Friday, July 8, 2005
Renegades drop road decision to B.C. Lions
Tough effort from Ottawa falls short in Week 3 action
 Renegades QB Kerry Joseph threw for 227 yards and a touchdown as well as scrambling five times for 84 yards and a score. |
VANCOUVER - In a game decided by big plays, the B.C. Lions had one more in their back pocket than the Ottawa Renegades here Friday night.
The Lions, 2-0, came off a bye week to win 37-29 over Ottawa under the dome of B.C. Place in the third week of the CFL season - but not without a furious Renegades fight and near comeback for the second consecutive game.
Before 27,506 loud fans for B.C.'s home opener, the Lions overcame a half-time deficit to lead by 15 late in regulation time. Renegades quarterback Kerry Joseph barreled into the end zone in the final minute of the fourth quarter to slice the Lions' lead to eight but an onside kick attempt was unsuccessful for Ottawa and B.C. kneeled its way to victory.
"You have to continue to compete and trust in the things we are trying to do," said Renegades head coach Joe Paopao. "We were encouraged by some things tonight and we know we will be a good football team. It is still disappointing to come up short."
Ottawa led by two heading into the second half and the only former Renegade came back to haunt the club that had him in training camp and both pre-season games in 2004.
Aaron Lockett's 75-yard punt return for a touchdown in the third quarter gave the Lions a lead they would not relinquish. Lockett's runback swung momentum towards B.C.'s side, and was followed up by an Antonio Warren running score later on in the quarter.
Just when it seemed that Ottawa was out of chances - with Matt Kellett's 44-yard field goal floating wide left (his only field goal miss of the night, going 3-for-4) - the Renegades special teams unit running downfield made a key play to get the visitors back in the game.
The duo of Jason Kralt and Marc Pilon helped strip the ball loose from Jerel Myers in the B.C. end zone and offensive lineman Mike Sutherland jumped on the squirming pigskin for a touchdown - the first of his career. The 10-year CFL veteran was mobbed by starting centre George Hudson after cutting the Lions lead to eight.
But B.C. quarterback Dave Dickenson was able to reply in the fourth quarter, marching the Lions downfield - finding Paris Jackson in the end zone to give the defending western division champions a 15-point lead with 1:32 left in the game.
Joseph's 21-yard scramble for a touchdown got the game to eight with 34 seconds left, but that was as close as Ottawa got.
"We played pretty good. There are a lot of mistakes that we have to correct. We have to capitalize on field position and they did a great job out there," said Joseph after throwing for 227 yards and a touchdown as well as scrambling five times for 84 yards and a score. "They were able to make the plays and move the ball down the field and put some points up. We just came up on the short end of the stick."
Each of the Renegades' offensive, defensive and special teams units played a part in Ottawa going into the break leading 15-13.
The offence clicked with big plays: a 17-yard statue of liberty end-around rushing play for Pat Woodcock that set up a 33-yard touchdown strike to Yo Murphy to give Ottawa a 12-10 advantage. Then there was a 64-yard deep ball from Joseph hauled in by Markus Howell with 4:30 remaining before the break that set up the third successful Matt Kellett field goal of the half (23, 41, 64) and seventh consecutive of the year.
Defensively, led by a punishing pass-rush, the Renegades sacked Dickenson four times in the first half - three of which came from second-year end Anthony Collier, who collected his hat trick in the opening quarter. Collier ended the night with a CFL record-setting performance of five sacks in a game. Cam Legault and D'Wayne Taylor combined on the other. The defence also recovered two B.C. fumbles in Lions territory leading to six points off two Kellett field goals.
The 1-2 Renegades -- fresh off of a very difficult three-game stretch to open the season - now will prepare to host the Calgary Stampeders on Saturday, July 16 at Frank Clair Stadium.
