THE CANADIAN PRESS
THE CANADIAN PRESS
VANCOUVER – Geoff Tisdale returned an interception 43 yards for a touchdown Friday to key a 31-28 CFL victory by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats over the struggling B.C. Lions.
The defensive back stepped in front of Lions receiver Geroy Simon and picked off the throw from quarterback Buck Pierce, who was under pressure from Ticats linebacker Otis Floyd.
Floyd ended a late B.C. threat by intercepting Pierce with 21 seconds remaining.
The win ended Hamilton’s nine-game losing streak against B.C.
Tisdale’s touchdown gave Hamilton a 21-14 lead. B.C. closed to within three points at 24-21 but rookie running back DeAndra Cobb gathered in a 48-yard pass from quarterback Quinton Porter.
Cobb, pressed into service because of injuries, picked up more than 150 yards from scrimmage in his first CFL start.
Porter also ran for a touchdown as the Tiger-Cats improved to 1-1 with their first victory over B.C. since a 38-36 win in 2004. Hamilton was 3-15 last season.
It was also the first time the Lions had lost at home to a club from the Eastern time zone in more than five years.
The B.C. defeat also meant that the two clubs that contested the 2008 West final are winless in their first two starts as Grey Cup champion Calgary fell 35-18 to Winnipeg.
Paris Jackson, who had to take over punting duties late in the game, and Simon caught first-half TD passes from Pierce while Jarious Jackson on a one-yard run.
Emmanuel Arceneaux drew the Lions to within three by hauling in a 42-yard Pierce pass with less than two minutes remaining.
The Ticats were able to build on their improved play in the second half of a 30-17 opening week loss to the Toronto Argonauts.
The Lions, meanwhile, remained in the funk of a sloppy 28-24 season-opening loss to Saskatchewan as they dropped their home opener to fall to 0-2.
In that game Pierce was sacked nine times and the Lions committed six turnovers in a poor display of execution uncharacteristic of a Wally Buono-coached club.
The teams were tied 14-14 at the half.
Jackson’s leaping catch of a 29-yard aerial provided the game’s first TD. The completion capped a drive that included a successful challenge by Buono.
Kicker Paul McCallum failed on a pass attempt for a two-point convert.
McCallum, 39, left the game in the third quarter with knee and wrist injuries when he made a tackle on a 59-yard punt return by Marquay McDaniel. Tad Crawford took over the place-kicking duties.
B.C. extended its lead to 13-4 when Pierce hit Simon on an out pattern. That drive was kept alive by a costly 42-yard pass interference penalty on Bo Smith.
Porter, who was sacked 10 times in his first appearance here last season in a 40-10 loss, scored Hamilton’s first touchdown on a 13-yard run. That drive was aided by a 25-yard burst outside by Cobb.
Hamilton kicker Nick Setta, who opened the game with a 51-yard field goal, the first longer than 50 yards against B.C. in more than five years, missed one from 41 later in the opening half.
NOTES: The Ticats were without their top three running backs … Kenton Keith is on the nine-game injured list while Terry Caulley and Tre Smith were sidelined with injuries suffered in the opening week loss to Toronto … Paris Jackson played his 100th CFL game … Hamilton imports Floyd, Jamall Johnson and Markeith Knowlton are all former members of the Lions linebacking corps … the two teams surrendered a combined 15 sacks in their Week 1 losses.
