Lions break Als' hearts, then cup

Vicki Hall, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Monday, November 20, 2006

Grey Cup champs snap Lord Grey's mug in two after downing Montreal in CFL championship game; B.C. Lions 25 Montreal Alouettes 14 

Trust a good ol' prairie boy from Humboldt, Saskatchewan, to take the Grey Cup spotlight by breaking, um, the Grey Cup.

With orange confetti flying, B.C. offensive lineman Kelly Bates decapitated Lord Grey's mug Sunday night in a mob at centre field after a 25-14 Lions victory over the Montreal Alouettes.

Bates took the Cup from fellow lineman Jason Jimenez, raised it over his head and split the hallowed trophy in two -- thus joining the likes of the 1979, '87 and '93 Edmonton Eskimos as teams to trash the trophy.

"I broke the Cup, baby," the six-foot-three, 293-pounder yelled in the champagne-drenched B.C. dressing room. "It just snapped in half. What can you do?"

Well, the Lions are going to celebrate after soundly defeating the Alouettes in the 94th Grey Cup, a game in which they never trailed. It was a true team effort for the Lions with quarterbacks Dave Dickenson, Buck Pierce and Jarious Jackson all seeing playing time.

Dickenson was named the Grey Cup's outstanding player, but he hardly stole the show by completing 18-of-29 passes for 184 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions.

In fairness, the entire B.C. defence deserved the honour for confusing Montreal quarterback Anthony Calvillo and making every receiver, except for Ben Cahoon, look like a rank amateur.

As the sellout crowd of 44,876 filed out of Canad Inns Stadium, Dickenson saluted his defenders on a balmy night where the temperature hovered around the freezing mark.

"Honestly, they should be the MVPs," he said. "I'm going to take everybody out, and we're going to party in Vancouver. So I'll be happy with that. But, honestly, the defence won this one."

The Lions owned the game on offence and defence in the first half, moving the ball up and down the field at will. But, in spite of such dominance, they settled on four Paul McCallum field goals and a 25-yard down touchdown sprint by backup tailback Ian Smart to take a 19-3 lead at the end of the second quarter.

Maybe the sound of the Promiscuous Girl herself, Nelly Furtado, woke the Alouettes up at halftime. Something did, as halfway through the third quarter, defensive end R-Kal Truluck pancaked Dickenson from behind, and the ball squirted out. Chip Cox picked up the pigskin and ran free to the end zone.

But the major didn't count. Referee Jake Ireland blew the play dead. Upon video review, he ruled the play a fumble, but it was too late for the touchdown to count. The Alouettes took over on the Montreal 47, but failed to capitalize.

"That's what was called," said Montreal coach Jim Popp, who refused to blame the loss on that one play. "That's just the way it is. You can't control that."

The Als still made a game of it, in spite of their bad luck, thanks to Cahoon's tough catches in traffic.

With the Als winning the battle of field position, McCallum conceded a safety and Robert Edwards ran two yards into the B.C. end zone to narrow the Lions' lead to 19-12 with two minutes left in the third quarter.

Dickenson took over from there. The oft-concussed QB put his head down and ran right into the heart of the Montreal defence to keep the Als offence off the field. Not known for his scrambling ability, Dickenson carried the ball six times for 53 yards.

But the Lions sealed their fifth Grey Cup win in franchise history with two more field goals by McCallum. With four minutes left, the B.C. bench erupted in pandemonium as linebacker Javier Glatt punched the ball away from Montreal tailback Robert Edwards at the Lions' one-yard-line.

Linebacker Otis Floyd recovered and ran up the field to set the stage for Bates and his moment in Grey Cup history.

"We did things our way all year," said tailback Mark Nohra. "So the first thing we do today is break the Grey Cup."

Neither quarterback scored a passing touchdown in the Grey Cup for the first time since 1994. Calvillo completed 20-of-41 passes for 234 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions.

"I'm not overly concerned with being pretty," said Lions head coach Wally Buono. "Yeah, I'd like to throw the ball. Yeah, I'd like to look good, and we usually do."

Not Sunday, but it mattered none. The B.C. defence dominated, and the Lions, the best team in the CFL all season, won the big game when it counted. If there's a next time, though, the Lions might want to keep the Grey Cup away from Bates. Turns out he's a repeat offender in this regard.

"I broke the junior championship trophy when I played with the Saskatoon Hilltops," he said. "And I'm not that strong."

Not as strong as the 2006 B.C. Lions are as a whole.