EDMONTON, AB- Even by wacky CFL standards, the BC Lions were on the losing end of a wild affair on Friday night in the Alberta capital. The visitors lost quarterback Nathan Rourke in the early stages, endured a few tough moments with Chase Brice under centre, yet still found themselves in the position to steal one after trailing by double digits entering the final quarter. Despite battling back on the heels of Brice evading an aggressive Elk defensive front and a big fumble recovery by newcomer Matthew Spatny, the end result was a 19-17 defeat that sees the Lions fall to 1-4 on the young campaign. With the win, Cody Fajardo and the Elks improve to 5-1. Now for some Game Takes.
Visitors Cannot Overcome Slow Start, Injury To Starting Pivot
Rourke was knocked out with a left shoulder injury on the second play from scrimmage on a sack by Noah Taylor. Head coach Buck Pierce didn’t have much in the way of further updates after this contest, as the reigning Most Outstanding Player and Outstanding Canadian will be re-evaluated upon the club’s return to Vancouver.
Brice was pressed into duty and struggled from the get-go, throwing an interception on his first pass attempt on a play that was broken up by Taylor. He threw two more first-half interceptions, but did manage to engineer a touchdown drive that was aided by Keon Hatcher’s highlight-reel, one-handed grab that set up a major from Zander Horvath. All in all, the first three giveaways led to 13 of Edmonton’s points and paved the way for a 16-7 lead for the home side at the break. Brice then threw a fourth interception on the Lions’ first series of the second half, and a key roughing-the-passer call on Nathan Cherry led to the final three points for Edmonton.
Behind 19-7, Brice hung in there and began making things happen, throwing a touchdown to Hatcher early in the final frame. Soon after that, the fumble recovery set up by a big hit from Deontai Williams on T.J. Luther led to Sean Whyte’s lone field goal of the night. That would be all the scoring in this one. Failure to cash in with a major will go down as a big turning point. Brice and the offence had a couple more cracks at it in the late stages, but couldn’t muster enough offence to get into range for a potential Whyte winner. No moral victories in this business. The Lions will have to find their way out of the doldrums, even if it means being without Rourke next week.
“I thought we all played really hard, showed a lot of heart out there and just came up short,” said Brice.
“Definitely a lot of plays left out on the field, a lot of mistakes on my end, but just going to go look at the tape, see how we can fix it and move on. They did some things differently on second down, mixed up some looks and a couple of different pressures. But that’s no excuse. I have to go out there and execute. That’s my job and I have to be better for my team in that aspect.”
Brice finished the night 20/34 for 226 yards, one touchdown pass and four costly interceptions. No easy task to come in under those circumstances, but there are definitely some things they can look to build on.
“There are always things you look at and want to improve on, but for the most part, I thought towards the second half and at the end, there a little bit, he got into a little bit of a rhythm and made some big plays for us to help move the sticks,” said Pierce on the effort from his quarterback.
“Just like anything, it’s never an easy situation to come into. But that’s part of the job as the quarterback at this level. You’re expected to go in there and execute the offence.”
If one thing is clear, the defence was able to step up and put them in a position to win. They only allowed the one touchdown, second-quarter Fajardo strike to Luther. There were some plays left out there, but their effort is something to build on going forward.
“I feel like we played a great game as a defence, but to give our offence a chance, we need to get a turnover; we need to score,” said Williams.
“You see they were getting all those turnovers on the opposite end and they were just making plays, right? As a competitive defence, we feel like we can do the same thing. We gave the offence the ball, but it wasn’t enough. We need to go score.”
A return home to downtown Vancouver certainly comes at an opportune time. Overall, the Lions will play three of their next five at Save-on-Foods Field at BC Place.
“Those guys are fighting. They’re a group that has heart; they’re a group that wants to win for each other. That’s the biggest takeaway I take from tonight,” added Pierce.
“We already got it in our heads that we don’t lose at home,” stated Williams.
Key Stats
9– The defence once again held Rankin in check to only nine yards on seven carries on the ground. He was in the negatives until a key 13-yard scamper for a first down to help flip field position with Edmonton clinging to their two-point lead late. The Elks only ran for 27 total yards.
15- The Lions only managed 15 yards total rushing. A far cry from the balance that was evident in the first matchup against the Green and Gold.
213- The Lions’ net yard total in this loss. Not good enough to prevail.
13– Points scored off the four Edmonton takeaways. Three more came as a result of the Cherry roughing the passer call. Lapses in execution continue to haunt the squad.
Next Up
Home at last. The Lions make their return to Downtown Vancouver and Save-On-Foods Field at BC Place next Saturday against the Toronto Argonauts. Kickoff is 4:00 pm. It all begins outside at NOON with a Pool Party at Robson and Beatty Streets. Single-game tickets start at only $19.