B.C. Lion Andrew Harris forced to wait another week to hit 1,000-yard milestone

TORONTO – Andrew Harris will have to wait another week to reach 1,000 yards.

The B.C. Lions running back came to Toronto leading the CFL in rushing and needing just 13 yards to hit the 1,000-yard plateau for the second time. But the Argonauts weren’t co-operating Friday night.

Harris ran 11 times for just 10 yards on a day when the Lions won 27-25 but managed just 46 yards on the ground. Toronto didn’t do much better with 52 yards rushing.

How difficult was Harris’ day? His longest run was for 10 yards. The other 10 carries were made with an Argonaut defender or two usually hanging onto him in the backfield.

“We didn’t really run the football all that much in the first half (just three times), so opportunity was really limited,” said Harris. “And then when we did run the football, it was really rough sledding.”

Still, he scored a touchdown — on a one-yard run — and hauled in six passes for 38 yards while making some key blocks to protect quarterback Jonathon Jennings.

Jennings credited the Argo defence for bottling up the run — and Harris for showing off the rest of his game.

“It was tough but he was open in the passing game,” said the 23-year-old quarterback. “They were doing some things where they were dropping everybody super-deep, 10 yards back, and he was the underneath guy. He did a good job getting open, making plays.”

Harris fumbled late in the game, giving the Argos the ball on the B.C. 52-yard line. That led to a 25-yard field goal that cut the Lions lead to 27-25.

The Lions (7-10-0) will look to get Harris his three yards next week at home to Calgary (12-4-0). But before that they will be keeping a close eye on Sunday’s game between Edmonton and Montreal. An Eskimos win clinches a playoff spot for the Lions for the 19th straight year.

Harris ran for 1,112 yards in 2012 and was two yards short of the milestone in 2013. An ankle injury cut short his 2014 season at 652 yards.

The 28-year-old from Winnipeg, in his sixth year with the Lions, came into the game with a 161-yard lead over Calgary’s Jerome Messam in the league rushing table.

Harris, who is a free agent at the end of the season, is looking to join former Lions Jim Evenson (1971) and Joe Smith (2007) in winning the rushing title.

Calgary’s Jon Cornish was the only rusher to crack 1,000 yards last season, with 1,082.

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