Former B-CU QB Matt Johnson signed by CFL BC Lions

VANCOUVER, Canada - The BC Lions have added a fifth quarterback for training camp with the signing of Matt Johnson. Johnson played four seasons with Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida where he led the Wildcats to a school-best record of 10-2 and a share of the 2010 MEAC Championship.

The Lions are expected to add a sixth quarterback before rookies report to camp June 2 in Kamloops. BC is talking with University of California-Berkeley quarterback Kevin Riley. Lions coach and general manager Wally Buono says if a team "is going to be in excess at any position, it should be at the quarterback position."


Videographer: rbcoach2

BC Lions Signs Former Bethune-Cookman QB Matt Johnson

Vancouver - The BC Lions Football Club announced today that quarterback Matt Johnson has signed with the team.

Johnson appeared in 32 games over four seasons at Bethune-Cookman throwing for a total of 3,283 yards on 243 completions as well as 18 TD’s. As a senior, Johnson led the Wildcats to a program-best 10-2 record and a share of the 2010 MEAC Championship. He led the conference in total offense with 2,514 total yards and passing average, connecting on 65.1 percent of his throws (140/215). He also ranked second in the MEAC and FCS in passing efficiency (152.5) and sixth in the MEAC in scoring touchdowns (20).

The Lions also added import running backs Tim Brown and Michael Smith. All three signings will attend BC Lions rookie camp slated to begin in Kamloops, BC on Thursday, June 2nd.

Matt Johnson described as a Damon Allen type

VANCOUVER - Three years ago, the B.C. Lions added a rookie quarterback to their training camp roster who was billed as the next coming of Tracy Ham, a 2010 inductee into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

But the book on Omar Haugabook turned out to be more baloney than prosciutto. The “electrifying” Haugabook short-circuited in rookie camp and was released before the CFL team’s main camp opened.

Thus, Tuesday’s announced training camp addition of a “Damon Allen type” quarterback – Matt Johnson from Florida’s Bethune-Cookman University – must be greeted with not a pinch, but a pickup truck load of salt. Johnson will arrive at training camp in Kamloops 72,381 yards in arrears of Allen, pro football’s all-time passing leader and a four-time Grey Cup winning quarterback.

For now, the only area of comparison is their ectomorphic body types. Johnson is listed at 5-10, 175 pounds. Allen was a will-o’-the-whipish 6-1, 175, and almost impossible to hit squarely because of his elusiveness.

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Former Alcorn State receiver Emmanuel Arceneaux headed to Minnesota Vikings

VANCOUVER - It might be a long, long stretch to suggest that Emmanuel Arceneaux is going to become the next Donald Driver. But Driver too was undersold when he was drafted in the seventh round in 1999 by the Green Bay Packers out of Alcorn State, a small, historically black university in Lorman, Miss. Driver went on to become the Packers all-time leading receiver.

Arceneaux, another unheralded Alcorn State prospect, from the NFL's perspective, will have his signing with the Minnesota Vikings officially confirmed today after he and his agent, Bardia Ghahremani, reached agreement on a three-year, $1.8 million deal early Saturday morning with the club.



New receiver took Canadian detour to NFL

Emmanuel Arceneaux wondered if his football career was over when he wasn't selected in the 2009 NFL draft after his career at Alcorn State.

He figured he might end up "sitting at home on the couch and just working a normal job." He chose a different path and headed to the Canadian Football League. Now, after two productive seasons with the B.C. Lions, Arceneaux is set to sign a three-year deal with the Vikings.

The contract could be worth as much as $1.8 million and includes a $75,000 signing bonus.

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Bruised, battered, but winners: CFL B.C. Lions 38, Montreal 17

Former FAMU quarterback Casey Printers returned to action from a knee injury as the Lion starter and completed 14 of 28 passes for 235 yard and two touchdowns over the East Division leader, Alouettes.

It still made a lot of sense to look the other way when watching the Lions as has so often been the case during the torturous first half of their CFL season. But for a change it had nothing to do with what they did while slapping around everyone on the Montreal Alouettes with the exception of injured quarterback Anthony Calvillo, whose value to the Grey Cup champions was never more apparent in the Lions' 38-17 win Friday.

The area around the B.C. bench was not for those troubled by misplaced body parts, nor did you want to be around coach/GM Wally Buono trying to figure out how many healthy bodies he will have to replace when his boys face the Toronto Argonauts Saturday at Empire Field.

Korey Banks was first. He had four fingers on his right hand going one way and his ring digit in a different location after an injury in the third quarter. Trainer Bill Reichelt had Banks look somewhere other than the field when he realigned the finger so he could continue.

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Former FAMU quarterback Casey Printers is showing inconsistency as Lions starter.

VANCOUVER, B.C. — The one great quality of being a genius coach is having a great quarterback. And three games into the 2010 CFL season, B.C. Lions quarterback Casey Printers is not making his boss look very smart. In coach Wally Buono's view, his field general is exhibiting the same erraticism that is bedeviling the rest of the team.

"You'd like for him to be more consistent," Buono said Saturday, after reviewing tapes of the Lions' 16-12 defeat to the Montreal Alouettes Friday night at Empire Field. "Half the time, there is a very good quarterback." That statement was borne out by the statistics, which saw Printers complete 20 of 40 passes for 253 yards against the Alouettes. And he did throw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Jamal Robertson for the game's only major.

However, he was intercepted twice, the first time when he tried to throw a home-run ball into the end zone with Paris Jackson double-covered and the entire Montreal defence aware that Printers was going to go deep. It was not a smart call, Buono admitted, because the Lions were in Montreal territory and needed to come away with points in what was a low-scoring defensive struggle.

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Printers, B.C. Lions kick their way to road victory

Former FAMU Rattlers' Quarterback Casey Printers plays turnover - free football in the B.C. Lions 25-10 road win over the Edmonton Eskimos in yesterday's Canada Day season opener.

EDMONTON, AB — The distance from where the Lions began their Canadian Football League season on Sunday and where they would like it to end up is not large. It is precisely 25 steps to walk from the visiting locker-room to the palatial new digs occupied by the Edmonton Eskimos at Commonwealth Stadium, where this year’s Grey Cup game is to be played. And in relative terms, what the Lions did when they posted a 25-10 win on the strength of a turnover-free game in which they also forced the hosts into five giveaways, not to mention six field goals by Paul McCallum, was take precisely one step in that direction.

One step, nothing more. But with so much uncertainty as a result of the massive off-season personnel airlift, there is reason to think coach Wally Buono has assembled the makings of a team. And if there were doubts about the young offensive line, they were erased when Jon Hameister-Ries sprang Robertson with a block for his scoring run. Quarterback Casey Printers was only dropped behind the line of scrimmage once.

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Printers and BC Lions lose a thriller at Empire Field

VANCOUVER, B.C. - Fans at Empire Field were pleased with the facility but not with the result of the game. In their first game in their new temporary home the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League lost 36-32 to the Edmonton Eskimos. It was a last second touchdown pass from Jason Maas to Skyler Green that proved to be the winner for the Eskimos. Overall, the Lions had a pretty good game as starting quarterback Casey Printers (Florida A&M University) got a feel for some of his new receivers and running backs. Printers hooked up with Jamal Robertson twice for a couple of scores.

Big plays also came from Printers as he connected with Jamall Lee for a 95-yard play that resulted in a touchdown. Eskimos linebacker T.J. Hill picked off a Casey Printers pass that went off of Jamel Robertson's hands and went 60 yards for a major score on just the second play from scrimmage for a 7-0 lead 54 seconds in. Printers guided the Lions through the first half and finished the day completing 13-of-22 passes for 263 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

Attendance at the first ever game at Empire Field was 24,763. The B.C. Lions ended pre-season with a 1-1 record.

Next Game: SEASON OPENER - Sunday, July 4 at Edmonton Eskimos, 4 p.m.

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