The Lions look to take a bite out of the Stampeders in the West Final

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CALGARY, AB (NEWS 1130) – The BC Lions invade Calgary for the Western Division Final this afternoon at McMahon Stadium. It is the sixth time in league history the two clubs will meet to determine who represents the West in the Grey Cup championship game.

Head coach Wally Buono knows his Lions have their work cut out for them against a Stampeders team that went 15-2-1 in the regular season. “They were by far the class of the league in terms of their level of consistency and how efficient and well they played.”

The Stamps’ dominance is due to the fact they are perhaps the most balanced team in the CFL. Bo Levi Mitchell led all quarterbacks with 32 touchdown passes. Jerome Messam had more rushing yards than any other running back and their offence allowed both the least amount of turnovers and sacks. On the other side of the ball, Calgary allowed the least amount of points and sacked the quarterback more than any other squad.

Fans could argue the Lions do have the momentum. The Stampeders locked up first place on October 10th and in addition to their first round playoff bye also had the final week of the regular season off. That means they have not played a “meaningful” game in six weeks.

But Buono isn’t buying that. “I have been on both sides of it and I’ve always wanted to be on the Stampeders side, finishing first and worrying about the rest after that. As you saw last week (in the comeback win over the Blue Bombers), the games are very intense and they take a toll on you emotionally and physically. For us, it’s an emotional high but there is a price to pay for that.”

There looks to be some good news on the injury front for the Lions ahead of kick-off. Both Manny Arceneaux (concussion protocol, ankle) and Shawn Gore (concussion) are listed on the 46-man roster. Arceneaux was back in practice gear Friday and looked to be moving around and running routes with no difficulty. He will be a game time decision. Gore took part in full practice this week and appears to have had no setbacks.

Kick-off is at 1:30 p.m.

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