VICTORIA– 276 days following the official announcement that we were heading to our Provincial capital for a game that counts, Touchdown Pacific is finally here. And Victoria, as the last few days of festival fun suggests, is ready for a party. The 5-6 BC Lions play host to the 7-2-1 Ottawa Redblacks in a contest rich with a couple of storylines neither the Lions nor their diehard fans could have envisioned the game at Royal Athletic Park became a reality.
Given the sky-high expectations for 2024, not many would have predicted a five-game skid heading into this one. The good news? Spirits remain sky-high, despite the recent missteps.
“You’ve just got to get more intense as the time comes. We’re excited and we’ve got some fresh energy here on the Island,” said T.J. Lee, the longest-serving Lion.
It was always an interesting storyline to have this game featured as part of a home-and-home series. That should serve as good news for Lee and a proud defence that just allowed 451 yards of net offence to Dru Brown and company while the Redblacks converted 68.2 percent of their second down opportunities. The unit knows what it has to do.
“Make more plays. Having the same opponent should make us more aligned. We know their tendencies and what they want to do,” explained Lee.
“They probably make a few wrinkles but so will we. We’re not panicking and we remain focused. We understand that we’re still in the race. You can’t get miserable. A lot of the critics out there will remind us we’re struggling. We believe in the work we’re putting in and that will be the key to us gelling at the right time.”
The returns of Nathan Rourke, and now Mathieu Betts in time for this contest have just added to the anticipation. Rourke continues to get acclimated ahead of his third straight start while Betts is right into the fire after arriving in Victoria on Thursday night. He looked right at home with his old friends as the defensive unit continues the quest to improve.
“Ever since I got back from Detroit, I went back home for two or three days and had the chance to be home and workout, because I knew I was going to be playing football soon,” Betts said.
“Fortunately, things worked out here, I’m happy to be back. It’s a great happening here with the game in Victoria but the focus is to win the game tomorrow and get back to winning football games. That’s really the only thing I’m focused on right now.”
It’s the Westernmost game in CFL history. Being on the right side of it will only add to the legend.
“This is kind of like our home away from home,” added Lee.
“We’re going to stake our flag and plan to win a football game.”
The Quarterbacks
# 12 Nathan Rourke- yes there were three turnovers and bouts of inconsistency but you can score it as a solid improvement in Rourke’s second start of this crazy whirlwind season. Giveaways ultimately cost you turnovers and points. Look for Rourke to once again use his scrambling ability to his advantage as the offence looks for more consistency from top to bottom.
# 3 Dru Brown- has been one of the CFL’s solid stories since coming over as a free agent from Winnipeg. The Lion defence will need to tighten up after allowing him to make too many plays last week, specifically in second and long situations. Playmaker Justin Hardy accounted for 141 of Brown’s 390 passing yards.
3 Lions To Watch
#90 Mathieu Betts– arrived in Victoria on Thursday evening and is in the lineup less than three days after clearing waivers following his release from the Detroit Lions. The 2023 Most Outstanding Defensive Player and Canadian sack record holder will bring a welcomed energy to this pass rush.
# 6 T.J. Lee- with the secondary under fire following round one of this home-and-home series, you figure the veterans will be anxious to prove the doubters wrong. They will be counted on to neutralize Hardy, old friend Dom Rhymes and the rest of Ottawa’s playmakers. Lee gets a new assignment this week as the defensive shuffling sees him move to SAM linebacker.
# 18 Justin McInnis- showed flashes of his early-season dominance last week with a team-high 79 receiving yards and looked very solid in practice this week. Big plays will be a determining factor. He is also just 46 yards shy of hitting 1,000 for the first time in his young career.
Final Say: Victoria Buy In
” (They’re) Really focused. No one’s late for meetings, everybody’s doing all that they should do, they’ve got to do it for 24 hours and I think they’re excited to get back on the field. The whole thing’s great. I think it’s going to be a great setup and it’s going to be something that they’ll always remember, this game in Victoria. We want to come out on the right side of it so we can be happy about it.”- Rick Campbell on his squad’s excitement to represent in the Capital.
Extra Yards
Those not in attendance for this special event can watch on TSN and RDS2 in Canada and CBS Sports Network south of the border. Bob Marjanovich and Giulio Caravatta have the call on 980 CKNW and the Lions Audio Network with pre-game coverage at 3:00. Harp Pandher and Taqdeer Thindal bring you the action on Sher-E Punjab Radio AM 600 starting with their pre-game show at 3:30.
Lineup notes: South African punter Carl Meyer makes his CFL debut. The Lions’ first-round Global selection from this year took most of the starting reps. in the last full practice of the week. It’s worth noting Stefan Flintoft remains on the roster and was handling kickoff duties in practice. Defensive back Ronald Kent Jr. has been activated from the practice roster along with wide receiver Kieran Poissant, a favourite son of Vancouver Island after his time with the Westshore Rebels of the BC Football Conference. Linebacker Ben Hladik, defensive linemen Tibo Debaillie and Josh Archibald and defensive back Jordan Perryman head to the injured list.
As pointed out by Don Landry of CFL.ca, the Lions have historically dominated their Labour Day weekend meetings against Ottawa franchises with an overall record of 10-2. The only losses came to the Rough Riders in 1981 and 1983. The most recent Labour Day weekend clash with Ottawa came in 2002 against the Renegades when Damon Allen and company coasted to a 28-4 win at Lansdowne Park.
The William Stanback train has rolled on over the last three weeks as the Lions’ featured tailback has averaged 6.7 yards per carry and 95.3 yards per game.
Sean Whtye may have seen his franchise-best streak of 46 straight successful field goals come to an end but he did manage to become only the ninth in CFL history to make good on 500 for his career.