Lions roar into the playoffs with win over Roughriders

Players and coaches grinning ear to ear, the B.C. Lions posed for a team picture in their locker-room on Saturday night.

They hope to take a couple more over the next few weeks.

Jonathon Jennings threw for 307 yards and three touchdowns, including two to Emmanuel Arceneaux, as the Lions defeated the Saskatchewan Roughriders 41-18 for a third straight victory that locked up their first home playoff game since the 2011 Grey Cup.

Jennings eclipsed the 5,000-yard mark for the season, and Arceneaux hauled in 10 catches for 180 yards to give him 105 receptions on the year for B.C. (12-6), which will host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (11-7) next Sunday in the West Division semifinal.

"It's huge for the organization," said Jennings, who was 17-of-25 passing with an interception. "This is getting us on track to do the things we want to do."

Jennings connected with Terrell Sinkfield on his other TD completion, while Paul McCallum was perfect on four field goals and two converts for B.C. after coming out of retirement on Tuesday at age 46. Travis Lulay added a touchdown toss to Bryan Burnham in mop-up duty.

Brandon Bridge and Greg Morris ran in TDs for Saskatchewan, while Tyler Crapigna kicked a field goal, a single and two converts.

Meaningful game for Lions

Winnipeg (11-7), which owned the tiebreaker over B.C. after winning both games between the clubs, put pressure on the Lions to either beat or tie Saskatchewan on Saturday to secure home field after the Blue Bombers posted a 33-20 victory over the Ottawa Redblacks in the nation's capital on Friday.

"The biggest thing we talked about all week was just taking care of ourselves," said Jennings, in his second CFL season. "We never lost focus."

A victory by the lowly Roughriders (5-13), who lost three straight to close out the season, would have meant B.C. getting on a plane to play at Winnipeg next weekend.

"It's always good to be able practise winning when you have to," said Lions head coach and general manager Wally Buono. "I've always believed that."

Lions pivot reaches milestone

Jennings entered play needing just 81 yards passing to join Doug Flutie, Dave Dickenson and Casey Printers as the only quarterbacks in Lions' history to reach 5,000 in a season, and the second-year pivot got that out of the way in an opening quarter that saw him connect with Arceneaux on two scores.

"It's something cool to say you did," Jennings said of the milestone. "I'm fortunate and blessed to be healthy all season and have a great team."

Quarterback by committee

Saskatchewan elected to sit starting quarterback Darian Durant because of some bumps and bruises, while Jake Waters, who split time under centre last week, missed out with a broken collarbone. That meant the Roughriders dressed a trio of backups in Mitchell Gale, G.J. Kinne and Bridge, and their offence suffered mightily as a result.

The visitors had a chance to grab the lead after Lions running back Jeremiah Johnson fumbled inside B.C. territory, but had to settle for a single point on Crapigna's missed field goal from 39 yards out.

Lions pounce on Roughriders' miscues

B.C. made Saskatchewan pay and went up by 10 late in the quarter when Jennings hit Arceneaux from 13 yards out for his career-high 13th TD catch of the season before Chris Rainey ran in a two-point conversion.

Arceneaux's previous bests came in 2015 when he had 76 catches for 1,151 yards and nine TDs, but he's been on another level in 2016.

"He's phenomenal," Jennings said of his favourite target. "He came in needing five catches for 100 receptions, and he eclipsed that easily."

McCallum returns

McCallum, who rejoined the Lions after Richie Leone's kicking struggles reached a breaking point last week, booted the 719th field goal of his career from 24 yards out midway through the second quarter to a nice ovation.

"I'm pretty pleased with how my leg is right now," said McCallum. "My leg's not as strong as it used to be, but it's stronger than I thought it was. I'm OK with that."

McCallum, who spent last season with Saskatchewan after getting cut by B.C. in training camp, took care of all the scoring in the third quarter by nailing field goals from 44, 19 and 28 yards out to make it 33-4.

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