Lions knock off Calgary

Oct 7, 2006, 5:50 GMT

Vancouver, BC - British Columbia inched one step closer to clinching the top seed in the Western Division, as backup quarterback Buck Pierce threw for 297 yards and a touchdown to lead the Lions to a 39-13 rout of Calgary.

With the win, the Lions (11-4) are now four points ahead of second-place Calgary and can clinch first place with a tie or loss by Saskatchewan this weekend.

Geroy Simon caught eight passes for 120 yards and a score and now needs just 363 receiving yards to break the CFL single-season record of 2,036 yards established by former Calgary receiver Allen Pitts in 1994.

Joe Smith ran 14 times for 55 yards and two touchdowns for B.C., while catching four passes for 38 yards. Pierce added five carries for 38 yards and a score.

Henry Burris had a rough day for Calgary (9-7) completing just 8-of-21 passes for 129 yards with three interceptions and no touchdowns.

After forcing Calgary to punt on its first possession, B.C. marched 87 yards on nine plays and took a 7-0 lead on Pierce's three-yard touchdown run.

Pierce's four-yard touchdown pass to Simon gave the Lions a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter before Sandro DeAngelis' 45-yard field goal put the Stampeders on the scoreboard.

B.C. then answered Calgary's first score of the game with a 13-play, 75-yard scoring drive that was capped by Smith's one-yard touchdown plunge that gave the Lions a 21-3 lead at halftime.

Buried deep in their own zone in the third quarter, Calgary conceded a safety that made it 23-3.

The Stampeders managed to force B.C. to punt on its ensuing possession. Calgary then marched down to the Lions 17-yard line, but had to settle for a 25-yard field goal by DeAngelis that made it 23-6.

Paul McCallum kicked a 28-yard field goal for B.C. to start the fourth quarter and Javier Glatt picked off Burris on the Stampeders' next play from scrimmage. A couple plays later, Smith scored from two yards out to make it 33-6.

Ryan Phillips than ran a Burris interception back 23-yards for a British Columbia score and Joffrey Reynolds' one-yard touchdown run for Calgary capped the scoring.

Game Notes

Reynolds finished with 10 carries for 30 yards for Calgary.

DeAngelis now needs just seven field goals to break the single-season mark of 59 set in 1990 by former Saskatchewan kicker Dave Ridgway.

© 2006 The Sports Network