Bakes' Game Takes | BC 31 SSK 24
Steven Chang, BC Lions.
Destiny is in their hands.
The BC Lions have firmly planted themselves in the driver's seat for a home playoff game. Nathan Rourke tossed four touchdown passes and the home side survived a couple of tense moments in the late stages to hold off the Saskatchewan Roughriders 31-24 on Friday in front of 24,183 fans at Save-On-Foods Field at BC Place. The victory improves the Lions to 8-6 and vaults them into a second-place tie with the Riders in the West, two points clear of Winnipeg. More importantly, the Lions wrapped up the season series by taking two of three regular season meetings. Now for some Game Takes.
Rourke Battles Through Pain & Pressure
The key play in this one occurred with the Lions leading 24-16 just before the three-minute warning. Facing a second-and-long on his own side of the field, Rourke somehow evaded a sack before scrambling and connecting with Justin McInnis on a 59-yard completion. The longest play of the night led to his final touchdown strike to Jermaine Jackson, making it a 15-point advantage. After Trevor Harris and the Riders climbed to within eight, the Lions were able to bleed enough clock to seal the important victory. There will always be room for improvement, but the offensive execution was as clutch as it's been all season long. A vital win against a very worthy opponent.
"I thought at the end, we had a chance to really bury them and we kind of let them back in, and you know, good teams are going to do that, right? " said Rourke.
"We've got to find a way to continue to keep the gas pedal down and keep firing. I think for the most part that there's a lot of things to be happy with. We know that ultimately, going into this stretch, we knew that we controlled our own destiny, and so any type of win, especially against the West team, is huge for us, right? We just want to continue to focus, you know, one game at a time, and let the cards fall where they may."
Rourke also suffered a left hand injury earlier in the second half and continued the game with a protected glove. The injury didn't appear to hamper any abilities. He was scheduled for an X-Ray following the win, but you can be assured number 12 will be full go when preparations for Toronto begin on Tuesday. All part of how this team has become battle-tested.
"Felt great to finish it. It's hard for me to put it into perspective right now," explained Buck Pierce.
"But you're happy for the guys, obviously and the way that they continue to lean on each other each phase. You go through your ebbs and flows throughout the game and you have your highs and your lows, but our response was important. That's what they've been doing over the last couple of games. We've been responding to each individual player and his units and you're happy for the guys right now."
Backing each other up through each phase has certainly been a big part of their identity. The biggest defensive play of the night came when they stuffed Tommy Stevens on a 3rd and 1 when up 17-13 in the third quarter. That one got the crowd going. Robert Carter Jr., making his season debut three days after signing back with the team, narrowly missed another highlight-reel interception early on. Hat tip for the defensive effort in keeping Harris and company at bay.
I think at the end of the day, we're all pros; they're going to get theirs. But the thing is, we've got to get more than they get, and that's what happened today," said Carter.
"We got more stops than, obviously, they scored and that's why we came out with the big victory. But the biggest thing was we were communicating across the board. Even when they got their plays, we were still communicating. But at the end of the day, as I said, they're pros are going to get theirs too. So yeah, communication was the biggest thing for us."
Four games to go in what has been an eventful season. And they know that if they match the Riders' record the rest of the way, the Grey Cup Playoffs start here in Vancouver.
"We know that ultimately, going into this stretch, we knew that we controlled our own destiny, and so any type of win, especially against the West team, is huge for us, right? We just want to continue to focus, you know, one game at a time, and let the cards fall where they may," added Rourke.
Key Stats
1,015- Keon Hatcher has surpassed 1,000 receiving yards for the fourth time in five seasons. He hauled in a pair of touchdown passes in this one.
111- a team-high in receiving yards for McInnis.
439- net yards for Rourke and the Lions. He finished 22 of 28 for 375 yards and four touchdowns.
4/5- The Lions scored touchdowns on all but one of their red zone chances. The only miscue was due to a time-count violation on 3rd and goal from the 1 when they had to settle for a field goal in the second quarter.
2/5- On the other side, Saskatchewan only capitalized on 40 percent of their red zone chances, settling for three field goals.
Next Up
The Lions hit the road to face the Toronto Argonauts next Saturday, October 3. Kickoff is at noon PT at BMO Field. Earlier Friday, the 9-6 Argonauts took down the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 30-28.