BC Lions punch playoff ticket with win over Stamps
The BC Lions are playoff-bound after taking down the Calgary Stampeders 38-24 at Save-on-Foods Field at BC Place on Saturday night.
Nathan Rourke was on fire early with three first-half touchdowns, finishing the game 25-for-32 with 414 yards, four scores and two interceptions, extending his perfect career record against Calgary to 4-0 and pushing BC to a fourth straight win.
Keon Hatcher Sr. scored twice and racked up 112 yards to add to his CFL-leading total, now at 1,516. Jevon Cottoy, who missed the last two games with an ankle injury, added 99 yards and found the end zone. Justin McInnis pitched in 61 yards and a major, while James Butler tallied 139 total yards to help BC improve to 9-7 and take sole possession of second place in the West Division.
BC’s defence broke through for six sacks and three interceptions, with Robert Carter reeling in two in the fourth quarter, to ensure the result.
It wasn’t the return to BC Vernon Adams Jr. wanted, as he went 21-for-38 with 303 yards, two touchdowns and the three picks. Dedrick Mills notched 85 rushing yards on seven carries to overtake Butler and A.J. Ouellette as the league’s leading rusher as Calgary fell to 8-7.
At halftime of the ‘Gravy Bowl,’ the Lions honoured franchise legend Solomon Elimimian, raising his No. 56 to the rafters.
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Defences set the tone early, with BC’s Jonah Tavai and Calgary’s Clarence Hicks trading sacks as both sides went two-and-out. Damien Alford broke it open on a go-route, hauling in a 58-yard strike from Adams Jr. — his first catch over 15 yards since Week 7 — to set up René Paredes for a 27-yard field goal.
Rourke responded with a sharp drive, finding Hatcher Sr. and the returning Cottoy for chunk gains before unfurling a 40-yard bomb to McInnis for the game’s opening touchdown. Sean Whyte‘s extra point gave BC a 7-3 lead.
Early in the second, BC struck again as Rourke went a perfect five-for-five for 61 yards, finishing with a 14-yard back-shoulder lob to Cottoy. Whyte’s conversion stretched the lead to 11 points.
Midway through the second, Calgary finally found some rhythm offensively as Adams Jr. completed four straight to get to midfield. Mathieu Betts ended the march there, breaking through for his CFL-leading 14th sack, and the Stamps salvaged three points with Paredes’ 43-yard boot.
The Lions turned up the heat on Calgary’s next series, with Tavai grabbing his second sack and BC’s fourth of the half. Rourke took advantage before the break, racing downfield with a 32-yard pass to Ayden Eberhardt before finding Hatcher Sr. for his 26th touchdown pass of the season — a new career-high. Whyte added one more to make it to 21-6 at halftime.
Rourke exited the first half with a scorching 16-for-19 line, 248 yards and three touchdowns.
The Lions didn’t skip a beat as they opened the second half. Rourke hit McInnis for 21 yards on the first play, Cottoy for 36 on a long second down, then went back-to-back to Hatcher Sr. for a 26-yard chunk and a 10-yard touchdown strike to push him over 100 receiving yards on the night.
Calgary pieced together a field-goal drive behind big completions to Clark Barnes and Jalen Philpot, to which BC responded with a 47-yarder from Whyte, maintaining the Lions’ 22-point cushion at 31-9.
Late in the third, Adams Jr. hit Erik Brooks for 55 yards to reach the red zone, only for Jackson Findlay to snag his end-zone pass — the rookie’s second straight game with an interception. Rourke gave it back immediately, with Anthony Johnson giving Adams Jr. a second chance in the red zone, where he lofted one to Barnes in the corner of the end zone before calling his own number on the two-point conversion to cut the deficit to 31-17.
Calgary’s defence stepped up once again later in the fourth as Micah Teitz nabbed Rourke’s under-pressure throw near midfield. With a shorter field, Adams Jr. drove a nine-play drive to the red zone before linking up with Dominique Rhymes on a third-down dart for the score. Paredes added the extra point and, suddenly, it was a one-possession game at 31-24.
The Stamps forced a quick two-and-out, with Rourke coming off the field hobbling, to give their offence a chance to tie things up with three minutes left. After a couple of productive rushes, Robert Carter played hero as he leapt up to take away Adams Jr.’s hanging pass to Tevin Jones. Looking for insurance, Butler took a pass from the flats 44 yards, and Zander Horvath broke free for a 33-yard touchdown scamper to make it 38-24 and put it away.
The Lions head into a Week 19 bye before hosting the Edmonton Elks on Friday, October 17, while the Stampeders travel to Hamilton to take on the Tiger-Cats on Saturday, October 11.
