Tiger-Cats 39 Lions 31
VANCOUVER — Kevin Glenn threw three touchdown passes as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats beat the winless B.C. Lions 39-31 Friday for their second straight CFL victory.
Hamilton scored on their first two possessions in a game that had a wild start and a wilder finish.
Avon Cobourne ran two yards for one score and Dave Stala caught a four-yard Glenn pass for another before eight minutes had elapsed in the game.
Glenn threw another 15-yard scoring strike to Stala for a 31-21 lead.
Slotback Chris Williams made life miserable for a B.C. secondary revamped for the fourth straight week as he set up two TDs and caught a 15-yard pass for another.
The Ticats took a 32-31 lead when kicker Justin Medlock’s 28-yard field goal went wide for a single.
Cobourne clinched the win with a 46-yard burst up the middle after the Lions turned over the ball on downs.
Hamilton evened its record at 2-2 and moved into a second-place tie with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the East Division.
The Lions slipped to 0-4 and are off to their worst start since 1996, a campaign that began with five consecutive defeats.
B.C. got a big lift 10:28 into the second quarter from a 37-yard fumble return for a touchdown by nickelback Korey Banks.
That score helped the Lions rally from a 14-0 first-quarter deficit to a 21-21 tie.
Jamal Robertson scored for B.C. on a pair of one-yard runs and slotback Kamau Peterson caught a five-yard pass from Travis Lulay for another touchdown.
Paul McCallum added a 36-yard field goal before 24,117 fans to move into sixth place on the all-time scoring list.
Hamilton took a 24-21 first-half lead when the left-footed Medlock stroked a 55-yard field goal — two yards short of Paul Osbaldiston’s club record — with no time left on the clock.
Earlier, the Lions found themselves playing in familiar territory — from behind — as Hamilton took advantage of big plays and sloppy tackling to forge a 14-0 lead 7:58 into the first quarter.
On the first play from scrimmage, Williams gathered in a Glenn aerial and scampered 71 yards through would-be tacklers to the B.C. 11 yard line.
Two plays later, Cobourne rumbled over from two yards out.
Marcus Thigpen began Hamilton’s next possession with a 25-yard punt return to the B.C. 40-yard line as kicker McCallum made a touchdown-saving tackle.
Williams went over 100 receiving yards with a 32-yard grab that led to Stala’s four-yard reception for a 14-0 lead.
A successful third-down gamble and a 23-yard completion to Shawn Gore set up a five-yard Lulay aerial to Peterson who scored his first TD as a Lion.
Williams made another clutch 30-yard catch on second and 14, then caught Glenn’s 15 yard scoring strike for a 21-7 lead.
Three penalties and two key catches by Shawn Gore led to Robertson’s one yard run.
Banks’ big 37-yard return to the end zone to tie the game came after newcomer Khreem Smith sacked Glenn from his defensive end position and forced a fumble.
Hamilton pulled ahead by 10 points with the only score of the third quarter as Stala caught a 15-yard Glenn pass to end a drive aided by a pass interference penalty on Banks.
The Lions drew to within a field goal early in the fourth quarter when Robertson scored on another one-yard plunge.
The TD was set up by a 26-yard catch by Geroy Simon who also drew a pass interference earlier in the drive.