The B.C. Lions had the home-field and home-country advantage, and, combined with a little trickery and the kicking of a native Canadian, they kept the Baltimore CFLs from bringing the Grey Cup to the United States last night.
Lui Passaglia kicked a 38-yard field goal on the last play of the game to give the Lions a 26-23 victory and the Canadian Football League championship before 55,097 fans at Vancouver's B.C. Place.
The CFLs were attempting a couple of firsts: winning a league title in an established professional league as a first-year expansion club and becoming the first U.S. team to capture the Grey Cup.
When this game was played last year, Baltimore had yet to be awarded a CFL team.
Baltimore had taken a 14-3 lead in the first half, but the Lions came back to tie the game 20-20 in the third quarter. A key play in the comeback was a fake field goal by B.C. The Lions' holder on the play, Darren Flutie, took off on a 17-yard run to keep a drive going. The drive eventually led to a touchdown and cut Baltimore's lead to 20-17 with less than five minutes left in the third quarter.
The Lions took the lead three minutes into the last quarter, but the CFLs tied the score 23-23 on a field goal by Donald Igwebuike with about 6 1/2 minutes left in the game.
Passaglia won the game for B.C. on his second chance in the final two minutes. He earlier had missed a kick from 37 yards out, but the Lions' defense held the CFLs and B.C. got the ball back in Baltimore territory. After two short runs, Passaglia came on to win the game and keep the 85-year-old cup in Canada.
Complete coverage, Section C