Because getbig wants to know..
WINNIPEG (CP) - The B.C. Lions were clinging to a seven-point lead going into the fourth quarter of the 94th Grey Cup game Sunday.
It was 19-12 after the Montreal Alouettes, who trailed 19-3 at halftime, scored all of the third quarter's points on a four-yard Robert Edwards touchdown leap and a two-point safety.
The Lions had jumped ahead on four Paul McCallum field goals and a 25-yard touchdown run by rookie Ian Smart. A Damon Duval field goal late in the second quarter supplied Montreal's only first-half points in the CFL's championship game.
The Alouettes were fortunate not to be down by more points as they headed off the artificial turf of Canad Inns Stadium at halftime, but by the start of the fourth quarter the momentum had shifted their way.
The Lions were dominant in the early going in front of a capacity crowd of 45,000.
The Lions, with quarterback Dave Dickenson shredding Montreal's pass defence, were up 9-0 after one quarter on the first three of McCallum's field goals.
The Lions had eight first downs in the first quarter, while the Alouettes got none, and the Lions had a 134-16 edge in net offence.
The temperature was slightly below freezing with a -7 wind chill factor when the Lions kicked off to start the game. Montreal quarterback Anthony Calvillo started by throwing two long incomplete passes.
Dickenson started his first offensive push from his own 23. Throwing to Joe Smith, Geroy Simon and Paris Jackson, Dickenson engineered three first downs on four straight complete passes.
He picked up another first down by running up the middle, which was a daring display by a 33-year-old quarterback who's had concussion problems in the past.
A 34-yard McCallum field goal attempt was good.
Montreal didn't get anywhere on its second possession and B.C. took over at its own 18.
Smith ran up the middle on the first play for a 17-yard gain. The next two plays got the Lions to within one yard of another first down, and coach Wally Buono sent out backup quarterback Jarious Jackson to take the snap and crash through the line to get the first down on a gamble.
First-down passes to Ryan Thelwell and Paris Jackson advanced the ball to the Montreal 35. Adriano Belli sacked Dickenson and a pass to Thelwell on the next play was just short of another first down.
McCallum kicked a 35-yard field goal to make it 6-0.
On Montreal's next possession, Calvillo was sacked and a fumble was recovered by B.C.'s Javier Glatt. The Lions scrimmaged from the Montreal 25. Runs by Smith and Dickenson were short of a first down so McCallum trotted back onto the field.
McCallum kicked a 24-yard field goal with 45 seconds left in the opening quarter.
The Lions were in complete control.
After an exchange of punts to open the second quarter, Montreal managed its initial first down of the game on a Calvillo pass to Ben Cahoon. The Alouettes couldn't get another and, after a short punt and a no-yards flag, B.C. scrimmaged in Montreal territory. Paris Jackson caught a first-down pass to put the ball on the 25.
Smart rambled through a gaping hole in the Montreal line and into the end zone for a touchdown, and the convert made it 16-0 at 4:12.
After another exchange of punts, Montreal got the ball in its own end and managed consecutive first downs for the first time in the game. A sack by Korey Banks and an incomplete pass later, Duval came in to try a 47-yard field goal. It sailed wide.
Montreal's defence was beginning to cover receivers better and finally asserting pressure on Dickenson, and the Lions had to punt again.
A first-down pass to Cahoon gave Montreal good field position, and Duval kicked a 43-yard field goal with less than two minutes remaining in the first half.
The Lions had the last possession of the half at midfield and made it count. Dickenson threw 14 yards to Paris Jackson for a first down and, after Dickenson was sacked by Kai Ellis, a McCallum field goal attempt from the 30 found the mark.
McCallum improved to 4-for-4 on the last play of the half, and B.C. led 19-3, with a 226-95 advantage in net offence.
Dickenson was 13-for-19 for 146 yards, while Calvillo was 6-for-17 for 80 yards in the first half.
The third quarter began with a Montreal punt, a B.C. punt and another Montreal punt before the Alouettes regained possession on a Dickenson fumble forced by a R-Kal Truluck sack.
Montreal GM-coach Jim Popp issued the first challenge in Grey Cup history - a new rule this year - when it was ruled Dickenson was down before the ball came loose. Popp won the challenge, and his team was awarded possession. Chip Cox had run the ball into the B.C. end zone but a quick whistle when the ball was fumbled nullified what should have been six points.
The Alouettes didn't squeeze any points out of the turnover and punted. A good bounce pinned the Lions on their own one. They conceded a two-point safety, slicing their lead to 19-5.
Calvillo then mounted his first impressive march. A first-down pass to Cahoon, runs by Calvillo and Edwards for another first down, and a first-down pass to Thyron Anderson put the ball on the B.C. 20. An 11-yard Cahoon pass gain set Edwards up for his leap to the goal-line from the four with two minutes left in the third quarter.
Montreal earned four first downs to B.C.'s one in the third quarter. The momentum had shifted.
The Lions were seven-point, pre-game favourites because their regular-season record (14-5) was superior to that of the Alouettes (11-8) and because they outscored them 84-33 in winning both times they met.
The Lions' previous Grey Cup win was in 2000, when they defeated Montreal 28-26 in Calgary in the only previous title game meeting. Before Sunday, B.C. had been in eight Grey Cup games and won four times.
Montreal last won the Grey Cup in 2002, when it beat the Eskimos 25-16 in Edmonton. That was the seventh time a team from Montreal won the title, and the fifth time the Alouettes triumphed. The Als lost 38-35 to Edmonton in a double overtime thriller last November.
