Record setting win for Lions in Grey Cup
Posted Nov 28, 2011 05:21:26 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER – The B-C Lions are the first team to win the Grey Cup after the starting the season 0-and-5.
And, they are the first team to win the Cup at home since doing it in 1994.
The Lions got to celebrate in front of their faithful, with a 34-23 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at sold-out B-C Place.
B-C Lions quarterback Travis Lulay was the Grey Cup M-V-P. He passed for 320 yards and two touchdowns, and did not throw an interception. His first touchdown pass was a 66-yarder to Kierrie Johnson on the final play of the third quarter that made it 24-9.
It was the first touchdown catch of Johnson’s career.
B-C tailback Andrew Harris scored the game’s first touchdown on a 19-yard run in the first quarter.
The Winnipeg native finished with a game-high 65 yards on the ground, while helping seal the win with clock-eating carries late in the game.
Harris was named named the game’s top Canadian.
The turning point of the game came in the fourth quarter, and B-C leading 24-9.
Lions quarterback Travis Lulay tried to throw a screen pass inside the B-C 30, but Winnipeg defensive end Odell Willis got his hands on the ball and had a clear path to the end zone, but couldn’t hang on.
B-C then went on a long drive capped by Lulay’s six-yard touchdown pass to Arland Bruce that made it 31-9.
Winnipeg had a late rally, but it was too little, too late.
Quarterback Buck Pierce hit Greg Carr on a 45-yard touchdown strike at 11:22, and found Terrence Edwards on a 13-yard scoring pass with 1:37 left to cut the deficit to 31-23.
Winnipeg’s onside kickoff attempt didn’t go 10 yards, giving B-C the ball with 1:36 remaining.
The loss extends Winnipeg’s Grey Cup drought to 22 years. The Bombers last title came in 1990.
The crew from Sportsnet were on hand for the big game and filed this post-game report.
The loss was a bitter pill to swallow for defensive tackle Doug Brown, who played his final game after 11 seasons with the Bombers.
He says this was a collective loss, and there wasn’t any phase of the team that dominated.
The Bombers were beaten on both sides of the ball as their vaunted defence surrendered 404 yards of offence to B.C. while their offence was nearly non-existent for three quarters.
The sideline chains became entangled before the Grey Cup game, forcing game officials to borrow a set from a Vancouver high school.
A police escort ensured the field equipment arrived well before the opening kickoff.
