Lions finally return home to battle Hamilton at BC Place

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – It’s been a really long time – July 7th – since the BC Lions played a game at BC Place, but they sport a tidy 4-2 record coming into Saturday night’s clash with the 3-3 Hamilton Tiger-Cats. (7pm)

It was on the first of July that the Lions went into Hamilton and handed the Tabbies a 28-3 defeat. Saturday’s match-up is the final time this season these two teams will meet.

An impressive 38-18 win over the Alouettes in Montreal was an important bounce back for the Lions, as they were able to put a difficult defeat in Calgary behind them – now it’s about execution on home turf – Jonathon Jennings was yanked for Travis Lulay the last time the Leos appeared in front of the home fans, but he looks like a much different player now, spreading the ball around to the likes of Manny Arceneaux, Bryan Burnham, and Shawn Gore, among others. Those three are a threat to top 1,000 yards receiving this season.

BC has shown an ability to play fast both with the ball, and without it, as the team has drawn rave reviews not just for its record, but the product on the field under head coach Wally Buono.

“We want to be (exciting) all the time, weather it’s at home or on the road.” Buono said this week.

“I believe we have an exciting team. We play fast, hard defense, our return teams have been exciting, and offensively, we’re playing football that excites me, and hopefully it excites the fans.”

The main story line in Steeltown this week is the excitement over the return of quarterback Zach Collaros. The young pivot was having an MOP-calibre season before a knee injury ended his season last September. Hamilton will get a lift out of a Collaros start, but they have the ability to move the ball around no matter who takes the snaps.

“They’re a very good offense. I think they do a good job of creating space, and they have athletes that, if you don’t do your job, (Hamilton) will hurt you.” Wally Buono stated this week.

Adam Bighill (on Adam Bighill Bobblehead Night) and the rest of the BC D will indeed be busy with the likes of Luke Tasker, Andy Fantuz, and CJ Gable – but it will be very interesting to see what type of impact an MOP-type player like Collaros can have on one of the top teams out east.

The Lions will next host Calgary on August 19th. A Lions win tonight paired with a Stampeder loss to the Riders would ensure top spot in the west division for BC going into next week’s battle.

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