Jimmy Jeong/CFL.ca
MONTREAL — Just when it seemed like the Alouettes were gaining momentum, Corbin Louks fumbled a catch from Kevin Glenn and Loucheiz Purifoy made them pay.
The first-year defensive back’s fumble recovery touchdown sealed the deal for the BC Lions in their 38-18 victory over the Montreal Alouettes on Thursday night at Percival Molson Stadium.
“It really helped us, you could really tell it took the air out of all them,” Purifoy told BCLions.com “They started getting in a groove and then all of a sudden it just shut them down.”
The Alouettes had pulled themselves within five points, after Glenn ran five yards himself into the end zone with just over two minutes left in the third quarter.
To start the fourth, Purifoy took advantage of a Montreal turnover and made his way down the field for the major score — right after he told his team it needed to create a spark.
“Right before the play happened, I was telling our people ‘We gotta make a play, we gotta make a stand,’” said Purifoy. “It just so happened the ball fell in my lap.”
The ball fell in his lap and he never looked back.
And Purifoy wasn’t the only one to find the end zone in the victory.
Emmanuel Arceneaux also scored, on a pass that Jonathon Jennings didn’t think he executed to the best of his ability.
“It wasn’t perfect but that’s what I tell my receivers: ‘Make me look good’,” said Jennings. “Manny’s good at doing that and a lot of the other guys make it easy.”
Jeremiah Johnson was the first to score a major for BC early in the first quarter – starting the trifecta of scoring on the ground, through the air, and on a turnover for the Lions.
Jennings has faith in his team’s abilities, but knows the Lions still have some things to work on – not forgetting about last week’s 15-point blown lead late in the fourth quarter that led to their eventual overtime loss against Calgary.
“We’re a great team,” Jennings added. “Once we figure all of those little things out, we’ll be even better and be really tough to beat.”
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Emmanuel Arceneaux makes a catch in the end zone to add to the Lions’ lead (The Canadian Press)
Not only did the defence perform well, but the offence and special teams did too. The Lions’ time of possession was a whopping 35:23 compared to the Als’ 24:37, while kicker Richie Leone made five of his seven field goal attempts.
“The defence did a great job, the offence controlled the ball, and special teams were solid,” said Head Coach Wally Buono. “We didn’t give Stefan (Logan) any long returns. I thought Richie did an outstanding job of kicking and this was a great team win on the road.”
The Lions will head into Week 8 on a high when they make their way back home to take on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, knowing they can bounce back from a loss and trusting that they can keep up with any team in the league.
It’ll be their first visit home since a July 7 loss to the Argos.
“It’s a great confidence boost,” said Purifoy. “We beat ourselves — every time we play we know we’re the only team that can beat us. Nobody else can beat us, that’s how we feel.”
– With files from BCLions.com
