ALOUETTES 23 LIONS 13
VANCOUVER (CP) – Tanner Marsh made his limited playing time count Thursday night.
The backup quarterback’s one-yard touchdown run and two-point conversion pass to Tyrell Sutton in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference as the Montreal Alouettes beat the B.C. Lions 23-13.
Marsh was used mostly in short-yardage situations against the Lions. It was just his second appearance of the year after suffering a partially-torn patella tendon in training camp. Marsh’s decisive touchdown and Sutton’s two-point convert enabled Montreal to take a 20-13 lead and came after the Lions had held the Als on first-and-goal.
“I’ve been out of the game the first six weeks and I’m just so excited to be here and part of the team and help the team however I can,” said Marsh. “So I wasn’t really nervous (on the touchdown attempt). I was just more excited to be out there on the field.”
The Alouettes (3-5) overcame early and late deficits as they ended a three-game losing streak and posted only their second win in Vancouver since 2000 – a span of 15 games.
“(The win) shows the character of the team, and it’s huge,” said Marsh, who completed all three of his passes and ran for 12 yards on seven carries. “It’s a great way to start off a winning streak.”
Nik Lewis also scored a touchdown for Montreal – his first since joining the Als after 11 seasons with Calgary – while Boris Bede produced its other points on field goals from 25, 32 and 50 yards.
Much of the talk before the game was about B.C.’s defence as Alex Hoffman-Ellis made his first CFL start for the Lions in place of injured linebacker Solomon Elimimian, the 2014 most outstanding player and defensive player of the year. The Lions, however, weren’t able to generate enough offence.
“We didn’t move the ball consistently enough,” said B.C. quarterback Travis Lulay, who completed 18 of 29 passes for 216 yards and a touchdown.
Lulay threw an interception at 3:54 of the fourth quarter, snared by Dominique Ellis, that led to Montreal’s winning touchdown.
“I was just scrambling out of the pocket and I thought I had a chance to complete it,” said Lulay.
Injuries are no excuse. But actually the O looked pretty bad despite having Lulay as the QB. Is it possible O lines make or break QBs RBs etc? Would Cornish set records with BC? Would BLM look as good with BC? Or could Suiter be wrong about Lulay?
The Riders ARE NOT out of the playoff hunt! Winnipeg, BC, and Ottawa all look horrendous. Sask has some very winnable games coming up that would put them into or near a playoff spot at the moment. Unfortunately, I believe it all has to start with a win over Calgary to create genuine belief heading to Ottawa.
Cgy/Ott/Win/Win/Ott/Mon … could conceivable win six in a row! Crazy talk for a team currently 0-7?
The BC Lions have a serious issue with Travis Lulay and these interceptions. He is costing them games. Had the Roughriders called plays properly their record would be even worse.
Could this be Wally's last year as GM in BC? If he was a Rider GM, the knives would be out and sharpened last year.
Wally will be the Lions GM as long as he wants or until they are sold. That my friend is the difference the Lions are owned by David Braley and if the people want to protest, they just stay away. No one owns the Riders so everyone feels they have a stake in them and a right to bitch. Personally I'd take Wally over Teflon Taman any day.
With Lulay's recent injuries and that of the CFL Defensive MOP, it would be wrong to place the Lion's troubles in recent years on Wally. He is still a smart football guy.