Hunted. Harassed. Harried. Hassled.
Poked and prodded. Bullied and bedevilled. Tracked and tormented. Stressed and surrounded.
Sacked four times. Picked off three more. Whacked around like human pinata. Chased like a turkey in a farmyard two days from Thanksgiving.
The poor guy must’ve assumed his picture was up in every post office and plastered on every milk carton in town.
An APB had been put out on Jonathon Jennings. The manhunt was on.
“Everybody’s hungry,’’ said the tower of interior power, Micah Johnson, the CFL’s current sack leader, of his group’s relentless pursuit of the BC Lions’ quarterback Saturday evening at McMahon Stadium.
“Every D-lineman we have wants to make a play.
“No one’s out there just to be out there.
“Every one of us wants to have an impact on the game. If you have a D-line full of guys who all want a piece of the quarterback, he’s gonna get hit. A lot.
“With Jennings, we know he likes to throw deep balls, jump balls, so we want to be in his face, to disrupt him.
“Gosh, we got to him a lot today. So many plays that didn’t wind up in sacks but in pressures and him having to do things he wasn’t comfortable with.”
In running their record to 10-1-1, a whole whack of people contributed to the 27-13 result.
Returner Roy Finch continues to light up the night sky like a Roman Candle.
Slotback Reggie Begeleton and wideout Marken Michel lifted an injury-riddled pass catching corps, combining for nine receptions, 145 yards and a TD each (Begeleton’s first as a CFLer).
Punter Rob Maver channelled his inner Jon Cornish pulling the ball down and avoiding a sure block to peel off a 24-yard fourth-quarter dash that keyed a field goal staking Calgary to a 10-point lead.
But it’s that Stampeder defence, which has morphed into one of the truly compelling storylines of this CFL season, that turned in another masterclass, set the tone.
On an evening when Bo and the O had a largely tough go, the resistance held B.C. without a touchdown and shackled the Leos to 244 yards in offence.
“For us, as a group, it’s a lot of fun, chasing quarterbacks around,’’ said rush end Ja’Gared Davis.
“When there’s a big moment, we know we have to show up.
“We were getting to (Jennings) early and often and the guys on the back end were covering well. He had to start pressing to make plays.
“So we just kept turning the heat up.”
Inflicting the equivalent of third-degree burns.
Cornerback Ciante Evans gave Jennings a glimpse at how miserable his life would, pilfering a pass on the Lion’s first attempt at a drive.
So many individual plays typified coordinator DeVone Claybrooks’ group in this game. One, though, sticks out – Score: 17-7. Time remaining: 9:28. Second and four on the Stamps’ 32. Jennings, under siege once again, does the only sensible thing and dumps the ball off to Chris Rainey, who’s cut down by Brandon Smith two yards short of the first down, forcing the Leos into yet another field-goal attempt.
“Our D,’’ praised head coach Dave Dickenson, “is obviously harassing quarterbacks.
“It’s tough for them when you’re moving around and not comfortable in there.
“We’ve been doing that consistently.
“(Jennings) has great mobility, still moving around and making plays but our guys stayed in coverage, made ’em earn what they got and ultimately got him into some bad decisions.
“Doing a great job up front, stopping the run as well. They really only got check-downs on us. I thought our D was locked in, knew the calls, what we were trying to stop and played a great game.”
This Stamp defence has of the moment surrendered 72 less points than the next stingiest team, Saskatchewan. And the Green Riders, be aware, have contested one fewer game.
“They’re a take-what-we-give-you defence, bend but don’t break,’’ said Lions’ receiver Manny Arceneaux. “And we just didn’t execute. Our defence did what they could but offensively we just couldn’t get it in the endzone.
“But them guys, they played on helluva game over there on defence.”
And it all starts up front, with pressure.
“Oh man, they pin their ears back and get after it,’’ lauded Smith. “I mean, after it. They’re relentless and they like to put the quarterback on the ground. So we’ve just got to hold up our end of the bargain keeping the receivers covered and making hard reads for the quarterback, giving them an extra second or two there.
“Together, we’re trying to make the quarterback make tight throws. If he has to do that, he’s always (hurried). Then you have to pick the lesser of two evils – throw an interception or get sacked.”
Calgary has now won eight in a row and an astounding 15 consecutive against West Division foes.
“Right now,’’ summed up Dickenson, “you’re looking at a team being led by defence and special teams.
“That’s not a bad combination.
“DeVone has a good sense of what our personnel is and how he wants to try and use ’em. We’ve got competition in practice; we’ve got people fighting for jobs. And I think all those things make you better.
“Then they come out and show it when they play.”