Photo: Paul Yates, BC Lions.
VANCOUVER– They preached complementary football throughout the entire week. And they delivered when they needed it the most, with their backs seemingly against the wall in the wild race for a playoff spot. The BC Lions started fast and the visiting Ottawa REDBLACKS couldn’t recover despite a few counter punches. The end result was a 38-27 victory for Nathan Rourke and company, improving the Lions to 6-7 and in a tie with Winnipeg for third in the Western Division following a Bombers loss in Hamilton earlier on Friday. Now for some game takes.
All aboard the Canadian Express With Rourke and Betts
Nathan Rourke and the offence came out firing, as the quarterback completed his first ten passes and engineered four touchdowns in as many drives in the first half. He ran two in himself and completed a major to Keon Hatcher Sr. after James Butler opened the scoring on their first series. And while some self-inflicted wounds- three major foul penalties- that led to the REDBLACKS’ three majors in this one, the defence turned in a much better effort than the last two weeks, with Mathieu Betts being credited with four sacks in the win. Betts is the first Lion to get four sacks in a single game since Cameron Wake in his legendary 2008 season.
There will still be some things to clean up on that side of the ball. But they got decent performances from a pair of newcomers up front in Levi Bell and Brandlee Aneh, who recorded a sack in his Lion debut. The big defensive moment came in the third quarter when Deontai Williams stripped Ottawa quarterback Dustin Crum and returned it 41 yards to the house for the Lions’ first defensive score of the season. What a time to get it. That big turning point gave the home side a 38-13 lead and it was pretty much lights out at that point. At the end of the day, a much-needed result.
“As a D-line, people often talk about sacks. We all want them, but yeah, we just have to work hard and keep grinding. Run your feet, work through the quarterback. And sometimes it happens. Sometimes it doesn’t,” said Betts after the win.
“Obviously, happy. (It) feels good. I think it’s two consecutive weeks on the D-line that we have a really good game as a unit. So, I feel that if we do that going forward, everybody will be pretty happy with the result for us. Also helps the team win. We had a solid first half last week, had our ups, had our downs today, so it’s really the bringing to having four-quarter football, but for sure, really happy about it.”
On offence, it was another outing where Rourke utilized most of his weapons. Hatcher Sr. led the way with 97 yards on five catches, with Justin McInnis and Jevon Cottoy each contributing with 73 and 59 yards, respectively. They didn’t force Carl Meyer to punt until early in the fourth quarter and not again until the last play of the game.
“I always joke with Carl that we don’t want him on the field unless he’s holding extra points,” laughed Rourke.
“We certainly did that in the first half. Second half, it didn’t feel like we played up to our standard. I think that first drive had some inaccurate throws; it kind of left a sour taste in my mouth. A good first half, but we can’t expect to play that way in the second half and win too many games. Hats off to our defence and special teams for keeping us in it in the second half, but offensively, I feel like we can do better. Things that we did well, we didn’t have any turnovers, which was good. Obviously, being pretty efficient in the first half helped us. Good, but always things to work on.”
Photo: Jaclyn Mckee, BC Lions.
Despite the odd lapse in execution, you saw a glimpse of just how dominant this offence can be. A scary notion with the stretch drive heating up.
“I mean, just execution, good protection up front. The receivers were playing fast. Nathan was seeing it well. Execution on all levels,” explained Buck Pierce.
“When we do that, that’s how offensive football should look, right? So, you know, they have a good defence. They do a really good job with their front seven. So, just to be able to allow Nathan time to sit back there and see what he needed to see, to get the ball out was impressive early. We have to continue to do that more and more.”
If they do it consistently, look out.
Photo: David Friederich, BC Lions.
Key Numbers
7- sacks by the aggressive Lion defence on Crum. Four by Betts and one each by Anae, Williams and Josh Woods.
55– the Lions only had four penalties for 55 yards, a sharp decrease from the 109 yards last week, even if the three major fouls were crucial.
80- percentage in the red zone for the offence, going four of five. The only time they came short was the opening series of the second half when Rourke threw a pass just behind Cottoy on the five-yard line on second down.
9,488– career passing yards for Rourke after his 308-yard performance. He now sits ninth on the Lions’ all-time list, surpassing friend and former teammate Vernon Adams Jr. in this one.
Final Tidbit
The Lions have scored 30 or more points in six straight games. The last time that happened? 1991 with Doug Flutie behind centre.
Next Up
It’s another huge one. The Lions are back on the road for a big battle with the Calgary Stampeders next Friday, September 19. Kickoff at McMahon Stadium is 6:30 pm PT. Vernon Adams Jr. 8-4 Stampeders are on a bye this week after falling 31-19 in Edmonton in their Labour Day rematch.
Matt Baker: mbaker@bclions.com