard touchdown pass from Jennings to Shawn Gore. A forced fumble by Zach Minter, recovered by Mic’hael Brooks at the Ticats’ 10-yard line, teed up a 10-yard pass from Jennings to Manny Arceneaux for Arceneaux’s ninth touchdown of the season.
Later, Jennings unloaded a 47-yard bomb to Bryan Burnham before Rainey expertly completed a 25-yard pass-andrun play to put the Lions in front 23-6, with 12 minutes still left in the second half. Jennings. who got his first start Sept. 26 against Edmonton, has thrown for 13 touchdowns in just five starts, one of the most impressive beginnings to a career in CFL annals. His only mistake came in the second half when he was intercepted by Brandon Stewart on a pass intended for Arceneaux.
“You know what, the offence has almost expanded,” said Gore, who seems reborn as a receiver at the wide-side Z position with Jennings behind centre. “He (Jennings) keeps plays going. And he can get the ball to the wide side of the field, where I’m playing.
“I feel at the moment, with him in there, he’s open to everything. He’s open to all his options. And he throws such a tight spiral. He’s got a very natural throwing motion. He was made to throw the football.”
The Lions’ victory kept the East Division from an unprecedented sweep over the Lions in Vancouver.
Since 1981, when the homeand-home format began, B.C. had never lost all four games to East Division visitors in one season. Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa all won at BC Place earlier this season. END ZONE: Lions middle linebacker Adam Bighill reached 100 tackles for the second time in his career. He finished the game with eight tackles and has 107 for the season ... Veteran halfback Ryan Phillips had a pair of interceptions for the Lions, his second blunting any hopes of a Tiger-Cat comeback late in the fourth quarter ... Lions rookie Shaquille Murray-Lawrence had an 82-yard kickoff return at the end of the third quarter nullified by a holding penalty.