WINNIPEG– You can say this for Kaidon Salter after his first career start: the kid was as cool as a cucumber. Pressed into service in one of the CFL’s most hostile environments, the 23-year-old rookie engineered a big second-half comeback to lead the 2-5 BC Lions past the 4-4 Winnipeg Blue Bombers 35-19 on a steamy Thursday night at Princess Auto Stadium. He and the Lions also made history on a couple of fronts: Salter’s 160 rushing yards shattered the Lions’ single-game rushing record of 116, previously held by Jimmy Walden in 1960. As a team, the Lions rushed for 377 yards and broke the single-game record of 347 that had stood since 1969. Just like they drew it up, right? Now for some Game Takes.
Bully Ball
The Lions overcame a lacklustre start on the heels of Salter’s running ability. And it was a sign of things to come. Their opening touchdown drive featured a pair of Salter runs that went for 32 total yards, the second falling just short of the goal line before Zander Horvath punched it in with zeroes on the clock. It was the first of three majors on the night for Horvath, who shattered his own personal-best on the ground with 191 yards.
Before that, it was a lot of trial and error, with the opening two series resulting in a Sean Whyte field goal miss and a fumbled snap that went off Nick Cenacle. The defence held its own, holding the Bombers to a field goal after each of those unfortunate events, one from 18 yards out and the other from 12. You don’t normally see these Bombers fail to cash in in the red zone and that’s a credit to Mike Benevides’ resilient group.
After Dru Brown gave the Bombers a 16-10 lead by hitting Tim White late in the third quarter, the Lion offence kept grinding. Salter’s first CFL touchdown pass to Jermaine Jackson put them ahead 20-19 with 4:56 to play and after Taylor Elgersma replaced an injured Brown, the Bomber offence wasn’t able to gain any traction. Horvath ran for two more touchdowns, 58 and 35 yards, respectively, to put salt in the wound. All in all, a very impressive effort. And one that Salter won’t soon forget. He even caught a two-point conversion from Keon Hatcher after Horvath’s second major.
“Big shout out to the offensive line, man. I just want to thank them and the running backs,” said the winning quarterback.
“Zander went crazy today, bro. So I just want to give a big shout-out to the offensive line. We rushed over 300 yards today, so I heard it was a record-breaking rushing yard game.”
As for sticking it out after a bad start, Salter said the key was for everybody to stick together and not let the mistakes get to them. At the end of the day, some of those plays are going to happen.
“One play at a time, man. We just have to go out there and execute what we can. We don’t want to just have to go out there and take the big shots all the time. Just dig and dive down the field and open up the run game. And us being able to open up the run game today really helped us win this game,” he added.
Adding even more to the quirkiness of this performance was the fact that Salter only completed seven of 15 passes for 96 yards. Four of those went to Kieran Poissant, one each to Keon Hatcher and Cenacle, and the major to Jackson.
“I thought he operated well for his first start,” said head coach Buck Pierce.
“Obviously, there’s going to be some things that he’s going to want back, but I think the group rallied behind him and it wasn’t too big for him. He was able to step in, make some throws early to get comfortable.”
With only seven games down, the injury bug has certainly not done the team any favours. That was also the case in the backfield as Horvath and Emani Bailey had to carry the load with James Butler scratched for this contest. The duo proved why depth matters.
“This is great, especially with how it’s been the last few games,” explained Horvath.
“We talked about it this week; just momentum not being in the locker room, there’s tension in the air. We had a lot of new guys step up and play. I’m glad we can go on the field and execute. Whatever coach called, we went and made the play happen. I’m just happy for the team, especially the defence too, going out and stepping up.”
There is still a big hill to climb, no doubt. But a win like this can certainly be looked upon as the start of something big in the 2026 journey.
“It’s a big one. You know, we’ve been losing. So just being able to start climbing back up to the top and starting here out in Winnipeg. Away games are hard to play here and win here, at that,” added Salter.
“We came out here and did it today. We got a long season ahead of us, so we just got to continue to be successful, get back to the drawing board, go to work and get ready for next week.”
“We talk about finish, physicality and toughness. And to be able to do that on the road, I’m just happy for the guys,” said Pierce.
“That’s football. I’m excited to be on this side of it.”
Key Stats
377- It bears repeating. That many rushing yards to shatter a franchise record that stood since the year of the first moon landing? Are you kidding me? 191 from Horvath, 160 from Salter. In case you missed it.
11.4- Average yards per carry for the Lions on the ground.
3- Sacks for the ferocious Lions’ defence: one each from Mathieu Betts, Deontai Williams and Nathan Cherry.
25-3- The Lions owned the fourth-quarter scoreline, and it proved to be the difference.
1/3– Rhe home team only capitalized once on three red zone opportunities.
Next Up
The Lions return to Save-On-Foods Field at BC Place for a week ten clash with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Saturday, August 8. Kickoff is 4:00 pm. Our FamFest game features special mascots during the Backyard Party, while every ticket purchase grants free weekday access to the PNE. Single-game tickets start at $19.