VANCOUVER — A fast start and a pounding finish ensured that the B.C. Lions are alive and well in the CFL's playoff chase.
Jonathon Jennings threw three touchdowns in the first half and Andrew Harris ran in two more late as the Lions defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 40-13 on Friday to get back on track after consecutive fourth-quarter collapses that resulted in demoralizing losses.
"It shows what we're capable of," said Jennings, who finished 23 of 33 passing for 247 yards and an interception. "Some unfortunate things have happened to us, but every game we're out there pushing expecting to score. Tonight we just did it."
With the victory, the Lions (6-10) maintained their hold on third in the CFL's West Division thanks in large part to a ground attack to put the game out of reach.
B.C. led 27-13 in the fourth quarter, but started to teeter on offence before Harris took over with TD runs of 15 and eight yards in his 100th CFL game.
"We've played with good teams and just haven't been able to finish," said Harris, who ran 16 times for 119 yards, including 82 in the fourth. "We have to keep this going. There were some struggles there, but we have absolute confidence going forward."
Jeff Mathews was 22 of 32 passing for 270 yards with two touchdowns for the Tiger-Cats (10-6), but struggled for long stretches against a stout B.C. defence that sacked him five times and created four turnovers, including two interceptions by Ryan Phillips.
"We couldn't string together first downs and we turned the ball over," said Hamilton head coach Kent Austin. "They just whipped us. Period. For four quarters they whipped us."
The Lions temporarily found themselves outside the playoff picture when the Montreal Alouettes defeated the Toronto Argonauts 34-2 earlier Friday, but came up with a big effort after going just 2-7 over their last nine.
The Alouettes also sit at 6-10 and are battling the Lions and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (5-11) for third place in the West by way of the crossover rule. Montreal must finish with more points than both B.C. and Winnipeg to earn the crossover.
"We had the game on in (the locker-room) so we definitely knew (the Alouettes) were winning," said Harris. "But it can't be about anyone else but ourselves."
After the Tiger-Cats grabbed an early 6-0 lead on Mathews' 64-yard hookup with Luke Tasker that was followed up by a blocked extra point, the visitors conceded a safety before Chris Rainey returned a punt 66 yards to Hamilton's 20.
Jennings found Shawn Gore on the next snap to make the score 9-6 after Richie Leone's convert.
The Lions forced their first turnover later in the quarter on Hamilton's 10-yard line when defensive lineman Mic'hael Brooks recovered a Junior Collins fumble. Jennings again struck quickly, finding Emmanuel Arceneaux on the next play to make the score 16-6.
B.C. stretched the lead to 17 early in the second quarter when Jennings found Bryan Burnham on a 46-yard pass to set up Rainey's 25-yard catch-and-run TD.
Leone's extra point made it 23-6 and he would add a punt single in the final minute to pad the lead to 18 at the break.
The Lions suffered an embarrassing 52-22 defeat in Hamilton in August and increased their advantage to 27-6 on a 31-yard Leone field goal to open the third quarter.
Phillips then picked off Mathews before the Lions stopped the Tiger-Cats, who are fighting for first place in the East, on a third-and-short inside B.C.'s 40-yard line.
"That team was in first place, that team has been playing good football," said Phillips. "The first time we played them they manhandled us."
After Hamilton defensive back Brandon Stewart intercepted Jennings in Tiger-Cats' territory, Mathews' found Andy Fantuz on 12-yard TD pass that made it 27-13 with the convert.
Neither team could do much on offence from there until the Lions sealed it on Harris' back-to-back touchdowns.
"I really thought we responded well in the fourth quarter, which has really been the bugaboo over the last couple weeks," said B.C. head coach Jeff Tedford. "I'm really proud of the guys for continuing to believe and continuing to work hard after a couple tough weeks."
