BOMBERS 23 LIONS 6

VANCOUVER (CP) – Lirim Hajrullahu is a CFL rookie, but he made kicking field goals in pressure-packed situations look easy Friday night.

Hajrullahu kicked five field goals – the best single-game performance of his young career – and accounted for most of his team’s scoring as the upstart Winnipeg Blue Bombers thumped the B.C. Lions 23-6 at B.C. Place Stadium.

“It was great that we won the game and the guys trusted in me,” said Hajrullahu, a 24-year-old St. Catharines, Ont., native who played the past five seasons at Western University.

Winnipeg (4-1) moved into a three-way tie for first place in the West Division with Calgary and Edmonton. The Blue Bombers have already exceeded their entire victory total from 2013.

Hajrullahu’s most important field goals were also his longest as the Blue Bombers secured the victory with 14 unanswered points in the third quarter. He connected on a 51-yarder, which was longer than any he booted while becoming Western’s all-time leading scorer, and furnished another from 49 yards while also earning a single from a 63-yard kick-off.

“I want this (pressure),” he said. “At this point in the season, I just want to be able to show that I am capable of making those types of kicks. If they do need me, I want to be there for the guys.”

Winnipeg also scored its only touchdown in the third quarter as quarterback Drew Willy threw a 37-yard pass to Clarence Denmark. The win added to the confidence that the club has built under new coach Mike O’Shea.

The Lions saw a two-game winning streak come to an end as they dropped to 2-3 while mustering only two field goals from Paul McCallum.

Winnipeg, meanwhile, made amends for a loss to Edmonton in their last outing.

“We came over this hump,” said Hajrullahu, who signed as a free agent in January. “And, this was a huge win, especially for the guys that were here last year. They made some major changes and the guys are starting to believe in themselves and believe in each other. That’s the most important thing right now.”

B.C. struggled to deal with a Winnipeg defence that sacked quarterback Kevin Glenn five times and intercepted two of his passes.

“We couldn’t get any sustained drives,” said Glenn. “We had some turnovers, some negative plays. When you do that, you can’t get into a groove as a group.”

The Lions only recorded two sacks on Willy, who produced decent numbers but had trouble getting his team into the end zone.

“We need to get some more touchdowns, obviously, but our defence played just lights out,” said Willy. “I was just happy for the guys.”

Willy completed 18 of 26 passes for 250 yards and one interception along with the TD. Receiver Nick Moore had a strong night against his former B.C. squad, catching seven passes for 99 yards.

“There were a couple plays I wanted back, but I thought I did some good things,” said Willy.

Glenn connected on 18 of 31 passes for 232 yards. He was replaced briefly by backup John Beck, who completed one of two passes.

Notes: Attendance was 25,321. The Lions retired all-time CFL leading receiver Geroy Simon’s jersey and inducted him into the club’s Ring of Honour at half-time. Moore played against his former B.C. team for the first time since leaving as a free agent in the off-season. Hajrullahu’s experience as a former soccer player helped him boot the long single. Despite being a midfielder, he used to take his team’s goal-kicks.