Third-string quarterback Jarious Jackson keyed two scoring drives in the fourth quarter as the British Columbia Lions rallied for a 22-18 victory over the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats in front of 29,045 fans at B.C. Place Stadium on Thursday night.

B.C.'s Buck Pierce (16) is grabbed by the facemask by Clinton Wayne.
(Chuck Stoody/Canadian Press)

"I was just trying to execute to the best of my ability," said Jackson, who was summoned off the bench in the final minute of the third quarter and went on to complete three-of-five pass attempts for 80 yards.

"All the plays we ran, we run in practice every day. I just came in and tried to take what the defence was giving me."

"Once he relaxed, he was good," Lions general manager and head coach Wally Buono said of Jackson.

"He takes a while to get into the flow. But once he did, he made some good throws and some good plays."

After Tiger-Cats kicker Nick Setta conceded a safety 27 seconds into the fourth quarter, Jackson scored a one-yard touchdown and fired a five-yard completion to receiver Cory Rodgers for a two-point convert to put B.C. ahead 19-12 with 7:14 left.

Moments earlier, Tiger-Cats cornerback Richard Karikari was penalized for pass interference in the end zone on Paris Jackson, who looked to have committed the infraction.

Lions kicker Paul McCallum later made it 22-12 with a 14-yard field goal before Hamilton tallied a major in the final minute. 

"I'm getting tired of talking about the penalites," Tiger-Cats head coach Charlie Taaffe said. "It's amazing.

"We obviously don't know how to win. I'm extremely disappointed.

"We're our own worst enemies. We've got nobody else to blame."

Jackson replaced Lions backup quarterback Buck Pierce, who suffered bruised ribs when steamrolled by defensive lineman Nautyn McKay-Loescher on a rollout with 1:07 left in the third quarter. 

Pierce, already nursing a right hand injury, returned briefly, only to leave again.

"I tried to go back out there and step into a couple of throws," he said. "But they had no juice on them at all."

Pierce started in place of veteran pivot Dave Dickenson, who is sidelined indefinitely, and completed 17 of 26 passes for 187 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions for the Lions (4-0).

Dickenson sustained his third concussion in less than two years when tackled by defensive lineman Fred Perry in last Friday's 42-12 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

"Obviously, it just proves again the depth of our team," Buono said.

Things only got worse Thursday for B.C. as running back Joe Smith was carried off the field on a stretcher with 64 seconds to go. 

Smith, who rushed 16 times for 106 yards, temporarily lost the feeling in his legs, but recovered later in the locker room.

Lions slotback Jason Clermont led all receivers with 115 yards on 10 catches. 

"There were a lot of plays that we left out there," he said. "The defence did a great job keeping us in the game, and we want to clean some things up offensively."

"I thought we were moving the ball well at times," Pierce said. "But obviously, the turnovers set you back … the kind of things that just kill drives."

Running back Jesse Lumsden rumbled 158 yards on 11 carries in a losing cause for the winless Tiger-Cats (0-4).

He also caught five passes for a team-high 68 yards, two more than receiver Brock Ralph.

"It doesn't matter," Lumsden said. "We didn't win.

"That's the only thing that matters. I don't care if I get two yards as long as we win."
 
Tiger-Cats quarterback Jason Maas completed 16 of 30 passes for 202 yards, including a nine-yard TD strike to Jo Jo Walker. 

Maas was picked off once, by defensive back Ryan Phillips.

Setta split the uprights on field goals from 22, 32, 36 and 42 yards out, but the rookie also conceded a pair of safeties off punting situations.

Simmons scores swiftly
  
B.C. opened the scoring 1:56 into the game as Pierce connected with Tony Simmons on a 21-yard TD toss on the fourth offensive play from scrimmage.

Setta responded with a 22-yard field goal at the 8:54 mark, capitalizing on an interception by rookie linebacker Zeke Moreno.

The Lions went ahead 9-3 on a two-point safety 4:51 into the second quarter, but impressive runs by Lumsden and Maas set up a 36-yard field goal from Setta with 2:16 left to intermission.

Lumsden was the story of the first half, bulling his way through B.C.'s defence for 119 yards, and remained the key offensive cog in a third quarter dominated by Hamilton.

Even so, the Tiger-Cats managed only six points on 42- and 32-yard field goals from Setta.

After the Lions regained the lead at 22-12, Hamilton completed the scoring when Maas hooked up with Walker for a nine-yard TD toss with 21 seconds left.

However, Maas passed incomplete to rookie Talman Gardner on the two-point convert attempt, and the Lions easily recovered the subsequent onside kick to clinch the win.

With files from the Canadian Press