Emmanuel Arceneaux's big night pushes Lions past Eskimos

Emmanuel Arceneaux stood up this week and talked to the B.C. Lions about what it takes to win games — physicality, emotion and desire.

The veteran receiver backed up his words in an impressive performance Saturday.

Arceneaux caught eight passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns, including a brilliant 70-yard score where he fought off two would-be tacklers, as the Lions defeated the Edmonton Eskimos 32-25 for a key victory in the CFL's West Division.

'Feeling of relief' 

"We're at a point now in the season where it's kill or be killed," said Arceneaux. "No home boys, no friends. You've got to protect yourself out there. You've got to have the mindset that: 'It's my job to impose my will on my opponent or he's going to do it to me.'

"You can't win every play, but you can win the majority of the plays. It's a team sport, but it's about doing your individual job."

The Lions (10-6) entered play having dropped three of four, including back-to-back losses to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers that was accented by last week's crushing 35-32 defeat where they turned the ball over an eye-popping six times.

B.C. played a clean game on Saturday, with Jonathon Jennings rebounding off a three-interception performance to throw for 273 yards and those two TDs to Arceneaux on 21-of-28 passing.

"A feeling of relief," said Jennings, who also scored on a 20-yard run. "After those two losses we came back and locked in."

'Personal game' 

Jeremiah Johnson rushed 17 times for 108 yards, including 87 in a first half.

"This was a morale game," said Johnson. "This was a personal game for us."

Edmonton's Mike Reilly was 24-of-32 through the air for 261 yards and a touchdown to Adarius Bowman, while running in another score. John White also had a TD scamper for the Eskimos (8-8), who were coming off their bye and saw a three-game winning streak snapped.

"We didn't come out to play and match their intensity," said Eskimos head coach Jason Maas. "Throughout the game they made more plays than we did, bottom line. When you do that, you're going to win the ball game."

The Lions took a 26-19 advantage into the fourth quarter and tried to extend that lead on a 53-yard field-goal attempt from Richie Leone that had the distance, but just hooked left. Edmonton's Troy Stoudemire returned the ball 50 yards only have it stripped and recovered by the Lions at the Eskimos' 49.

An illegal contact penalty on Edmonton kept the B.C. drive going, and Leone connected from 39 yards out to make it 29-19.

Leone then added his third field goal of the night, this one from 41 yards, to give B.C. a 13-point edge with under four minutes to go.

'Special player' 

The Eskimos scored a late touchdown when Reilly hit Bowman from 11 yards out, but Sean Whyte's convert attempt hit the upright for a 32-25 score.

Things went from bad to worse for Whyte when his onside kick attempt with 34 seconds left sailed out of bounds.

B.C. led 11-5 late in the first half when Arceneaux hauled in a pass from Jennings before breaking two tackles on the way to scoring his second touchdown of day for B.C.'s longest play from scrimmage in 2016. The sixth-year slotback, who now has 10 TDs on the year, also scored on a 68-yard strike in the teams' first meeting back in September.

"He's phenomenal," said Jennings. "He's a special player."

Battle for playoff position 

Arceneaux had given his club an 11-3 lead on an acrobatic four-yard touchdown catch with just over nine minutes left in the half. B.C. went for two on the play, with Jennings finding Bryan Burnham in the back of the end zone.

The Eskimos inched closer when Phillip Hunt sacked Jennings for a safety a few minutes later before Arceneaux struck on his long catch-and run score to electrify the crowd at B.C. Place Stadium.

The Lions grabbed a single on the opening kickoff of the second half to go up 19-5, but the Eskimos drove back down the field, and Reilly scored on a short plunge after a pass interference call set Edmonton up at the one-yard line to cut the B.C. lead to seven.

But the Lions responded to go up 26-12 on Jennings' 20-yard scamper that saw the seas part in the Eskimos' secondary.

Edmonton again hit back late in the third quarter to cut the lead to seven on White's 31-yard TD run.

The Lions, Eskimos and Blue Bombers (10-6) have already qualified for the playoffs, but where they wind up behind the powerhouse Calgary Stampeders (15-1-1) is still very much in doubt.

"When you have to win and guys can step up, that's what you want," said Arceneaux. "Hopefully this was our spark."