VANCOUVER (CP) – The B.C. Lions scored 21 points off turnovers and quarterback Jarious Jackson threw three touchdown passes and ran for one himself in a 55-32 victory over the Toronto Argonauts in CFL play Saturday night.
The Lions won for the seventh time in eight games but still must wait until next week to know if they will host a playoff game. The loss extended Toronto’s winless streak to eight games.
A snarling Lions defence kept Argo quarterback Kerry Joseph running for his life. The Lions had six sacks, two interceptions – one for a touchdown – and a fumble recovery for a touchdown. Defensive tackle Aaron Hunt had three sacks and a forced fumble. Linebacker Jamall Johnson had two sacks.
The game wasn’t two minutes old before defensive end Cam Wake returned a Joseph fumble 45 yards for his first CFL touchdown. On the third Argo possession Lions safety Barron Miles picked off his league-leading ninth interception. That set up a seven-yard Charles Roberts run.
B.C. cornerback LaVar Glover intercepted a pass from Toronto backup quarterback Cody Pickett late in the fourth quarter and returned it 49 yards for a touchdown.
Roberts left the game in the third quarter with a suspected torn Achilles tendon.
Safety Tad Crawford also sacked Joseph in the end zone, resulting in a B.C. safety.
Jackson, who replaced starter Buck Pierce late in the second quarter, threw a 33-yard touchdown to Geroy Simon, a 12-yard strike to O’Neil Wilson and hit Paris Jackson on a 13-yard play. He also scored on a one-yard run on a play that was set up by a Toronto pass interference penalty in the end zone.
Jackson finished the night completing 11 of 16 passes for 156 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.
Paul McCallum kicked a 59-yard single and added a 22-yard field goal.
Joseph shook off the slow start to throw three touchdown passes, two of them to Arland Bruce. He also kept a couple of drives alive with some nifty running.
Joseph hit Bruce for touchdowns of 17 and 26 yards. He also found P.K. Sam on a 21-yard major.
Joseph, who completed 17 of 29 passes for 276 yards, was replaced by Pickett in the fourth quarter. Pickett threw a 16-yard touchdown to Sam late in the game.
The win, before a crowd of 35,994, improved the Lions record to 11-6, leaving them tied with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the CFL West. The Calgary Stampeders have wrapped up first place in the West.
The Lions and Saskatchewan, who whipped the Edmonton Eskimos 55-9 earlier Saturday, will face each other in the West semifinal. All that remains to be decided is who has home-field advantage.
The Lions end their season against the Stampeders next week in Calgary while the Riders travel to Toronto to face the Argos. If the two teams finish tied, the Lions would take second place in the West because they won the season series against Saskatchewan.
The Eskimos, who dropped to 9-8, will cross over to the East Division and play Winnipeg in the first round of the playoffs.
Pierce started the game at quarterback for the Lions and completed eight of 15 passes for 101 yards. He was shaken up after taking a brutal hit from Aaron Wagner in the second quarter on a play that drew a roughing flag.
Pierce remained in the game and threw a pair of incomplete passes, setting up a McCallum field goal. He was replaced by Jackson on the next series.
Joseph kept the Argos in the game with some big plays. He threw a 51-yard pass to Bruce, which set up Toronto’s first touchdown. Late in the second quarter he hooked up with Andre Talbot on a 37-yard play. Talbot picked up about 10 yards with several Lions hanging onto him.