LIONS 38 ALOUETTES 27

Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press

VANCOUVER – Jeremiah Johnson marked his return to the lineup with a punishing performance, running for three touchdowns to lead the B.C. Lions to a 38-27 win Friday over the Montreal Alouettes.

It was a listless showing for Alouettes quarterback Rakeem Cato, who was given the start behind centre in an effort to spark the 3-8 team offensively. Instead, B.C.’s Johnson was dominant in his first contest since replacing Anthony Allen as the Lions tailback, running for a CFL season-high 159 yards on 16 carries.

B.C. took little time establishing a ground game and it paid dividends quickly.

Johnson’s first carry on the opening play of scrimmage went for 23 yards. Two plays later Lions quarterback Jon Jennings found Emmanuel Arceneaux with a 25-yard touchdown throw.

Jennings drove the offence to a 12-yard touchdown run by Johnson to cap a six-play, 72 yard scoring drive on the second possession. On the Lions third drive, Johnson scored again on a one-yard run.

B.C. had a 21-3 lead early and was in full command. Cato engineered one Montreal drive only to settle for a short field goal by Anthony Fera, who started the season with the Lions.

(The Canadian Press)