Mike Beamish
Vancouver Sun

VANCOUVER -- When a coach gets excited about a rookie before training camp has even begun, it's wise to be skeptical until the rest of the competition actually shows up.

Indeed, all the pre-camp flutter Lions coach Wally Buono expressed about defensive end Gary Butler and running back Damian Sims proved to be unfounded. Sims, seen as the presumptive replacement for Stefan Logan, was released in June. Butler made it into July before he, too, was gone.

Still, Buono's pronouncements were worth heeding soon into camp when he realized he did have a pair of very special rookies in running back Martell Mallett and receiver Emmanuel Arceneaux. Babes in the woods no longer, Mallett, 23, and Arceneaux, 22, will carry a heavy load of responsibility into Sunday's CFL East Final against the Montreal Alouettes.

"They were raw. Part of the unknowns," Buono said Tuesday. "But the recommendations were that they were good people. We knew from the tapes that they were good football players. But you really never know how successful they're going to turn out."

The Who said it best: The Kids are Alright. Actually, More than Alright.

Arceneaux had six catches for 120 yards in last Sunday's 34-27 overtime win against Hamilton in the East Semi-Final. And Mallett had another productive game with 68 yards on 11 carries, which included a 27-yard scamper in overtime, the play before Ian Smart scored the winning touchdown on a pass from Casey Printers.

Mallett injured his shoulder on the play, but it's nothing that will keep the young warrior out of Sunday's game, he promises.

Both rookies are playing well beyond their best-before dates in college. Arceneaux is starting his 20th game Sunday after playing for a 2-10 team in his senior year with the Alcorn State Braves. Mallett has missed two games with foot/toe problems and Sunday is his 18th game. A year ago, he was the workhorse back for the Golden Lions of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, who finished with a not-so-golden record of 3-9.

The Alouettes would figure to make stopping the Hammer a priority. After all, Mallett exploded through them for 213 yards on Sept. 4, bettering by one yard Sean Millington's single-game Lions rushing record. Nine days later, however, the Alouettes held him to 66 yards on 14 carries in a game played at Montreal's McGill Stadium.

Still, despite missing a full schedule of games, Mallett was able to pound out the fourth-best rushing total in the CFL (1,240 yards), and he is one of only three Lions guaranteed to show up in Calgary during Grey Cup week. Mallett deservedly is the West Division nominee for Most Outstanding Rookie.

"I'm just blessed," he says. "I didn't think I could just come in and start right away. I thought Ian [Smart] was going to start and I'd just play sparingly. But things happen, I started. I think I did a real good job. But, honestly, I could have done better if I was healthier. But that's football."

Arceneaux had touchdown receptions in each of his first three games, reached his high-water mark with 158 receiving yards and a touchdown Aug. 21 against Winnipeg, plateaued for a few games, then started to look dangerous again as he explored new territory in games played.

"They [rookies] all hit the wall," Buono says. "Eventually, they rebound. Both of them [Mallett and Arceneaux] obviously got a second wind. In the end, if we're going to be successful, we need them to be successful."

While Mallett's foot problems have been well documented, Arceneaux's physical challenges have flown under the radar. He has played with a broken hand [wearing a protective shield], a sprained AC joint [shoulder] and a painful thigh bruise. But he has made it through his longest season without missing a beat.

"I've been working with Chris Boyko [the team's strength and conditioning coach] and the programs he's had me on have kept me on the field," Arceneaux says. "I'm thankful for that guy. It's one thing LaVar Glover says all the time, 'It's not what you can do, it's what you're willing to do.' You can sit and babify those injuries. But, like he [Glover] says, 'Are you a survivor or a striver?' If you want to be a survivor, you're just staying in neutral."

"Just about every one of his joints has been hurting at one time," Boyko adds, "but he's kept on moving. Manny's a fighter."

The reality is, Arceneaux and Mallett have earned respect from the veterans not just for their productivity, but their willingness to suck it up and keeping going.

That makes them, in everybody's eyes, rookies no longer.

Courtesy: www.vancouversun.com