Music: {allcanada} MCCALLUM KICKS LATE FIELD GOAL AS LIONS EDGE BLUE BOMBERS

Sunday, October 3, 2010

{allcanada} MCCALLUM KICKS LATE FIELD GOAL AS LIONS EDGE BLUE BOMBERS

VANCOUVER -- Quarterback Travis Lulay discovered Saturday that it's not how you start, it's how you finish.

There was a smattering of boos for his B.C. offence at halftime but Lulay was high-fiving cheering fans on his way to the locker-room after a 16-14 CFL win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

The Lions trailed 10-0 after 30 minutes of a game that was critical to the playoff hopes of both clubs, but Lulay responded with his feet and his throwing arm to rally his club.

"The first half just wasn't good enough but the second half was," said Lulay who completed 21-of-33 pass attempts for 237 yards in engineering his first CFL win.

"I got better as the game went on. I was a little fast in the first half ... not trusting stuff. I got some great encouragement (from teammates) at halftime.

"(They said) just trust yourself and trust us. You don't have to be perfect. It was forget about playing perfect, let us help you out."

The sophomore pivot got the start after Casey Printers turned the ball over five times in a 39-minute span in his last two games.

"I thought he managed the game well," Wally Buono said after Lulay helped his coach chalk up his 240th regular-season win. "I thought he made good decisions.

"You definitely want to score more than 16 points but if that's what it takes to win then we're happy with it."

Lulay had to generate a late drive to give kicker Paul McCallum, working with a pulled hamstring on his plant leg, a chance to boot the winning 19-yard field goal with 12 seconds left.

McCallum hit from 39 and 40 yards earlier in the half.

B.C., which won for the fourth time in five games to improve to 5-8, consolidated their hold on third place in the West Division and moved four points ahead of Edmonton.

The Eskimos play host to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday.

The Bombers, winless in seven road games, slipped to 3-10 and dropped four points behind the Lions in their bid to become the first East Division playoff team to cross over to the West.

Winnipeg faces B.C. again at home on Oct. 11. Another loss would likely end their playoff aspirations.

Lulay scrambled 10 yards up the middle for the B.C. touchdown that started the comeback, diving over a would-be tackler into the end zone.

His winning drive included two scrambles and a key 29-yard aerial -- Lulay's longest completion of the game -- to Geroy Simon that gave the Lions a first down on the Winnipeg 27-yard line.

Bomber quarterback Steven Jyles hit Terrence Edwards with a 58-yard scoring strike immediately after Winnipeg linebacker Marcellus Bowman recovered a Simon fumble.

Edwards had 108 receiving yards for a team-leading 1,106 for the season.

Kicker Justin Palardy added field goals of 17 and 26 yards but missed one from 29 yards that went for a single instead of a 13-13 tie.

"The effort is not a question," Jyles, who had 258 passing yards, said after the Bombers' eighth loss in nine games. "We play with great effort, we just have to find a way to win.

"It's little plays here and there. One miscue, one misplay, one dropped pass, one missed assignment -- that's a drive right there. We can't make those mistakes."

Bomber coach Paul LaPolice said the missed field goal was disheartening.

"But we still had opportunities to move the ball after and try to stay on the field," LaPolice said. "If we get touchdowns in this game, especially early in the game, it's a different story, because our defence was playing well."

One reason the Bombers didn't get score more early points despite controlling the ball is Yonus Davis kept bailing out the Lions with sparkling kick returns.

The rookie jitterbugged past Winnipeg tacklers for 121 yards on punts.

"I'm trying to own field position in this game," Davis said.

"I'm going to get the ball and just make something happen. This was not my best game. I've still got more to come."

NOTES: Guard Sherko Haji-Rasouli made his first appearance of the season for the Lions after being sidelined by knee problems ... Import David Hyland made a key interception in his CFL debut at safety and it led to the Lions' only TD ... B.C. is seeking its 14th consecutive playoff appearance. Simon caught a pass for the 137th consecutive game to tie Tony Gabriel for third in that category's all-time list.