EDMONTON, AB- The BC Lions are back to .500 with a big opportunity to blow up this tight Western Division race next week. In their never-ending quest to play a complete game, the 3-3 Lions overpowered the 1-4 Edmonton Elks with a 32-14 victory on Sunday night at Commonwealth Stadium.
The victory also assures them of winning the season series with the Elks after taking them down in week one. The teams meet one more time, on Saturday, October 17, back in Vancouver. Now for some game takes following a dominating road performance to wrap up week six in the Canadian Football League.
Did Somebody Say, Complimentary Football?
Nathan Rourke and the offence were firing on all cylinders as the quarterback completed his first eight passes of the night and hit Jevon Cottoy and Stanley Berryhill III for first-half touchdowns. Sandwiched in between was a bruising 15-yard touchdown run from James Butler as the visitors jumped out to a 24-7 halftime lead.
The only miscues of the opening half were a Jake Ceresna interception that led to the Elks’s only major of the first 30 minutes and a Garry Peters illegal block that wiped out a punt return touchdown from Seven McGee. Still, the offence recovered after that infraction with Berryhill’s major that came with only eight seconds to play before the break. It’s always about how well you recover from those miscues. That one capped off a 101-yard scoring drive after the penalty.
“What I was proud of tonight was that they took the field with the mindset that they were going to make a play,” said Buck Pierce.
“All three phases I thought complemented each other very well tonight.”
Rourke continued his domination of Edmonton, finishing 26/30 for 345 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Keon Hatcher Sr. was his top target with 130 yards on nine receptions. He narrowly missed a touchdown in the third quarter before being tackled on the three-yard line on a series that resulted in a turnover on downs. All in all, an outstanding offensive performance.
“We did some good things. I think we definitely need to finish drives a little bit better, but we did a really good job of giving it to them on the run game and having some long time of possession and really putting some drives together. That was good to see,” said Rourke after the win.
Butler was a physical presence in the backfield, running for a career-high 172 yards on 30 carries. It’s the type of balanced attack on offence they need to have week in and week out.
“Man, I feel like I could have had more (yards), but shout out the O-Line like I said, shout out Nate, shout out Buck for calling them and staying with it. Credit to those guys,” said Butler.
“One thing we learned is we’re a resilient group. We’re not going to give up.”
“He’s a tremendous player. The offensive line did a great job with some injuries and they did a fantastic job going through the run game and pass pro,” added Rourke on the running back.
“JB ran as hard as usual, so that was great to see. Happy for him.”
The Lion defence continued their dominant outing in the second half, limiting Elks quarterback Tre Ford to just four completions on 12 pass attempts for 34 yards. Cody Fajardo took over in the final quarter and engineered one touchdown drive with the result no longer in doubt.
“We’re going to enjoy this one tonight,” said Buck Pierce.
“We’re going to improve and get better. What I like about the group is that they embrace it and enjoy the work. Every week is going to be tough. But we’re excited to get back home in front of our fans and put on a show as well.”
Key Numbers
519- The victorious Lions had over 500 yards in net offence, compared to a total of 160 for the Elks.
207- Yards from scrimmage for Butler as he chipped in with 35 yards on three receptions.
42:54– How about that for ownage of time of possession?
12- The number of 300-plus passing yards games for Rourke, who leads in that category amongst Canadian-born quarterbacks. Russ Jackson is second with nine.
5-0-Rourke’s career record in starts against Edmonton, dating back to week 14 of the 2021 campaign.
66- The Lions held Edmonton just that many yards on the ground, as running back Javon Leake was held in check for the entire game.
Quotable
“Momentum is a hell of a thing, so we’re excited. We’re finally going back home, which is nice. We’re excited to get after another opponent.”- Butler on the two-game win streak that now sets up…..
Next Up
The Lions are back at Save-On-Foods Field at BC Place for a battle with the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday, July 19. Kickoff for our third annual Watermelon Smash is at 4:00 pm with TICKETS starting at $19. The 4-1 Roughriders dropped a 24-10 decision to Calgary in week six.