B.C. Lions: Terry Williams has sights set on big returns

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It took an eternity for the ball — kicked wide left and waggling like a wounded duck through the frigid autumn air at IG Field in Winnipeg — to drop into the hands of Terry Williams at the back of the end zone.

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It took a blink of an eye for what happened next.

Four steps forward, a hard cut left, and the B.C. Lions lightning bolt was gone down the sidelines. All that remained was a shoulder fake inside on 6-foot-7 Blue Bombers defensive end Willie Jefferson, and Williams was home free.

For two points.

It was 126 yards, the first missed convert returned for a score in CFL playoff history, and the only kick-return score for B.C. all season.

“It’s good to have the playoffs, the 126-yard return, but it also motivated me because it was only for two points. It wasn’t for six,” said the Greenwood, Miss., native.

“You feel good knowing I helped, but I could have helped more with a touchdown, a big return, give the team energy. I always tell myself I could have did more. There were bigger plays to be made. It keeps me humble and hungry, knowing there’s more to be done.”

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When it comes to the Lions and the return game — both catching and covering — there are more Herculean efforts to be done if they’re to improve on last season.

Williams had been leading the league in punt and kickoff return yardage in Ottawa before the Lions sent a third-round pick (25th overall) to Ottawa for him in September, and gave the B.C. unit a boost on his arrival. But the Leos still finished seventh in punt return average (8.5) and eighth in kick-return average (19.9) in the nine-team loop.

They had one kickoff return for 40 yards. The opposition had seven for 40 or more.

Winnipeg’s Janarion Grant was particularly troublesome for B.C., taking two punts and a kickoff to the house against the Lions.

“A guy like Jamarion Grant was doing damage to everyone,” said head coach Rick Campbell. “There were just two kickoff returns for touchdowns I think in 2021. Last year, there were six or seven.

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“I think we gave up big ones. That was our a problem. … Obviously Janarion Grant was the No. 1 guy that hurt us last year. We got to do a better job about setting that edge. There’s some fast guys (in the league) … where if you let them outside on the edge, it’s bad news because they’re so fast. So we’ll be working hard on setting edges, and making those guys run through traffic as opposed to be able to run around the outside.”

That will be the purvey of special teams co-ordinator Don Yanowsky, who is amped to get more out of his cover teams this year, even if the new, narrower hash marks have made his job harder.

“Now everything’s middle of the field, and you’ve got to cover 65 yards, he said. “And if you don’t kick the football with some precision and accuracy of where you want the ball to be, you’ve got to cover a lot of grass. Hopefully we will do a better job of that.”

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And, he points out, the stats are only part of the story.

“At the end of every week, was our net punt better than our opponents? Was our average start position better than our opponents. Did we gain any possessions? Did we score or set up any scores? If you do that on a week to week basis … it’s easier to keep a handle on it,” said Yanowsky. “I think statistics can say what you want them to. But at the end of the day, you either win or lose every week, and you either were part of the reason you did, or part of the reason you didn’t.”

Williams spent the off-season working on the “little muscles that don’t show,” his speed, quickness and cuts. And much like quarterback Vernon Adams Jr., he’s hoping a full training camp will give him a better runway into the season.

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“I’m hungry for whatever comes,” he said. “Receiver, kick return, punt return, whatever comes, I’m hungry for the opportunity. That’s my word for right now, for the whole camp. Every day, I’ll come out here to camp, I want make it look like ‘yeah, he hungry. He’s up for something,’ even if it’s on an air route, or air catch punt return.

“Everybody’s excited to be back. … Everybody’s ready to make a play. I’m definitely ready to make a play.”

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