OTTAWA — Nathan Rourke showed why everyone is talking about him with an impressive performance in the BC Lions’ 34-31 win over the Ottawa Redblacks on Thursday night.
The young Canadian quarterback has been compared to some of the league’s all-time greats, and while it may be too early to hand him the crown, he certainly made an impression in leading the Lions to their third straight CFL win.
Rourke finished the game at TD Place Stadium by completing 23 of 31 passes for 359 yards, two passing touchdowns, one rushing TD and two interceptions, the first of his career.
“I’ve never met anyone with more confidence,” Lions running back James Butler said. “He’s a great leader and an even better person, and there’s no other quarterback I’d rather play for.”
Much was made of the short week for the Lions, who played last Saturday against Toronto and had a cross-country trip while the Redblacks came off a bye week.
“It’s a huge win for us to fly across the country,” Lions head coach Rick Campbell said. “Ottawa is a good team, so to beat those guys on the road, I’m really proud of our guys … we made enough plays to win the game.”
The same cannot be said for the Redblacks as they lost their third game in a row.
“You know, we probably made too many mistakes against a good football team,” Redblacks coach Paul LaPolice said. “You can’t give up the edge, you can’t drop coverage. You have to be a little more consistent offensively, we had too many strikeouts.”
There were some positives as Ottawa managed to score three touchdowns after going nine quarters without reaching the red zone, but the moral victories are starting to ring hollow.
After throwing for more than 700 yards in his first two games, Ottawa quarterback Jeremiah Masoli was 13 for 26 for 159 yards with one rushing TD tonight.
Masoli knows he has to be better if his team hopes to get into the win column.
“I was fine,” Masoli admitted. “I missed some shots early on … for the most part we had a lot of stuff out there, we just didn’t execute.”
The Redblacks trailed 14-6 at halftime, but thanks to a couple of steals from Money Hunter, they were able to take a 20-14 lead.
Hunter picked off Rourke and ran the ball back to the Lions’ 16-yard line. Three plays later William Powell, playing his first game of the season, ran in a five-yard touchdown and two penalties and three two-point attempts later, the score was 14-14.
On BC’s next possession, Hunter came up with another interception, returning the ball 56 yards to the Lions’ seven-yard line. Ottawa completed the drive when Masoli scored a one-yard TD. Lewis Ward made a rare conversion miss and Ottawa led 20-14.
Ward has missed just six of 46 career conversion attempts.
With three interceptions this season, Hunter set a career high, but admitted the only mindset heading into Saskatchewan next week could be winning.
“You come to play and you come to win,” Hunter said of next week’s game in Regina. “That’s the only message you can give everyone right now. Everybody needs (a win) just to keep their heads up.”
While some young quarterbacks may have been rattled after being taken out, Rourke came right back, connecting with Keon Hatcher for a 71-yard TD pass and the conversion restored a 21-20 lead.
Rourke credited his teammates for being able to bounce back.
“I’m human and I make mistakes, but I have a phenomenal team around me,” Rourke said. “For the last three weeks I’ve been telling you that it’s not just me and you didn’t believe me. I think we showed tonight that this is a really good team and I happened to play on it.”
BC never looked back as Butler added another touchdown to make it 28-20 and Sean White made field goals of 32- and 15-yards to complete the Lions’ scoring.
Ward added a 38-yard field goal midway through the fourth, and in the game’s final minute, the Redblacks were able to march down the field and get to the one-yard line thanks to a pass interference call, and Caleb Evans scored a TD. A two-point conversion made it 34-31 with 29 seconds left.
After going without a game last week, the Redblacks gave Rourke his first shot in the opener, but then he showed why people are so excited about his play.
On BC’s next possession, on a third-and-short play, Rourke ran for a 50-yard touchdown and the Lions took an early 7-0 lead.
Rourke connected with Hatcher in the second quarter and drove the Lions to the Ottawa three-yard line. Butler then ran in an eight-yard TD to make it 14-3.
Ottawa scored in the first half on Ward’s 35- and 28-yard field goals.
NOTES: The Lions’ next game is against the defending Gray Cup champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers on July 9 at BC Place. The winless Edmonton Elks and Hamilton Tiger-Cats will square off on Friday in Hamilton. The Montreal Alouettes (1-2) will be in Regina on Saturday to face the Saskatchewan Roughriders (2-1) and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (3-0) will play the Argonauts (1-1) in Toronto on Monday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 30, 2022
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