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The Checkdown: Gamblin’ Rick Campbell and the B.C. Lions are moving on

An uncharacteristically aggressive play-call blew open Sunday’s 30-16 victory over the Calgary Stampeders, and now the B.C. Lions will look to reverse a recent curse at IG Field against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers

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Keon Hatcher, Dominque Rhymes and Alexander Hollins all looked at each other, wide-eyed and excited, in the huddle.

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“Like ‘Oh my god, they called it. They called it,” Hatcher said with a grin.

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The play call was in. The 3rd-and-1 play from the Calgary Stampeders’ 45-yard line had the B.C. Lions’ usual short-yardage suspects in. Quarterback Antonio Pipkin, the beef on the line, and the trio of receivers. ‘Pip’ had already snuck for four first-downs on four QB sneaks in the game, and the Stampeders were ready for the fifth.

Ready, that is, until he took the snap, rolled right, and floated a 20-yard pass right into the arms of unchaperoned Hatcher, who swaggered the remaining 25 yards to the end zone for what would be an insurmountable 20-6 lead in the third quarter of the West semifinal.

“Ooooooeeee,” Hatcher said of Pipkin’s pass, which led to the deciding points in the 30-16 victory at B.C. Place.

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“The play call is a play that we’ve been waiting to call all year. … We’ve been saving it; we’ve saved it for a while.”

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The TD deflated an already sagging Calgary team that had only mustered six points in the game’s first 40:56. And it was a call that no one expected from the Lions, and certainly not from coach Rick Campbell — who never likes to gamble.

But earlier, during their pre-game meetings when going over prospective situations, the play call came up.

“We talked about playing to win, and I gotta put my money where my mouth is if I’m telling the players to play to win,” said Campbell.

His counterpart, Dave Dickenson, had already gambled twice earlier in the game on short yardage. Despite having arguably the two best power backs in the league, he opted for a wide receiver sweep to Malik Henry on a first-quarter 3rd-and-1, and a third-quarter incomplete pass to Henry on a 3rd-and-2.

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Both plays could have been Rene Parades field goal attempts, but Dickenson rolled the dice on trying to get the yardage both times.

On the first one, we just missed a block at the point of attack,” he said. “We had the front and the look that we expected. It’s one-on-one blocking. Sometimes you miss a block … but we hoped to get a big play off.

“The other one, I felt like ultimately it was a time in the game (that) I wanted to take a shot. They went with an aggressive coverage. We’ve got to win someone on one matchups and we weren’t able to do that.”

Gamblin’ Rick Campbell said those stops were turning points in the game.

“They were huge,” he said. “You point to a few plays in the game that were big momentum swings. And I think that’s the deal of rising to the occasion when it’s needed. And our guys sure have had a tendency this year.

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“We’re not perfect and we don’t want to be perfect. We’re actually humans, but we just talked about battling … and I’m happy we were able to respond when we needed to.”

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SHRUGGING OFF THE UNDERDOG LABEL

The Lions will now prepare for next week’s game in Winnipeg, where a Grey Cup berth awaits the winner.

The Blue Bombers won the season series 2-1, but it’s hard to discern what, if anything, can be drawn from those games.

Winnipeg beat the Lions 43-22 at B.C. Place in Week 5 in a battle of undefeated teams, intercepting Rourke on his first series, then harassing into his second worst(!) statistical performance of the season: 16-of-25 for 278 yards, three touchdowns and two picks.

By the time the rematch rolled around in Vancouver in Week 19, the Bombers had clinched the division and rested Zach Collaros. The Lions prevailed 40-32. Two weeks later in the regular-season finale in Winnipeg, the Bombers played like the game meant something to them (it didn’t, except to send a message) and rolled over the mostly-Rourke-less Lions 24-9.

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IG Field has been a cold and inhospitable place, and not just because it’s in Winnipeg.

That was the fourth straight road loss to the Bombers, where B.C. hasn’t won dating back to 2017. Their only trip last year ended in a 45-0 bonfire, coming after a 32-16 domination in 2019, and a 41-19 tuchus smacking of 2018. The last win, coming in the penultimate week of 2017, came after Matt Nichols and Andrew Harris were both injured early, while Jon Jennings (408 yards and four touchdowns) and Chris Rainey (304 all-purpose yards) went nuclear.

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But, as Campbell pointed out, the Lions are human — and so are the Bombers.

“I talked to (the players) yesterday about my experience of when you get to the playoffs. All the teams have talent. You’re dealing with the top end of the league, and everybody has good players,” said Campbell. “I think that the character really matters as you get into the playoffs, being able to ride through the kind of ebbs and flows of the game. It’s really about finding ways to make more plays than the other team and not getting off track.

“(Next week), it’s gonna be exciting. I’m a CFL fan too. We all know that Winnipeg is going to be sold out and loud, and it’s really going to be us against the world. We’ll do our best to go in there and try to get it done.”

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And the whole underdog label, as they head into the den of the two-time defending champs, who are coming off a season with a franchise record in wins? You can kindly discard that, says Hatcher.

“To be honest, I don’t feel like we have to do anything different,” he said. “We come out there, focused, locked in, with a great plan and execute, honestly don’t feel like anybody can stop us. We’ve just got to do what we have to do. That’s really what it’s all about.

“Most definitely (we will) focus on ourselves. Winnipeg is a great group, man. They’re great team. They proved it over the years. (But) we handle our business and we do what we need to do, and everything is going to take care of itself.”

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GOATS WERE GOT, HACKLES WERE UP

The talk in the week leading up to Sunday’s game was how the Stampeders’ twin-terror run attack of Ka’Deem Carey and Dedrick Mills were going to pulverize the Lions’ front seven behind the best offensive line in the league. The line of questioning was … irksome.

“I just hope we hang with them, I guess,” Campbell said on Saturday, in a tone that is as close to sarcastic as you’ll ever hear from him.

“From what I’ve been hearing, they seem like they’re pretty good at it. And they are. But I hope we got a chance against them.”

Total rush yards for Carey and Mills on Sunday: 59. On 10 carries.

It wasn’t that the Stampeders didn’t intend to run the ball; they did. It was a 21-15 split between run and pass plays until the Lions began extending their lead. But B.C. loaded up the box and played close to the line of scrimmage, daring Jake Maier to beat them deep. He couldn’t.

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“They did a good job. They did some different things stunt-wise that kind of messed with our eyes a little bit,” said Maier.

The final possession count had B.C. with a 33:17 possession advantage, as the Lions turned the tables on the Stamps, getting 95 yards from James Butler and Rourke being able to move the chains consistently.

“They do a great job running the ball but when you hear about it so much about how good they are, that pride comes in,” said Campbell. “And for our team to play from ahead is obviously better than a scenario of cancelling the run. That was a big part of it; to control their running game, and having our offence stay on the field.”


B.C. Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke passes during the first half of the CFL western semi-final football game against the Calgary Stampeders at B.C. Place on Sunday.
B.C. Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke passes during the first half of the CFL western semi-final football game against the Calgary Stampeders at B.C. Place on Sunday. Photo by DARRYL DYCK /THE CANADIAN PRESS

STANDUP, STANDING IN THE POCKET

Rourke wasn’t 100 per cent on Sunday, but even that was too much for the Stamps, as he threw for 321 yards and two touchdowns. His completion rate of 73 per cent (22-of-30 passes) was pedestrian for the QB who set the CFL’s all-time mark this season (78.7), finishing with the second-best passer rating in league history.

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But his heart and pain threshold were on display just as much as his accuracy and read progression.

By the second quarter, he’d begun to limp noticeably on his still-healing foot, and was under more Stampeder jerseys than … well, I’ll let your salacious imagination finish that thought off. He had his feet “spatted up” or wrapped at halftime, and finished out the game.

“I don’t think he’s injured. He definitely hurting, I will say that but I don’t think he’s injured. It’s more about being sore,” said Campbell.

But Rourke was in a glorious, joking mood in the post-game presser, delivering one line that 3DownNation.com turned into a complete story all to its own.

“Honestly, it was more of a look thing — you know I am about how I look,” he deadpanned when asked about the halftime spatting by 3DN’s J.C. Abbott. “You play good you look good you play. 3DownNation, I don’t want them coming after me after the game ‘You just got no swag.’’”

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He also did a little hopping foot-tap with Pipkin after his second-quarter touchdown pass to Alex Hollins. When asked about it: “We’re just highlighting my best attribute,” he joked.

The wit continued when asked about next Sunday’s West Final in Winnipeg, where temperatures are expected to be anywhere between -4 and -13 on game day.

“Well, hopefully, if it’s numb, then I can’t feel it, right?” he said with a smile.


Calgary Stampeders quarterback Jake Maier, left, passes while under pressure from B.C. Lions’ Mathieu Betts (90) during the first half on Sunday.
Calgary Stampeders quarterback Jake Maier, left, passes while under pressure from B.C. Lions’ Mathieu Betts (90) during the first half on Sunday. Photo by DARRYL DYCK /THE CANADIAN PRESS

YELLOW FLAG, WHITE FLAG

The Stampeders finished the regular season as the second-least penalized team, but it was flags that holed them below the waterline on Sunday.

They gave B.C. four first downs on penalties alone, and put themselves in untenable positions twice on offence that led to punts.

The best example came just moments into the second quarter, with B.C. facing a 3rd-and-5. All 30,000 people in B.C. Place knew the Lions were trying to draw the Stampeders offside as they tried hard counts and sent their receivers flying up to the line of scrimmage — twice — but Calgary’s Mike Rose inexplicably jumped offside, leading to a first down and a Sean Whyte field goal three plays later.

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Salt was poured in the wounds when they tried to turn the tables on B.C. in the third quarter on a 3rd-and-2 at B.C.’s 18, but the disciplined Lions didn’t bite. The Stamps pass for Henry fell incomplete on the next play.

“We talked about it. We call it a ‘freeze play’ when we got them to jump offside. They’re actually good at it,” said Campbell. “We talked about it all week about ‘let’s get them to do it, not us.’ Things like that make a big difference.”

jadams@postmedia.com

twitter.com/TheRealJJAdams

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The Checkdown: Gamblin’ Rick Campbell and the B.C. Lions are moving on Source link The Checkdown: Gamblin’ Rick Campbell and the B.C. Lions are moving on

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