BC Lions News

Paul McCallum's sterling Grey Cup performance has accomplished two things _ put him in the record books and wiped away the memories of a bitter loss in 2004. McCallum nailed all six of his field-goal attempts as the B.C. Lions beat the Montreal Alouettes 25-14 Sunday night, earning the Surrey, B.C., native top Canadian player in the game honours. It also allowed him to tie Don Sweet, Sean Fleming and ...

Rating the two teams in the B.C. Lions' 25-14 win over the Montreal Alouettes in the 94th Grey Cup: MONTREAL ALOUETTES OFFENCE: D. Only a solid second-half comeback prevented a failing grade here. Then again, after registering just four first downs and 105 total yards in the first half there was nowhere to go but up. DEFENCE: C-plus. The Alouettes surrendered nearly 250 first-half yards to the Lions' offence, but ...

The B.C. Lions' 25-14 Grey Cup win Sunday capped quite a week for defensive end Brent Johnson. On Thursday, the six-foot-three, 265-pound Johnson was named the CFL's outstanding defensive player and Canadian after registering 16 sacks to lead the league in that category for the second straight year. Johnson became the first player in league history to win both honours in the same year. The 29-year-old native of Kingston, Ont., ...

The Grey Cup has long history of abuse, neglect and damage. And Wally Buono, whose B.C. Lions broke the historic trophy Sunday while celebrating their 25-14 win over the Montreal Alouettes, is not a first time offender. In 1998 when he was coach of the Calgary Stampeders, his team claimed the CFL championship trophy with a wild 26-24 win over Hamilton. Then Stampeders nearly left Winnipeg without the hallowed Cup, ...

It's easy to see how the B.C. Lions are heavy favourites to capture this year's Grey Cup title. Look at the club's offence, defence and special teams, and the common denominator is the Lions are stacked with athletes. Offensively, there's the grace of slotback Geroy Simon, a fluid route runner who was the CFL's top receiver this year with 105 catches, 1,856 yards and 15 touchdowns. Or there's the ruggedness ...

Jake Ireland will be the head referee for this year's Grey Cup game, the CFL announced Thursday night. It will be the 13th career Grey Cup appearance for Ireland and 11th as the head referee. But it will be his first CFL title game since 2001. ``I'm thrilled to be back,'' Ireland said. ``That was my objective.'' Ireland, a native of Burlington, Ont., now living in Townsend, Ont., has been ...

Defensive lineman Aaron Hunt, who had nine sacks this year for the B.C. Lions, was named the CFL's rookie of the year Thursday night. The six-foot-three, 270-pound Hunt also contributed 14 tackles and a forced fumble with the Lions this season. The Texas Tech grad was a former sixth-round pick of the Denver Broncos in 2003. Defensive back Etienne Boulay, a five-foot-nine, 187-pound Montreal native who was the Alouettes' second-round ...

Rob Murphy, in his first CFL season with the B.C. Lions, was named the league's top lineman Thursday night. The six-foot-five, 310-pound Murphy helped the Lions' offence become one of the league's most prolific. This year, B.C. led the CFL in passing, averaging 292 yards per game, and receiver Geroy Simon was the league's top receiver with 105 catches for 1,856 yards and 15 touchdowns. B.C. also led the CFL ...

Another year, another CFL top Canadian award for B.C. Lions defensive lineman Brent Johnson. The six-foot-three, 265-pound Johnson registered 16 sacks to lead the CFL in that category for the second straight year. The native of Kingston, Ont., helped anchor a B.C. defence that finished first in fewest yards allowed (299 per game) and sacks (59) and second to Toronto in points allowed (18.9 compared to 18.5 for the Argos). ...

B.C. Lions slotback Geroy Simon, who led the CFL in receiving this season, was named the league's outstanding player on Thursday night. Simon had 105 catches for 1,856 yards and 15 touchdowns this year to capture the award in voting conducted by the Football Reporters of Canada. Simon and the Lions will face the Montreal Alouettes in the Grey Cup on Sunday (CBC, 6 p.m. ET). Running back Charles Roberts ...

The dismal collapse of the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Sunday's CFL West Final more than just dashed the Grey Cup hopes of the team's legions of fans, it also made the goal of a sellout for this weekend's championship game a little more elusive. ``We probably wouldn't have had enough seats if Saskatchewan got in,'' Lyle Bauer, president and chief executive of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, said Monday. Before the start ...

Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach Danny Barrett waxed philosophically when asked Monday about his future. ``I feel good about my future,'' Barrett told reporters, a wide, toothy smile shooting across his face. ``I'm alive, I'm breathing, I've got a beautiful family. Future looks good.'' Asked whether his future includes the CFL team he has led for the last seven years and he's a little less sunny. ``I would say 50-50,'' Barrett ...

The accolades continue to pile up for Geroy Simon. The B.C. Lions slotback captured his second straight offensive player of the month award Friday after recording 21 catches for 302 yards and two touchdowns in October. Earlier this week, Simon was named the West Division nominee for the CFL's outstanding player award and is the odds-on favourite to win. Simon helped the first-place Lions to a 3-1 record last month ...

The B.C. Lions scored two touchdowns off interceptions 26 seconds apart late in the first half and cruised to a 26-10 win Saturday night that ended the Winnipeg Bombers hopes of a home CFL playoff game. Bomber slotback Milt Stegall failed to score the two touchdowns he needed to set the CFL career record. Lions quarterback Dave Dickenson threw touchdown passes to Ryan Thelwell and Geroy Simon. Backup quarterback Jarious ...

The B.C. Lions finally put the Hamilton Tiger-Cats out of their misery Saturday night. Defensive back Mark Washington returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown and quarterback Dave Dickenson looked sharp playing 30 minutes as the Lions defeated the Tiger-Cats 23-17 in Hamilton's final game of the CFL season. As planned, Dickenson played the game's second half. It was his first appearance since being pulled from a Sept. 24 game in Regina. He had missed the previous ...

The B.C. Lions have cemented top spot in the West Division but slotback Geroy Simon still has plenty to play for in the club's final two regular-season games. Simon is the CFL's leading receiver with 97 catches and 1,736 yards, leaving him 301 yards short of breaking the single-season record of 2,036 yards held by former Calgary Stampeder Allen Pitts. B.C. concludes its regular season with home games against Hamilton ...

The B.C. Lions were fired up to win their third straight game. Unfortunately for them, they ran into a Calgary Stampeder squad hungry for revenge. ``They played better than we did, they played harder than we did, they had more at stake than we did,'' said B.C. coach Wally Buono after his squad dropped a 32-25 decision to the Stampeders on Sunday. After downing the Stamps 39-13 on Oct. 6 ...

The Calgary Stampeders didn't care what attitude the B.C. Lions had towards Sunday's game. A 32-25 win over the Lions meant everything to the Stamps, even if the loss meant little to B.C. Calgary secured second place in the West Division and home-field advantage in the division semifinal with the victory, while the Lions had already clinched first place and a bye to the Western final with a 39-13 pasting ...

The Calgary Stampeders clinched second place in the West Division and home-field advantage for the division semifinal with a 32-25 win over the visiting B.C. Lions on Sunday. The game meant far more to the Stampeders than the Lions, who had secured first place in the division and a bye to the Western final the previous week. Calgary (10-7) will host the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the semifinal Nov. 5 and ...

The Stampeders are out to prove a point against the B.C. Lions in addition to trying to nail down second place in the CFL's West Division on Sunday. The Lions (11-4) have outscored the Stampeders 82-33 in their two meetings this season, including last week's 39-13 pasting in Vancouver that gave B.C. first place in the division and a bye to the Western final Nov. 12. Calgary (9-7) needs a victory to secure division runner-up and home-field advantage ...

Slotback Geroy Simon, who helped the B.C. Lions earn three victories in four games and clinch a West Division playoff spot, was named the CFL's offensive player of the month for September. In four games, Simon had 25 catches for 529 yards (21.2-yard average) and four touchdowns for the Lions (10-4), who have the CFL's best record and sit atop the West Division standings. Simon leads the league in receptions ...

Quarterback Buck Pierce is expected to return to practice with the B.C. Lions this week, but Dave Dickenson's status with the CFL team remains in doubt. Pierce injured his throwing arm late in the first half of Saturday's 28-8 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. With Dickenson forced to sit out the game with post-concussion syndrome, third-string quarterback Jarious Jackson came off the bench and threw two touchdown passes. Pierce is ...

B.C. Lions head coach Wally Buono says he doesn't call them the back-up quarterbacks - they're ``the next guys up.'' So with the team's usual starter Dave Dickenson out with symptoms of post-concussion syndrome, the next guys up on this playoff-bound team were Buck Pierce and Jarious Jackson. Normally second and third-string quarterbacks, they combined for four touchdowns, and engineered a convincing 28-8 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Saturday. ...

B.C. Lions quarterbacks Buck Pierce and Jarious Jackson combined for four touchdowns as the Lions clinched a playoff spot with a 28-8 road win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Saturday. The win was B.C.'s eighth in nine games, sending the Lions (10-4) to the post-season for the 10th straight year. Hamilton's loss, in front of a soaking wet home crowd of 24,163 at Ivor Wynne Stadium, eliminated the Ticats (4-12) from ...