September 15, 2018

From 0 to 60. Play Them All.

It’s not the game we expected nor the result we wanted. The Alouettes fell short to the BC Lions on Friday night, in a highly defensive matchup that ended with a score of 32-14.”We played and coached poorly tonight,” Coach Sherman told the locker room. ”Does that mean it all goes out the window? The energy and the chemistry we built in the past weeks… No, it can’t go away. I’m not going to moan about this game tonight, but we’re going to talk about it in the morning.”

The Head Coach did not, however, miss the opportunity to acknowledge what the defensive and special units did right. Our hopes were up until the very last quarter when two pick-sixes by the Lions secondary sealed the deal.

Eugene Lewis

In Slo-Mo

The Lions first offensive series: backup quarterback Jonathon Jennings finds receiver Bryan Burnham ready to catch the ball in the end zone. A few seconds earlier, the orange squad had to watch its starting pivot, Travis Lulay, leave the field in pain, once again. Dislocated shoulder, we heard.

Injuries and penalties were multiplying fast in the first half. Fast enough to slow down the pace.

Immediately after the Lions first touchdown, the Alouettes attempted to retaliate. Ryder Stone propelled the offence with a 26-yard kick return. Then, Antonio Pipkin and receiver Eugene Lewis worked hand in hand for a 36-yard gain. At BC’s 35-yard line, our guys were in a position to succeed, but the series fell flat when Pipkin fell victim to a sack and lost 13 yards on a second and five.

The scoreboard showed 7-0 for the Lions after the first quarter and only the kickers added points in the second to bring the numbers up to 10-6 at halftime.

Chip Cox

What caught our attention mostly, throughout the game, was defensive feats. Rich Stubler’s guys were pumped, dancing to their favourite tracks during TV time-outs.

Remember how Tommie Campbell guaranteed new Lions receiver DeVier Posey wouldn’t have the same luck he had against him in the Grey Cup last year? Well, Tommie is a man of his word. With 3 :40 to play in the first quarter, number 23 knocked down a pass intended for Posey near the red zone. The No fly zone is what they call it.

Tommie Campbell

The defence was able to contain Jenning’s offence more than once. It was the plan. Tommie called that as well. ”We have to force them to kick”, he explained a few days prior to the game. Then, an interception from Branden Dozier with 2 minutes to play in the half really made the crowd go crazy.

You expect your offence to capitalize on those turnovers. Unfortunately, it’s not what happened. ”We have to play better as a team,” Coach Sherman reminded his men. ”The defence had an interception, but the offence didn’t score. As a matter of fact, the offence didn’t do much tonight.”

Boris Bede

Possible Side Effect: Dizziness

While the first part of the game seemed to last forever, the second just flew by. It almost felt like a roller coaster ride. The last 30 minutes of the game made us dizzy is the least we can say.

If one guy managed to stay consistent through it all, it’s Boris Bede. In addition to his two field goals, one of 46 yards, Boris didn’t miss a single opportunity to push the Lions as deep as possible into their zone with his punts. In the third quarter, he forced speedy kick returner Chris Rainey to run out of bounds in his end zone. A single point that brought the score up to 10-7 and that could have had a big impact on the outcome of the game.

We can’t say as much about Lions kicker, Ty Long. With 3 minutes to play in the third quarter, Chip Cox proved he hasn’t lost his reflexes by blocking Long’s field goal attempt at our 8-yard line. Defensive back Tevaughn Campbell then recovered the ball and took flight to reach the opposite side of the field. We swear he was flying. Campbell, who ran the fastest 40-yard dash in national combine history, is undoubtedly one of the fastest players in the league.

Tevaughn Campbell

Our guys were finally on top, leading 14-13 after 45 minutes of play.

But there are 60 minutes in a football game.

While the defence kept standing its ground in the fourth, the offence wasn’t able to change gears. Were the game plan or the play calling inadequate? All we know for now is that Antonio Pipkin wasn’t finding his receivers like he normally does. Two interceptions later, the game was in the books.

Next week’s fight against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers is now more than crucial if our Alouettes want to keep hoping for a spot in the playoffs.

”We have to put ourselves in that position,” said Coach Sherman to his locker room. ”We don’t have a choice. Do you understand that?”

The answer, Friday, September 21.