Photo credit: David Friederich, BC Lions.
It won’t go down as their prettiest win of the year, but at the end of the day, they all count in the standings. Sean Whyte’s 24-yard field goal with 26 seconds remaining proved to be the winning points, and the defence did just enough to hold down a pesky Hamilton Tiger-Cats squad. The 27-24 victory improves Nathan Rourke and the Lions to 3-5 and gives them their first two-game winning streak of the young season. Hamilton falls to 3-6. Now for some Game Takes.
Lions Prevail In Back-And-Forth Affair
Rourke started fast in his return from injury, completing all five passes on an opening touchdown series that saw Zander Horvath score on a seven-yard reception. The offence failed to maintain the momentum, however, thanks in large part to a couple of key drops. After Harrison Frost, the Ticats’ fourth different starting quarterback of the season, pushed the visitors ahead 14-7 , Rourke connected with Justin McInnis on an 82-yard major to tie it. It wasn’t until the late stages of the first half that the offence was able to flip the script on that play.
After Horvath’s second touchdown of the game put them ahead 21-17 in the third quarter, the Lions had to overcome a blocked field goal and a Rourke interception that landed in the hands of Jamal Peters. That potentially backbreaking giveaway led to a touchdown that tied the game at 24. The blocked field goal was especially uncharacteristic for this improved special teams unit. Sometimes, you have to win despite your mistakes. The home side did that tonight and now has a huge opportunity to potentially overtake the Calgary Stampeders for third place in the West when the teams meet next Thursday.
“I feel very grateful that we got the win. Not our best performance offensively by any means, but when you can play like that and leave some things out there and still get a win; that’s a sign of that of a good team that can, you know, gut out wins,” said Rourke after the victory.
The struggles were especially head-scratching when you consider Rourke had Jevon Cottoy and James Butler back from their injuries. Horvath carried most of the backfield load with 16 carries for 62 yards, compared to Butler’s four carries for 20 yards. No one was expecting another record-breaking performance on the ground, but they know that they have to be more balanced on offence to continue this win streak.
“I’m not too sure. I think we’ve got to look at the film and try to figure that out,” added Rourke.
“Obviously, as you said, we did some good things, but I think when we stalled, ultimately it came down to us shooting ourselves in the foot.”
Rourke finished his night 22/39 for 370 yards, two touchdowns and the interception. Most important, he engineered an 11-play, 69-yard drive that culminated with Whyte’s winning kick.
After allowing Frost and company to stay in the game and make some of those big plays early on, the defence settled down when they needed to and got a key second-half interception from Deontai Williams on a ball that was tipped by Darnell Sankey. There were certainly a few moments to build on for a unit that has also battled injuries and continues to get healthier. They weren’t ready to expect an easy outing against a raw quarterback.
“I always preach to my guys to never really take anybody for granted. So I mean, even if Ford was in the game, we don’t take anybody for granted,” said Sankey, who had a sack in this victory.
“We’re not in a position to undermine anybody. You know, we’re 3-5 now, so we have a lot of work to do, especially on the defence. And I mean, we don’t, we don’t care. Yeah, we didn’t have a lot of film. We looked at some of his old stuff. But at the end of the day, if we do what we have to do, then the results should be in our favour.”
After not allowing Hamilton to get closer, Mark Liegghio’s 57-yard field goal attempt wound up short as time expired. Take it, get better and move on.
“I think at times, we were able to mix it up pretty good and get first downs on first down, and that’s when you can really open up your offence and stay balanced that way, so I thought we found it at times. Other times, we had some opportunities to stay on the field and just, for whatever reason, we sputtered. But I mean, he made some pretty elite throws there at the end,” said Buck Pierce on Rourke and the offence.
Key Stats
159- A game-high in receiving yards for McInnis.
109- Cottoy’s total in his return after missing six weeks. He made a big first-down catch on the Lions’ winning drive that moved the sticks and burned more clock.
436– Despite the odd miscue, the offence managed over 400 yards of net production.
26- The stout defence allowed only 26 yards on the ground.
Next Up
It’s a critical Western clash on Thursday, as the Lions pay a visit to the 4-5 Calgary Stampeders. Kickoff is 6:00 pm PT. The Stampeders dropped a 33-30 decision at the Toronto Argonauts to begin Week 10.