Bakes' Game Takes | BC 30 MTL 37

MONTREAL- The BC Lions saw their five-game winning streak come to an end on Friday night, falling 37-30 to the Montreal Alouettes at Percival Molson Stadium. This one was there for the taking, as the 6-6 Lions fell victim to a few miscues that the hometown Alouettes capitalized on. The win for Montreal improves them to 10-2 and wraps up a home playoff game with six games to play. The result also sets up a big rematch one week from Saturday back in Vancouver. Now for some Game Takes.

Z Train Stalls & Key Pick-Six Seals Fate

On a night where the Nathan Rourke-Davis Alexander matchup seemed to garner most of the pre-game headlines, it was the defence on both sides that had plenty to say in this result.

After the resurgent Lions unit used a goal-line stand by Darnell Sankey and a forced fumble by T.J. Lee to help stake them to a 12-7 halftime lead, the offence had some uncharacteristic execution lapses after the break. Not one, but two failures by Zander Horvath to convert on 3^rd and 1 gave Alexander and the offence excellent field position to work with. Both of those led to field goals. Even more frustrating, the second instance was preceded by back-to-back illegal procedure calls, as the crowd noise played a big role in Montreal’s comeback. They’ll review it and get better next week. But this no doubt will leave a sour taste.

“I think we played a very good opponent in their home stadium. It was a tough environment, a fun environment to play in,” said Rourke.

“I thought we beat ourselves. Our defence played tremendously. That’s a very good offence; they have a lot of weapons and do a ton of different things. We have a lot of respect for Jason Mass and Davis Alexander on that side.”

Rourke finished 31/45 for 375 yards- his seventh 300-yard outing of the season and 2 touchdown passes.

But it was immediately after the second turnover on downs when Rourke tossed an interception to Tyrice Beverette that was returned 53 yards for a major and put the Alouettes ahead 27-19 heading into the final frame.

“Obviously, the turnover was the big moment in the game. Right now, I’m looking at the score and feeling that that’s on me,” added Rourke.

The final quarter saw Tyler Snead’s second major give them their largest lead of the night at 34-22. Rourke and the Lions didn’t quit, as he hit Jermaine Jackson for a touchdown and then Keon Hatcher Sr. for a two-pointer to get to within four. After a failed onside kick with 1:38 to play, the home side was able to tack on three more to round out the scoring.

“It was a tough, physical game for four quarters,” added Buck Pierce.

Both teams took their turns making mistakes and making plays, and they made plays when they had to, especially down the stretch. But you look at that first quarter or the first half, really; right where we wanted to be, getting the ball back and in the third quarter, going down and putting points on the board. Felt good about y where we were going at that point, then they made some plays.”

“We were rolling fine. Like I said, I feel like we got in our own way. I hope it stings a little bit,” Rourke explained.

“I think there’s room to get better. Myself included, most importantly. It’s going to be a tough watch, but it’s going to be good and hopefully we can learn from it and be better because of it.”

Alexander finished the game 25 / 34 for 297 yards and an opening-drive touchdown strike to Snead. He completed his first 11 passes for 110 yards all in the opening frame. We shall see what next week brings with these two gunslingers.

Key Stats

30- points in the second half for Montreal. 13 of them came off of the two third-down stops and interception return.

457- net yards for BC in the loss. You normally expect to win with output like that.

46- the Alouettes held Horvath to only 46 yards on the ground.

0-Red zone opportunities for the Lions after we discussed it as a major pre-game key. Rourke’s touchdowns to McInnis and Jackson were of 32 and 25 yards, respectively.

Next Up

It’s a highly anticipated rematch with the Alouettes on Saturday, September 12. Kickoff is 7:00 pm at Save-On-Foods Field at BC Place. Vancouver’s first official Tailgate presented by Lordco begins at 2:00 pm at Plaza of Nations. Game tickets start at only $19.