The last two weeks have been full of peaks and valleys for the BC Lions. After a blowout 31-14 victory over the Edmonton Elks and a fantastic performance by the Lions’ running back James Butler, with 141 yards rushing and one touchdown joined the 1,000 yards in a single-season club on Oct. 21. The win over Edmonton secured the Lions’ home-field advantage in the Western Semi-Final on Nov. 6 against the Calgary Stampeders, making the season finale game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Friday, Oct. 28 meaningless. This was a perfect opportunity for the Lions to warm up the returning Lions quarterback (QB), Nathan Rourke, from a foot injury suffered in August.
The Lions were dealt a 24 – 9 loss from the Bombers, who set a new franchise record with their now 15th win. Winnipeg’s running back Brady Oliveira exploited the weakness of the Lions’ defense, stopping the run. With only 71 yards rushing against the smaller Lions defense, Oliveira broke into the over 1,000 rushing yards in a season club. QB, Zach Collaros, in the short time he played after a long-deserved break, showed that he’s the league MVP and worth the new deal he signed with the Bombers earlier this year.
The shred of good news in this meaningless loss, Nathan Rourke played well for how short he was in, and the Lions look better with him at the controls.
Rourke only helmed the Lions for three drives ending in kicker Sean Whyte’s first of three field goals of the night in the second quarter. Even though Rourke was only in for a short time, he looked (relatively) comfortable running the plays. Rourke’s cannon of an arm was primed and on target, launched the ball like rockets toward the Lions’ receivers, and was on target completing 7/11 passes. It spoke volumes about Rourke’s ability to play after being away and unable to move due to his injury, to come in and play such a dominant performance. Connecting with receivers, Alexander Hollins, Lucky Whitehead, and David Mackie multiple times. The only times Rourke showed his rust was an underthrown pass to Whitehead, and a turfed ball that forced the field goal. Those plays and passes are fixed with slight adjustments in practice and moments that every QB goes through the first game after an injury absence.
Other than Rourke’s promising performance, the Lions played rather terribly, and Winnipeg decimated them. Vernon Adams Jr. got absolutely nothing done when he took over after Rourke in the second quarter. While it’s tough to compare after seeing Rourke play, Adams has had the time and practice to learn the playbook and not be so transparent when in the pocket. Adams couldn’t complete anything over 22 yards. The Lions’ third-string QB Antonio Pipkin was in a few two-n’-out drives that ultimately saw the Lions without a single touchdown at the end of the game.
For Sunday’s game, the Lions need to find a workable solution for their smaller-sized defence to stop the run quickly. The Stampeders, like the Bombers, have an explosive running game that both running back Dedrick Mills, and QB Tommy Stevens (who rushed for 163 yards against Saskatchewan last Saturday) can take advantage of and use to gain good yardage when given the room to run.
Calgary’s run isn’t the major issue. Jake Maier played remarkably well since taking over as starting QB after Bo Levi Mitchell got benched in August. Maier has averaged an 80 per cent completion rating and has scored 14 touchdowns this season — well worth the tasty two-year contract the Stamps signed Maier for back in September. After the win against the Roughriders on Oct. 29, the Stampeders will be galloping at full speed coming into Vancouver this weekend, led by seasoned head coach Dave Dickenson, one of the CFL’s and Lions’ greatest quarterbacks.
If the Lions beat Calgary this Sunday, Nov. 6, Friday’s game could have been a scary preview of the Western Final against the Bombers. The western division of the CFL has historically been the most exciting division to watch in the playoffs, and this year is no exception. If Rourke is comfortable and on point, and with three of the Lions receivers have over 1,000 yards in passing, the Lions have the depth and talent to make both games exciting. Rourke and Adams completing passes, and the defense shutting down the run are going to give the Lions the best chance to get into the Grey Cup. First it’s the Nov. 6 game against Calgary, which is already nearly sold out (yay) and should be a must watch for any football fan this weekend.
Teryn Midzain is an English Major with ambitious goals to write movies and a full-time nerd, whose personality and eccentrics run on high-octane like the cars he loves. More importantly, Teryn loves sports [Formula One], and doesn’t care who knows. When not creating and running deadly schemes in his D&D sessions, Teryn tries to reach the core of what makes the romantic and dramatic World of Sports, the characters and people that make the events so spectacular.
