The Canadian Press
VANCOUVER — For Travis Lulay and the BC Lions, not much needed to be said.
It was halftime, moments after Lulay’s pass in the end zone slipped through the receiver’s hands with zero seconds on the clock, leaving the Lions empty-handed and trailing 17-0 despite a promising trip to the red zone.
Actions are stronger than words, and the Lions knew exactly what they needed to do.
“Wally said it best,” Lulay would go on to say hours later, gathering himself after a stunning 20-17 come-from-behind win. “Guys, we know what the deal is. We don’t need to sit here and talk about it. Let’s go do something about it.”
And they did do something about it, flipping the script on what looked like a doomed night at BC Place.
The Lions’ quarterback, making his first start in 10 months in his return from a season-ending knee injury suffered last September, played a big hand, throwing for 326 yards, a touchdown and an interception on 28-of-41 passing.
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The road to the Grey Cup, all 18 regular season games plus the playoffs, is a long, winding path. But it’s not lost on Lulay and his team that the final 30 minutes of Saturday’s game may have just saved their season.
Instead of staring a 1-3 start and fifth-place standing in the face, the Lions move into a third-place tie at 2-2 along with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The second-place Eskimos are 3-2, while the Blue Bombers now fall to 2-3.
Early on, as it’s often been when these clubs meet up, it was the Andrew Harris show, with the Lion-turned-Blue Bomber scoring a pair of first-half touchdowns to jolt his team ahead.
Lulay showed some of the rust that was expected from him, throwing an early interception to Kevin Fogg in the Bombers’ end zone. There was also a muffed third-down conversion, when Lulay took the snap from the shotgun and handed off to Chris Rainey, who ran into a wall of blue and gold.
Then there was the last drive of the half, which should have resulted in at least three points but left the Lions scoreless through 30.
But the Lions looked to their leader. While things could have gone better, Lulay showed the poise and leadership of a former Grey Cup Champion and Most Outstanding Player.
“That was the message at halftime — short and sweet, in and out,” said Lulay. “We just hunkered down. We had lost two in a row, we’re down 17-0 at home, in the second half, to the team that just beat us by three scores last week. It was gut-check time and we found a way to hang in there and win.”
“It’s great having Travis back out there and in the offence and seeing what he does — that general out there,” said receiver Shaq Johnson, whose highlight-reel touchdown tied the game with under two minutes remaining. “Obviously I’m a little younger so I missed the real young days of Travis, but he’s still got it. He came out here being a leader, keeping our head in it, keeping us focused and he proved it there and we got the win.”
While the offence needed to get going, it was the defence that provided the spark. The Lions’ defence picked off Matt Nichols three times in the game, while the biggest play of the second half was a goal line stand on third down against Chris Streveler.
The Lions didn’t allow a point in the second half and wound up forcing five turnovers in the game. Meanwhile, Lulay and the offence, after a slow start, later got things moving.
“It was execution in critical moments, and the D buckled down and created a few turnovers,” said Lulay. “Winnipeg’s a good football team. They kept us off balance in the first half, they kept us off the field. It’s just a great effort by our defence to give us enough opportunities to get in a rhythm and ultimately execute in critical moments.”
Lions running back Jeremiah Johnson left the game in the first quarter with an injury and didn’t return. Chris Rainey filled in admirably, ratcheting up his workload and making six catches for 71 yards while adding 43 yards on the ground.
Bryan Burnham and Emmanuel Arceneaux combined for 134 receiving yards in a much-needed bounce back for them, while the prettiest play of the night was the tying touchdown, where Johnson hauled in a high pass, juked a would-be tackled and kept his feet in bounds while stretching for the pylon.
A deep completion to Burnham, which was challenged by Winnipeg for offensive pass interference but was upheld, set up a Ty Long chip shot with zeroes on the clock.
For the Lions, Saturday’s win gives them a new lease on life in the highly-competitive West, when many were counting them out.
Now, for Wally Buono’s team, the key will be building off it.
“When you can come back from 17 down like that after the first half it really shows the tenacity and the effort that your guys have,” said Johnson. “It’s definitely a big thing going forward, the only thing we’ve got to change now is just starting faster on both ends.”
“We stay right in the hunt with this win,” added Lulay. “We’re right in the thick of it. We know we can be a lot better. This should be a great confidence-builder.
“Every time you win it can be a building block in who you want to be. It’s up to us now to continue to build and grow off this win. It could be a big win for us, but it’s up to us to see how we respond to it.”
The Lions, who are now 2-0 in the friendly confines of BC Place, seek their first road win of the season when they visit the Ottawa REDBLACKS on Friday, July 20.
– With files from BCLions.com
