Lions pounce on Elks 32-14 for second straight win
Nathan Rourke passed for 345 yards and two touchdowns as the Lions won the latest clash of the Canadian quarterbacks, emerging with an easy 32-14 victory over the Edmonton Elks on Sunday.
'We did some good things,' Rourke said. 'We definitely need to finish drives a little bit better, but I think we did a really good job really giving it to them in the run game, having some long times of possession and really putting some drives together, that was good to see.
'It's good to be playing good football and it's also good not to have played our best football yet.'
James Butler also rushed for a career-high 172 yards and a touchdown for the Lions (3-3), who have won two straight.
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'I felt like I could have had more,' Butler chuckled. 'We were talking all week about putting four quarters together. We've had slow starts. I thought we got out fast in this game and kept on pushing.'
Quarterback Tre Ford passed for only 34 yards as Edmonton was held to just 160 yards in net offence on the night, much of that coming when the game was already out of reach.
'It was a tough game,' Ford said. 'Obviously we got beat up and a lot of that was my fault. There was just a lot of missed throws today. It just sucks because I thought I was seeing the field really well.
'It just wasn't our day.'
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The Elks dropped to 1-4.
There was no scoring until late in the opening quarter when Sean Whyte nailed a 33-yard field goal.
The Lions made it 10-0 five minutes into the second quarter when Rourke completed a short pass to Jevon Cottoy and he danced out of the clutches of a defender and dove into the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown.
Edmonton caught a break when a Rourke pass went off a helmet on the line and was caught by defensive lineman Jake Ceresna, who promptly fumbled it before teammate Tyrell Ford dropped on it on the B.C. 19. It would eventually lead to a one-yard TD plunge by backup quarterback Cody Fajardo.
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The Lions came roaring back to restore their 10-point lead with two minutes left in the first half as Butler powered his way through for a 15-yard rushing TD.
B.C. looked to have extended its lead on a massive 92-yard punt return touchdown by Seven McGee, but the play was nullified on an illegal block call.
With just eight seconds left in the second quarter, however, Rourke completed a seven-yard TD pass to Stanley Berryhill III to take a 24-7 lead into halftime.
In their first five games this season, the Lions had managed only three points in the first quarter and had been outscored a combined 72-32 in the opening half.
'Early execution was key for us and we've been lacking that the last number of weeks,' said Lions head coach Buck Pierce. 'So, to be able to come out and start a little faster was good to see.'
After gaining two points on a safety on Edmonton's previous possession, Whyte kicked a 36-yard field goal with 3:24 remaining in the third.
Whyte added a 31-yard field goal with five minutes left in the fourth.
Fajardo replaced Ford at QB late in the fourth and completed a 31-yard touchdown pass to Kurleigh Gittens Jr.
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NOTES
It was the second game this season featuring a pair of Canadian starting quarterbacks, as the first game for both squads this season also had Ford going against Rourke, with the Lions winning that encounter 31-14. Before this season, the last time there was an all-Canadian quarterback matchup also featured these same two teams, taking place way back in August 1968 (the Lions' Pete Ohler against Edmonton's Frank Cosentino). … The two teams will meet a third time on Oct. 17 in Vancouver, the second-last week of the regular season … Ceresna suffered a leg injury in the third and was carted off the field.
UP NEXT
Lions: Host the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday, July 19.
Elks: Visit the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Friday, July 25.
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