Music: {allcanada} GREY CUP: LIONS LEAD BLUE BOMBERS 24-9 IN THE FOURTH QUARTER

Sunday, November 27, 2011

{allcanada} GREY CUP: LIONS LEAD BLUE BOMBERS 24-9 IN THE FOURTH QUARTER

The 99th Grey Cup between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and B.C. Lions is underway at B.C. Place.

You can watch the game now on TSN, TSN Mobile TV, and TSN.ca, plus you can chat with your fellow fans on our Game Day blog.

Lions quarterback Travis Lulay, the league's Most Oustanding Player, found Keirrie Johnson for a 66-yard strike to give the Lions a 24-9 lead in the third quarter.

The touchdown was Johnson's first of his career and helped swing the momentum back into B.C.'s favour.

The Lions started the game strong, when Lions running back Andrew Harris broke free for a 19-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter, capping off a five-play, 45-yard drive to give B.C. an early 7-0 lead.

Later in the opening quarter, veteran kicker Paul McCallum connected on a 22-yard field goal making it 10-0.

On the following drive, Blue Bombers quarterback Buck Pierce was intercepted by his former club as linebacker Anton McKenzie picked off the ball at the Winnipeg 46-yard-line.

McCallum added a rouge near the end of the quarter to increase the lead to 11-0.

In a matchup of the CFL's top two defences, points have proved hard to come by, especially for the Blue Bombers.

Lions quarterback Travis Lulay, the league's Most Oustanding Player, has continued to capitalize off the solid field position provided the B.C. defence.

In the second quarter, Lulay got the Lions in scoring position again, allowing McCallum to hit his second field goal, pushing the lead to 14-0.

Pierce settled down after his early interception and helped the Bombers get into field goal range twice, with Palardy making good on both attempts.

A 41-yard punt return by defensive back Jovon Johnson in the third quarter gave the Bombers their best field position of the day and led to Palardy's third field goal of the game, pulling the score to 14-9.

The Lions quickly moved in position to respond with a field goal of their won, but McCallum clanged his 48-yard attempt off upright.

When B.C. got the ball back, Lulay directed the offence back onto Winnipeg's side of the field, helped by a 15-yard penalty on Odell Willis for a horse collar tackle. The drive set up another field goal kick from McCallum and this time the veteran made good on the 22-yarder.

Lulay went deep near the end of the third quarter, finding Johnson and putting B.C. ahead by 15 points, 24-9.

This marks the third time the two clubs have played this season, with the Blue Bombers emerging victorious in the first two contests. Both games took place early in the season and plenty has changed for both teams since then.

After managing just four wins during the 2010 season, the Blue Bombers found themselves in last place overall at year's end. When the 2011 campaign got underway, Winnipeg exploded out of the gates with seven wins in their first eight games, eventually finishing in top spot in the East Division. Following a win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East Final, the Bombers descend upon Vancouver looking for their first Grey Cup victory in 21 years.

Their arrival in this year's Grey Cup marks just the second time since 1982 that a team went from last in their division to a Grey Cup appearance.

While Winnipeg opened the season flying high, the B.C. was locked into last place after starting the year with five straight losses. However, like the Bombers, the Lions made their mark on the record books by becoming the first team to begin a year 0-5 and still direct themselves towards a Grey Cup berth.

Coming off of a 30-17 defeat at the hands of the Bombers in Week 7, the Lions clawed back from their 1-6 start to win all but one of their next 12 games, including last week's 40-23 victory over the Edmonton Eskimos in the West Final.