Emmanuel Arceneaux Archives | Page 2 of 4 | BC Lions Football

Lions versus Esks thoughts, and the final cuts.

June 20, 2015 By Brian Wawryshyn

Friday night at UBC’s Thunderbird Stadium the BC Lions closed out the CFL preseason with an 18-13 loss to the Edmonton Eskimos. There were positives and negatives that came from the evening, so let’s get at it in this recap of the night.

Of course the main question of the night was how Travis Lulay would look and would he survive the night and the result was a success on both fronts.

Lulay wasn’t spectacular, but he led the Lions on a (penalty aided) touchdown drive on the first series of the game, connecting with the ‘Manny Show’ to open the scoring. As a body of work, Lulay was able to accomplish what he wanted to. There was some rust, as he overthrew open receivers on a couple of occasions, but his vision downfield seemed solid, his composure in the pocket was impressive and he showed that he’s still going to use his feet when the opportunity presents itself.

Jonathan Jennings was next up and wasn’t quite as effective as he was in Calgary, going 4 of 8 for 63 yards, while also throwing an interception. He did connect with Terence Jeffers-Harris for 40 yards and survived a big hit. Greg McGhee impressed with his limited time, showing the running skill he has as well as a strong arm.

With the uncertainty of Lulay’s long-term future, the Lions will keep all four QB’s, with John Beck starting the season on the disabled list.

Emmanuel Arceneaux looked solid scoring the Lions only touchdown of the game, and Austin Collie showed the value he will bring to the roster. Jeffers-Harris showed well again with his second deep reception of the preseason. Bryan Burnham and Tim Vizzi did not shine, while Courtenay Taylor still hasn’t seen action with a lingering hamstring injury. Marco Iannuzzi had a solid game, including the Lions biggest play of the night, a 64 yard catch and run from McGhee. The Lions continue to struggle to find a way to get Shawn Gore involved in the offence.

Generally speaking I thought the offensive line played decent, especially versus a talented Eskimos defence. Lulay got good protection in the first half, and don’t be surprised if T-Dre Player has surpassed Dean Valli for a starting role. At left tackle, it looks like Tommie Draheim will at least start the season there.

In the second half there was a drop off and both Jennings and McGhee were hurried or flushed out of the pocket often. The unit continues to be a work in progress, but new centre Jason Foster looks to be solid and can start looking for accommodations in the lower mainland.

The defensive line registered just one sack on the night, and had issues plugging gaps against the Eskimos running game in the first half. Running back Shakir Bell averaged 10.8 yards a carry against the starters and that’s just not good enough. Alex Bazzie was ejected for spitting on an opponent, and on a Jeff Tedford team that preaches discipline, that certainly won’t have him in the coach’s good books.

It was fun to listen to the oohs and awes from the crowd watching Richie Leone launch missiles with his punts. Sadly when it came to field goal kicking Leone missed two which should have been automatic and one of them was ugly. Anthony Fera connected on a 48 yarder, but his punting wasn’t as impressive. With that, Lions have decided to go with Leone and hope he improves his place kicking while offering Fera accept a spot on the practice roster.

The Flags

God help us all if the preseason flag fest continues into the regular season. The game became virtually unwatchable because of all the linen being thrown around. I get that in the preseason you want to crack down, especially with the new rules, but I am not that confident that much will be different when the season starts. For the sake of fans and the game itself, let’s hope so.

The Setting

The BC Lions and the University of British Columbia deserve huge props for the way the game went off. From the clear directions to the stadium throughout the campus, to the crowd control afterwards it was very well done. Director of Fan Engagement, Jamie Pitblado and his team did a fantastic job.

Allowing the fans to watch from field level was a brilliant idea. There were tons of kids throwing footballs around and hanging out with Leo the Lion. For the diehard fan it gave them a chance to see the game up close and personal.

With the lush trees in the background and a beautiful west coast sunset, there couldn’t have been a better night to play football.

Because I needed to write about the game I stayed in the stands in order to see the action clearly, so the only negative from the night came from the sore butt and back from sitting on the wood benches.

BC Place, I love you.

In the End

Don’t lose sight of the fact that this a new beginning for the BC Lions, and coach Tedford will likely be continually tweaking things into his mold over the next few weeks. The Lions should become more proficient on offence with more targeted game planning reps.

The team will start the season with a bye, which will give Lulay more time to work on the timing with his receivers. The Lions will also have game film to work with on the Redblacks, while Ottawa will have only preseason footage at their disposal.

Final Cuts

No real surprises here but here is the full list of roster moves made by the Lions on cut down day. In all, 12 players were released, 10 were offered spots on the practice roster, 3 were placed on the 1-game injury list, and QB John Beck added to the disabled list.

Notable names offered practice roster spots were RB Keola Antolin who was injured through the first half of training camp, Terence Jeffers-Harris who was impressive after if his arrival in camp and in the preseason, and second year linebacker and special teamer Casey Chin.

Of their 2015 draft picks who were in camp, only DB Josh Brinkworth was released.

It all starts for real on July 4^th.

Full list of the Lions roster moves:

Released:

DB Jordan Rwiyamilira (N), DB Josh Brinkworth (N), DB Jeremiah Johnson (I), DB Myron Lewis (I), LB Cody Acker (I), DL Tim Jackson (I), DL Andre Monroe (I), FB Brandon Deschamps (N), RB Rickey Galvin (I), RB Damien Thigpen (I), WR Tim Vizzi (I), WR Whitman Tomusiak (N).

Offered practice roster spots:

DB Darious Lane (I), LB Casey Chin (N), DL Craig Roh (I), DL Maxx Forde(N), DL Jamarkus McFarland (I), WR Terence Jeffers-Harris (I), K/P Anthony Fera (I), RB Keola Antolin (I), OL Josh Aladonoye (I), OL Campbell Allison (N).

Placed on one-game injured list:

DB Steven Clarke (I), OL Cody Husband (N), OL Matt Norman (N).

Placed on disabled list: QB John Beck (I).

Returned to juniors:

OL Anthony Daley (N), WR Derek Yachison (N).

Follow all the CFL final cuts.

From the Stands: Lions 26 Blue Bombers 9

September 18, 2014 By Brian Wawryshyn

Did Andrew Harris and the BC Lions pull a fast one on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers? After publicly declaring that the goal was to rush for 250 yards on the Bombers, the Lions passing game was the dagger that delivered a 26-9 win for the Leos that gave them some breathing room in the quest for a play-off spot. Here’s how I saw the game, From the Stands.

Offence

It wasn’t the dominating rushing attack that Harris set goals for prior to the game, but instead a fairly balanced attack that got the job done for the Lions. Kevin Glenn didn’t put up huge numbers but make key completions at various points in the game, and more importantly, protected the ball well.

Glenn spread the ball around to no fewer than nine targets on the way to a 20-27, 261 yard, two-touchdown night. There were still breakdowns on the offensive line and penalties that killed drives, but for the most part Glenn was efficient at getting rid of the ball quickly and showed what he can provide as the starter.

Emmanuel Arceneaux and Shawn Gore had nice games for the Lions, the former with a big third quarter catch and a fourth quarter touchdown that put the exclamation point on the win.

The running game was much better than a week ago, especially in the fourth quarter where the Lions were able to kill some clock with key runs from Harris and Stefan Logan. They fell 90 yards short of Harris’ goal, but there was no doubt the offensive line responded to Harris’ challenge and gave the running game a chance against the Bombers suspect run defence.

There is still room for improvement of course with the offence managing just a single in the third quarter, but there were some positive steps taken. Not taking a step backwards against Toronto next week will be key to ensure the Lions keep the teams in front of them close, while putting Winnipeg in a tough spot in the West.

Defence

There haven’t been too many games this season where you could really question the effort of the defence and Saturday was just another day at the offence for the Lions, who for the second game in a row denied their opposition a touchdown.

The tandem of Adam Bighill and Solomon Elimimian were punishing in leading the way for the Lions. The secondary bent on some medium range passes before Drew Willy left the game, but didn’t break.

Elimimian is simply the best player on this Lions team right now and it’s shocking how many people are just handing the most outstanding defensive player award to John Chick. There is no escaping the pursuit of Elimimian this year and while Chick’s sack stats are sexy, Elimimian is the complete package and can hurt you in multiple ways.

The Lions inside run game was outstanding, holding Nic Grigsby to just 27 yards on seven carries and the defensive line was effective picking up three sacks. Khalif Mitchell may have had his best game of the season picking up a sack and getting a big push at the line of scrimmage.

Special Teams

Lions fans got a glimpse of the talent that the Bombers’ Troy Stoudermire brings to the table, but the Lions stopped him from doing too much damage and leading the way was Bighill with five special teams tackles, including a beauty in the fourth quarter when he came from a long way away to drag down Stoudermire when it looked like the speedster had an open sideline staring him in the face.

It’s been mentioned earlier this season, but it’s worth mentioning again what a valuable addition that Ricky Schmitt has been kicking off and punting for the Lions. His kicks allow the cover teams to get downfield, while also sparing mileage on the leg of Paul McCallum. McCallum had his field goal streaked snapped but he’s also trying field goals he may not have at times last season, and a fresher leg could be the reason why.

Random Rambles

Is a football culture finally settling in at BC Place? It seems to me that over the last couple of games fans have been a lot more involved and willing to participate. Even the old BC chant is starting to become noticeable and you have to give some credit to the Lions game day ops team for working hard at this the last couple of seasons. Here’s to a day when the blaring music and make some noise prompting is a thing of the past.

Want some evidence that there was a method behind the madness of Dennis Skulsky’s “guarantee” against the Riders a couple of weeks ago? Using my minimal math skills, the Lions averaged 24,808 fans over their first four home games before the Saskatchewan game bumped that up to 26,484. Saturday night on a beautiful bonus summer night in Vancouver, and following a week where the Lions laid a big egg on the offensive side of the ball, 27,784 took in a game that didn’t involve the Riders. Many of those were probably fans that took advantage of the Lions offering. The game was entertaining enough that a few of them might decide to come back on their own dime.

There’s a long way to go, but all of a sudden the Lions are one game behind Saskatchewan and Edmonton. They’ve passed the Bombers, and the Riders have yet to play the Eskimos or Stampeders and won’t have Darian Durant when they do. The Lions have a lot to work to do themselves but all of a sudden, things are looking a lot better for BC then they did even a week ago.

What are your thoughts? Did you see positive signs from the Lions performance on Saturday night? More thoughts this week on the BCLionsDen.ca Pawdcast.

The BCLionsDen.ca Pawdcast – Episode 32

July 23, 2014 By Brian Wawryshyn

In Episode 32 BC Lions wide receiver Emmanuel Arceneaux joins Brian and Mojo in The Den after his 3 touchdown performance in a 41-5 win over the Montreal Alouettes. Darrin Bauming of TSN 1290 radio in Winnipeg returns to the show to provide us with a Bombers preview as they travel to BC to face the Lions.

To stay up to date with our podcasts, blogs and other Lions news, follow us on Twitter @BCLionsDen Please leave us a comment on the site and let us know how we’re doing. You can also leave us a ranking and a review on iTunes, we would really appreciate it! Listen:

You can follow Emmanuel Arceneaux on Twitter, @E_Arceneaux and Darrin Bauming, @darrinbauming.

Listen and Subscribe on iTunes

From the Stands : Lions 41 Alouettes 5

July 23, 2014 By Brian Wawryshyn

740x300_arceneaux — Emmanuel Arceneaux had a lot to smile about in a three touchdown 41-5 romp over Montreal. Photo: BCLions.com

The BC Lions must have had a vision when they printed their 2014 season tickets. The featured player on the ticket for Saturday’s game against the Montreal Alouettes was Emmanuel Arceneaux, and the The Manny Show was on full display in front of over 25,000 fans at BC Place as the Lions kept their dominance over Montreal at BC Place intact. Here’s how I saw the game From the Stands.

The Manny Show

Lions fans have been waiting for the type of performance that Emmanuel Arceneaux turned in Saturday. Finally healthy, Arceneaux had no match defensively on this day, using his size and leaping ability to torch the Als for 145 yards and three touchdowns.

There are few defensive players in the CFL that can match up to Arceneaux physically and he took full advantage of that against an Als defence that looked nothing like the one we saw on Montreal two weeks ago.

If Arceneaux can stay healthy the Lions could have a lethal weapon on their side, and it didn’t seem to matter if it was Kevin Glenn or John Beck throwing him the football, never mind Travis Lulay.

The Defence

Let’s be honest here; the Alouettes were brutal. Troy Smith looked lost out there, and as the Alouettes head into their bye week they have a major decision to make at quarterback. The Als were also without Duron Carter and SJ Green sat out the second half after making a go of it with sore ribs in the first. Chad Johnson? All he does is run routes and you have to wonder if the Alouettes are doing enough to try and get him involved.

But let’s give a whole lot of credit to the Lions defence, who have only allowed two touchdowns in the last three games. They had relentless pressure on Troy Smith most of the night, even without Khalif Mitchell, who was nursing a sore back.

Following the Lions 0-2 start it was hard to point too many fingers at the defence, and now that they are getting some offensive support, the Lions are starting to show signs that they will be a contender in the CFL west.

Khreem Smith is having a great year and combined with Eric Taylor provided one of the night’s best moments when he blocked an Alouettes kick that was picked up by Taylor who rumbled down the field only as fast as a big man like him can.

Newcomer Alex Bazzie had a strong game as well, and Brandon Jordan didn’t look out of place, despite a poor roughing the passer call that the coaches won’t be pleased with.

Thunder and Lightning, Part Two

With the original ‘Thunder and Lightning’, Sean Millington and Cory Philpot in the building to celebrate the Lions 1994 Grey Cup team, Andrew Harris and Stefan Logan showed more signs that the Lions running game is starting to get rolling. Behind an improving offensive line, the two combined for 146 yards along the ground, and the Lions had big success sweeping to the right side.

Having two backs that bring different styles is a huge tool for the Lions to have at their disposal, and it appears Khari Jones is finding ways to make both of them effective, while at the same time keeping both of them fresh.

Solid Start for Hunter

Hunter Steward made his first start at left tackle for the Lions and did not look out of place, which is great news for fans who would love to see the turnstile at that spot stop spinning. Steward is young and is going to make some mistakes but the Lions may have something here as they attempt to replace national Ben Archibald. With the game well in hand the Lions pulled several starters and newcomer Jermarcus Hardrick saw some reps at the right tackle spot of Jovan Olafiyoe and also showed well.

Overall it looks as though progress is being made both in run blocking and pass protection and that’s a great sign.

The Flow

I really love this game, but this week’s games were really tough to watch with all the orange linen being thrown around by officials.

I get the fact that early in the season the officials want to make a statement to set the tone for the rest of year. The league says that over 90% of the penalties thrown this year have been legitimate, so where does the fault lie? In the Montreal-BC game, it seemed as though you couldn’t go more than two plays without a flag and that doesn’t make for quick games and sucks the flow out of the game.

Yes players have to be smarter and clean up their part, but the league really has to realize that football is a physical and emotional game. Perhaps they could start by eliminating some of these flags thrown simply for guys reacting to the adrenalin flowing through them and keep the flags for the penalties that effect the play. And yes, I am referring to call made on Harris, who spun the ball down following a run where he lowered his shoulder on an Als defender near the sideline. By the book, it was likely a penalty, and Harris knew it as soon as he saw the flag, but was it really that bad?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the game. Post a comment here, hit me up on Twitter, @BCLionsDen and checkout this week’s Pawdcast on BCLionsDen.ca for more reaction on this game and a look ahead to the Lions and Bombers this Friday.

Leos prove to be the best fit for Arceneaux.

May 20, 2013 By Brian Wawryshyn

Reports Sunday evening are indicating that former BC Lions receiver Emmanuel Arceneaux has a signed a 2 -year free agent deal with his former team. Neither the club or the player has officially confirmed the deal, but several reputable sources are now reporting the contract is done.

Arceneaux spent the last two seasons trying to find a home in the NFL, but spent much of his time on the practice rosters of the Minnesota Vikings, Washington Redskins and most recently the New York Jets, who released him just prior to last week. Over his two season with the Lions, Arceneaux caught 130 passes for 1,972 yards and 12 touchdowns before trying his luck down south.

The Lions were considered to be the front-runner heading into the process, not because BC was his last CFL club, but because the import receiver had a strong connection and mentor type relationship with general manager Wally Buono. He also has a strong connection to several current BC Lions players, as well as the offence of coordinator Jacques Chapdelaine. The departure of Geroy Simon means that there will be a prime role available in training camp,

Earlier this weekend it was speculated the Lions offer to Arceneaux was low and that the Toronto Argonauts were the front-runners to land him. Silence fell over the weekend and twitter users began to speculate what the outcome would be, with Arceneaux playing along and even admitting to The Province’s Lowell Ullrich, ““I was just messing around. Seriously, I didn’t know what was going on.”

In the end both the team and the player got what they wanted and if it wasn’t already, the battle at receiver during training camp will be one to watch.