This was a hard fought battle against a Calgary team that really wanted to beat us. We went into the game missing three key regulars and we lost others to injury within the game. We showed our team toughness in this big victory!OFFENCE
We started the game slowly. Clermont dropped a second down pass, Buck missed on a second down throw to Mock, and Murphy took a roughing penalty and those three mistakes led to us going two and out on our first three series.
Buck started to get the offence going with his legs on our fourth series and his deep throw to Simon resulted in a pass interference call that set us up deep inside Calgary territory. However, Buck just missed Clermont in the end zone and we had to settle for aanother field goal.
Buck failed to connect with Chad Mock, with the first half winding down, following a defensive turnover, but luckily the turnover only led to a missed Calgary field goal attempt. Buck left a number of good plays on the football field in the first half, according to Wally Buono
In the second half Jarious Jackson entered the football game, with Buck Pierce’s turf toe bothering him. Jackson handed the football off to Smith and Lyle Green and then threw long, into the end zone for a touchdown and Simon’s biggest gain of the season. On the next series Jarious went deep to Rodgers for a 31 yard gain. We then went two back set again and Lyle Green blocked and Smith exploded for a huge touchdown run to give us a 25-11 lead.
Kruck and Dorazio went very conservative in the fourth quarter, trying to protect the lead and Calgary stacked the box. Jackson scrambled very well and hit Rodgers in the end zone, from 15 yards out for a big touchdown. We put the game on Smith and the offensive line's shoulders in the final minute and they came through with big first downs to seal the victory! Smith was our offensive star of this game and it was good to see Geroy play an important role in the victory!
Jarious also came through big in the second half to help lead us to victory.
DEFENSE
On the second play of the game on defense Brent Johnson brought down Henry Burris with a single arm tackle, while he was still being blocked. Cameron Wake and Jamal Johnson also swarmed the play. On the next Calgary series it was Cameron Wake and Aaron Hunt all over Burris, forcing a bad pass. It set the tone early in the game. After that Calgary went to a lot of double tights, two and three back sets, and a deep shotgun to help Burris with protection.
We forced Calgary to go two and out on their first three series of the game, pinning them deep in their own zone. In the first half Wake and Johnson combined with another sack on Burris. Ryan Phillips made an excellent knock down to stop a Calgary drive and force Calgary’s first field goal.
However, Calgary’s screen pass to Cote was an excellent play call that completed a long drive, leading to Calgary’s first touchdown late in the second quarter. Glatt forced a key fumble on Henry Burris, with Calgary marching the football towards the end of the first half. Knowlton had an excellent first half playing nickel for the injured Mark Washington, who went out early. Phillips also had an outstanding first half, showing great anticipation skills.
In the second half a defensive mixup led to a big completion to Nic Lewis but Korey Banks, playing hurt, made an outstanding play to intercept the football in the end zone. Brent Johnson forced a Burris fumble in the fourth quarter and Hunt’s recovery was shut down another Calgary attempted comeback. We gave up a couple of touchdowns late, as Burris scrambled well to buy time and our defense line couldn't corral him back there late in the game! It provided Calgary an opportunity to make a comeback. However, key turnovers by our defense were huge in this victory!
SPECIAL TEAMS
Jamal Johnson put a tremendous lick on Howell on Calgary’s first punt return. McCallum made a great coffin corner punt in the first quarter. In the second half CameronWake made a great play as he blocked a Calgary field goal and Mitchell recovered. Our downfield coverage was excellent as was McCallum's punting! Smart ran hard on special teams!
WRAP
We saw some good things from our offence in this game. First we went multi-formational. We completed passes to Geroy and got him involved. We saw Lyle Green for the very first time this year, lined up at fullback, with Joe Smith lined up at tailback. On the very first play Green made a key block to spring Joe Smith for a 20 yard gain. We used the two back set of Green and Smith a lot in the second half and it was very effective.
We saw the Leos put Simon in motion and fake to Joe Smith, hitting Simon on the swing pass pass. We saw a double tight end set, with a play action fake to Smith and then Buck hit Simon for an excellent pass and run. We saw Jarious Jackson come into the game on second and short and hand off to Joe Smith, instead of sneaking it himself, a first this season. It was interesting that all of the above were suggested by the consumate website on pro footballâ€â€LIONBACKERS! We might have to start charging a fee for Leos coaches to read our advice instead of the Leos worrying about whether we’re giving away info to opposing teams.
Kruck/Dorazio went too conservative in the fourth quarter. With Buck ailing Jarious had an excellent second half overall and led us with 21 second half points! Anyone wish we would have had a developmental quarterback and traded Jarious now? :x
This was also a gutty effort by our defense. We overcame injuries to Washington and Banks during the football game. Johnson was a monster, Hunt stepped up, and Wake was excellent. Jamal Johnson showed what a tremendous linebacker he is going to be. Knowlton really stepped up for Washington and Phillips was outstanding!
A big victory for our Leos on the road, overcoming injuries, for our huge fifth win of the season! Way to go guys!!
