Lions punish Alouettes' turnovers to temporarily claim 1st place in West

The B.C. Lions were in a tight battle with the Montreal Alouettes until defensive back Louchiez Purifoy broke things open with a fumble return touchdown.

Purifoy's 47-yard scamper on the first play from scrimmage of the fourth quarter ended any chance of a Montreal comeback as the Lions downed the Alouettes 38-18 on a steamy Thursday night at Percival Molson Stadium.

"You could see it took the air out of them," said Purifoy. "You could see they were getting into a groove on offence and all of a sudden it just set them down."

Montreal had moved to within five points of the Lions at 13:14 of the third when Kevin Glenn started a drive with a 47-yard pass to Duran Carter and ended it with his own five-yard run up the middle for the TD. After the convert, B.C. conceded a single on Boris Bede's 82-yard kickoff to make it 23-18.

The Alouettes (2-4), playing their third game in 11 days, had nothing left in the final 15 minutes to challenge again.

The Lions (4-2), were also on a short week after their 44-41 overtime loss in which they wasted a late lead in Calgary last week.

"We had a lot of newer guys in [on defence] and we knew they'd have to step up and they did," said linebacker Solomon Elimimian. "The good thing about having a short week is the guys were hungry to get back on the field.

"Calgary's a good team but we felt it was a game we let slip out of our hands. We played good ball."

Jeremiah Johnson and Emmanuel Arceneaux also scored touchdowns as the Lions ended a run of three straight road games. Richie Leone booted five field goals while the Lions also forced a safety.

B.J. Cunningham had the other TD for Montreal while Bede managed to boot one short field goal, but saw his kicking woes continue with a missed placement and a shanked punt. Coach Jim Popp will consider replacing the second-year kicker, who has been good on fewer than half of his attempts this season.

"Moves could be made," Bede acknowledged. "Jim's been really patient with me.

"Eventually I'll get something going. I have to pinpoint it and get rid of it. It's not mechanical. It probably is mental. I've just got to figure it out."

Jennings remains solid

It was another solid game for B.C. starting quarterback Jonathan Jennings, who completed 27-of-32 passes for 331 yards and a touchdown, while Glenn went 18 for 27 for 231 yards.

Jennings got help from a defence that forced three turnovers.

The Lions led 19-10 at the intermission despite a missed field goal by each side and two-point convert attempts missed on all three touchdowns in the first half.

Leone was good from 46 yards on B.C.'s first drive but Bede missed from 38 as Montreal marched back.

Jennings answered with a drive capped by Johnson's four-yard TD run up the middle only for Glenn to lead a nine-play drive that saw Cunningham catch a 15-yard TD pass on the last play of the first quarter.

A Bear Woods interception gave Montreal the ball on the B.C. 26 but they managed only Bede's 17-yard field goal. The Lions drove back but Leone missed a 46-yard attempt for a single.

Jennings completed 7-of-8 passes on a drive capped by Arceneaux's nine-yard TD catch at 13:13.

Bede shanked a punt that went only 12 yards and, with two penalties, it gave B.C. the ball on the Montreal 12. The defence held, forcing Leone to kick a 12-yard field goal at 14:36.

Brandon Rutley fumbled and Alex Bazzie recovered on the 31 on the first play from scrimmage of the second half, setting up Leone's 31-yard field goal.

Leone added a nine-yard boot with 3:08 left in the game and a 27-yarder with 29 seconds left.

"It's on us," said Carter, who caught seven passes for 115 yards. "Small, minor mistakes every play.

"It seemed every play one person's messing up and you can't get any rhythm going. Barring a few fumbles and penalties it's a completely different game.