Steamrolling Lions nip lurching Eskimos

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Lions quarterback Travis Lulay makes a second-half toss Saturday. Lulay didn't light it up, but he got them close enough for a last-minute FG. (JOHN ULAN / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

B.C. LIONS 19

EDMONTON 18

EDMONTON -- The B.C. Lions aren't going to get too wrapped up on how they won, only that they did.

Paul McCallum booted a 46-yard field goal with one minute remaining as the league-leading Lions won their third game in a row, getting past the Edmonton Eskimos 19-18 on Saturday.

Edmonton had taken an 18-16 lead with three minutes left when kicker Grant Shaw nailed a 40-yard field goal after a clutch 47-yard catch by Cary Koch.

But the Lions marched right back into the lead when McCallum was able to make up for a couple of earlier field goal misses in the second half and boot in the game-winning field goal to make it 19-18.

The Eskimos then turned over the ball on downs at their own 42, allowing the Lions to run out the clock.

"I wouldn't have had to make that last one if I had made the other two," said McCallum, who was four-for-six kicking three-pointers on the night. "I struggled a bit to find my rhythm. Maybe I was over-thinking things. I just need to go out there and kick the ball and not worry about it. I'm just glad my earlier misses didn't end up costing the team.

"We made it a bit harder on ourselves tonight, but this is a good character team and fortunately we came out with the win."

With the victory, the Lions padded their lead atop the CFL's West Division, sitting at 9-3.

Quarterback Travis Lulay said getting the victory was more important than how they did it.

"They are not all easy," he said. "We were playing on the road and they jumped on us early. Hats off to our guys for continuing to fight and finding a way to get better. Obviously offensively you want to turn some of those three-point scores into sevens, but win by one point or by 20, we are walking out of here with a win and we feel good about that."

The Eskimos meanwhile are in a complete tailspin, losing four in a row, including an embarrassing 51-8 defeat in Hamilton last week.

"When you lose another game by one point, it's extraordinarily frustrating," said Eskimos head coach Kavis Reed, whose team lost a pair of close games to Calgary on last-second field goal misses earlier in the month.

"There were a lot of things we did well tonight, but there were a lot of things we didn't do well. We need to make sure this team doesn't concede anything.

"There are no moral victories in football. All losses hurt the same."

Edmonton dropped to 5-7 and could fall into sole possession of last in the West with a Saskatchewan win over Calgary today.

Edmonton started the scoring on a punt single, the only point of the opening quarter.

The Eskimos went up 8-0 early in the second quarter as a 43-yard Joe Burnett punt return set up a long 27-yard touchdown pass that split the uprights from starting quarterback Steven Jyles to Koch.

The Lions responded with a 37-yard McCallum field goal.

After a successful challenge reversed a fumble call, the Eskimos took advantage midway through the second quarter as Hugh Charles swept four yards into the end zone to make it 15-3 for Edmonton.

B.C. countered with a pair of field goals to make it 15-9 at the half.

The Lions had a good start to the second half as Adam Bighill reeled in a tipped Jyles pass, giving them the ball on the Edmonton 50. However, the Esks came up with a strong stand on defence, and McCallum missed the 43-yard field-goal attempt.

-- The Canadian Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 23, 2012 B4