CALGARY- You can say one thing about this BC Lions squad: they sure are resilient. Nathan Rourke hit Keon Hatcher for an 11-yard touchdown in the late stages and the Lions survived a couple of critical mistakes in the final three minutes to hold off the Calgary Stampeders 30-26 on a drizzly Thursday night at McMahon Stadium. With the third straight win, BC improves to 4-5 at the halfway point of the season and leapfrogs the Stamps into fourth in the tight West Division, while tying them in points with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for third. Now for some Game Takes.
Heartstopper: Gotta Love The CFL
The Lions looked poised to put the Stampeders away before the late fourth-quarter shenanigans. That’s when it got crazy. Leading 23-18, Rourke made a rare mistake, tossing an interception to Anthony Johnson deep in Calgary territory, which was returned all the way to the Lions’ ten-yard line after a major penalty tacked on more yardage.
Quincy Vaughn’s one-yard touchdown plunge and a two-point convert hauled in by Damien Alford had the home side up by three with just under four minutes to play. After Stanley Berryhill’s fumble on the ensuing kickoff gave Calgary the ball on the Lions’ 30, a missed field goal by Calgary kept it 26-23 and gave the visitors the extra jolt they needed. That’s when Rourke and the offence went back to work and received a major catalyst in a 59-yard catch-and-run by Justin McInnis.
Hatcher’s second major of the game proved to be the winning score with 2:09 left, but not before Josh Love- replacing the injured Vernon Adams Jr. at quarterback- drove the Stamps down to the Lions’ ten-yard line. T.J. Lee’s interception then sealed the deal. Not the way they drew it up, but an important win, nonetheless.
“I think we’re just trusting in each other and trusting in our process. And you know, there’s only so much you can control, right? So you have to trust that the other unit’s going to be able to do their job,” said Rourke after the win.
“And offensively, we knew that the only thing that was stopping us from moving the ball was us. And we knew that if we had the right opportunity, we had enough time, that we could go down and score.”
“We’re focused on today. I’m happy for the guys tonight,” added Buck Pierce on the third straight win.
“We’ve got to get back to work. It’s been a couple short weeks here in the last three. So, we need to get home, we need to take care of our bodies, we need to do the right things over the next couple of days and then we need to get back to work because we’re back in our building against Sask.”
Like last week against Hamilton, it took the offence some time to get going. They survived a first-half fumble from Jermaine Jackson that led to a Calgary field goal and trailed 9-0 after the opening quarter. Jackson later redeemed himself with an 85-yard reception that set up a Zander Horvath touchdown before halftime. They may not be clicking on every single drive, but with Rourke’s penchant for making big plays at any moment, they can break out anytime.
“I think we’re trending upwards for sure,” added Rourke.
“Got a lot of things to clean up. It’s just a good thing we haven’t peaked quite yet. So we’re going to enjoy this one, and then we’re going to look at how we can get better and what we can do to beat the Riders come next week.”
Rourke finished only 15/22 but had 301 yards passing and the two touchdowns to Hatcher. The first of those connections put them ahead 23-18 early in the second half. Once again, Zander Horvath was a big piece of the offence with 102 yards on 15 carries to go with his team-leading 11th touchdown of the campaign.
On defence, a big key was holding Adams and the Stampeders to the early field goals. You have to feel especially good for Lee, who has borne the brunt of the early-season criticism that seems far in the rear-view mirror. Fitting how he got the takeaway to shut the door.
“That’s character building. You know, we don’t really care about what everybody’s saying, but the fact that we hear it just makes us hone in on what we’re doing and makes us believe in ourselves and the work we’re putting in,” said the veteran defensive back.
“So, everybody’s gonna slowly become believers in us, but we’re gonna know within ourselves who we are. So having an identity is important, and that’s what we’re working for, and that’s what that’s our ultimate goal.”
Winning cures a lot of things, doesn’t it?
Key Stats
446- Net offence for the Lions in this win.
134- Yards from scrimmage for Horvath after he chipped in with 32 through the air.
101- Career touchdowns for Rourke (72 passing, 29 rushing) as of the win on Thursday. He ran one in himself and is the second Canadian after Russ Jackson to eclipse the century mark.
2,074- Rourke has surpassed 2,000 passing yards at the halfway mark of the season. Given his pace after missing a couple of games, it’s not far-fetched to expect another 5,000-yard campaign with a strong second half.
Next Up
It’s another huge Western Division battle, as the Saskatchewan Roughriders come to town for our fourth annual Watermelon Smash on Sunday, August 13. Kickoff is 4:00 pm. Kids’ tickets start at only $19, while adults can get in for $25! Secure yours HERE.
The 6-2 Roughriders visit 3-6 Hamilton to close out Week 11 on Saturday night.