VANCOUVER – Jonathon Jennings scored his second rushing touchdown of the second half on a gutsy nine-yard scamper with 66 seconds left in the fourth quarter as the B.C. Lions came back to defeat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 32-31 on Sunday in the CFL‘s West Division semifinal.
The second-year quarterback looked to be in trouble as the pocket collapsed around him, but escaped before outrunning Bombers safety Taylor Loffler and diving for the end zone to put his team up by one.
After the two-point conversion attempt failed, Winnipeg got the ball back and moved it to B.C.’s 53, but Justin Medlock’s 61-yard attempt came up well short in front of a raucous crowd at B.C. Place Stadium.
The Lions will now visit the Calgary Stampeders in next Sunday’s West Division final.
Jennings also threw touchdowns to Bryan Burnham and Terrell Sinkfield for the Lions. Jeremiah Johnson added the other B.C. TD on the ground, while Paul McCallum added a convert.
Matt Nichols threw two touchdowns to Brett Smith, while Andrew Harris ran in the other Winnipeg score.
Medlock added three field goals, three extra points and a kickoff single.
Winnipeg led by nine after three quarters and went up 31-19 early in the fourth on Medlock’s third field goal from 27 yards out. B.C. seemed to have the Bombers stopped deep in their own territory, but a roughing the kicker penalty on a punt extended the drive before Nichols found Clarence Denmark on a 42-yard completion.
The Lions marched back down the field with under seven minutes to go, with Jennings finding Sinkfield from six yards out to make it 31-26 after the extra point.
B.C.’s defence then forced a Winnipeg punt before driving down the field for the winning score.
Up 25-12 at halftime, the Bombers increased their advantage to 16 early in the third quarter when Medlock, who made a CFL-record 60 field goals this season, hit from 37 yards out.
The Lions responded on their next series with Jennings running in from eight yards out on a play that was set up by an unnecessary roughness penalty on Loffler after he levelled Emmanuel Arceneaux, who stayed down and did not return, with a late hit in the end zone. McCallum’s convert made the score 28-19 heading to the fourth.
The Bombers won both regular-season meetings between the clubs this season by a combined five points. Those back-to-back victories last month put Winnipeg on course to host Sunday’s game, but a loss to Ottawa two weeks ago opened the door for the Lions, who finished the schedule on a three-game winning streak to clinch home field for the semi.
The Bombers feasted on turnovers in 2016, finishing plus-29 to top the league by a wide margin, and picked off Jennings on the second play from scrimmage when Chris Randle stepped in front of Arceneaux and returned the ball 10 yards to the Lions’ 45.
Winnipeg drove down the field from there, with Harris bowling over the goal-line from four yards and led 8-0 after Medlock’s convert and a single on the ensuing kickoff.
B.C. started to get things going on its third drive, but another turnover did them in deep in Winnipeg territory when Maurice Leggett sacked and stripped Jennings, with Khalil Bass recovering the loose ball.
The Lions continued to shoot themselves in the foot with a couple of penalties on the ensuing possession that would eventually end in Medlock’s 18-yard field goal as the Bombers led 11-0 after the first quarter.
Jennings finally got his team on the board early in the second when he hooked up with Burnham on a 13-yard touchdown, but the two-point conversion attempt fell incomplete.
The Bombers responded later in the quarter when Nichols hooked up with Weston Dressler for a 60-yard catch and run after some nice misdirection in the backfield before Smith caught a 27-yard touchdown on the very next play.
The visitors then went up 25-6 on Smith’s 34-yard touchdown catch from Nichols on Winnipeg’s next drive that was again aided by a couple of B.C. penalties.
Needing a spark, the Lions responded late in the half. Chris Rainey took a short pass and jetted 37 yards before Johnson galloped into the end zone from 40 yards out on the next play after breaking through the arms of Taylor Loffler in the Bombers’ secondary.
B.C. elected to again go for two, but the attempt on a similar play to Arceneaux fell incomplete.
The last time B.C. hosted a West semifinal was all the way back in 1986, coincidentally against Winnipeg. The Lions won that one 21-14.
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