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CTV News
2 days ago
- Sport
- CTV News
Mitchell, Hamilton Tiger-Cats complete late comeback to beat B.C. Lions 37-33
B.C. Lions' James Butler (20) runs the ball past Hamilton Tiger-Cats' Stavros Katsantonis (30) during the first half of a CFL football game, in Vancouver, on Sunday, July 27, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck VANCOUVER — Even when his Hamilton Tiger-Cats were down 10 points with less than four minutes on the game clock, Kiondre Smith believed someone on his team would make a big play. He was right. Smith reeled in a last-minute touchdown reception on Sunday, lifting the Ticats (5-2) to an improbable 37-33 comeback victory over the B.C. Lions that stretched Hamilton's win streak to five straight games. 'You just have to buckle down to the details and understand that you got to come back,' said the Canadian receiver. 'And with the group that we have this year and the staff that we have and what we've been doing in practice, the way we've been taking care of each other, there was never any doubt in there. It was just knowing that you had to do your job. Had to do your job and bite down. And we did that fully.' B.C. pulled away with about four minutes left in the fourth quarter after Hamilton's Greg Bell fumbled and Sione Teuhema recovered the ball. Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke then lobbed a 43-yard toss to Ayden Eberhardt, giving the home side a first down at Hamilton's two-yard line. Backup QB Jeremiah Masoli came on for short-yardage duty and propelled himself through a mass of bodies for a touchdown. Kicker Sean Whyte made the convert and the Lions took a 33-23 lead. The Ticats weren't about to go quietly, however. Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell sailed a 44-yard pass to Brendan O'Leary-Orange in the end zone and kicker Marc Liegghio made a convert that cut Hamilton's deficit to three points. On their next possession, Mitchell and his teammates worked their way up the field until, with 16 seconds left on the clock, the QB connected with an unmanned Smith for the game-winning major. 'I'm not gonna lie to you, I saw that pre snap,' Smith said of the play, which marked his second TD of the game. 'We had (players) bunched to the right, and they had two people out there. Someone was gonna be wide open. I'm fortunate enough for it to be me on that one.' Mitchell made good on 34 of his 41 passing attempts on the night, throwing for 389 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. 'That man is amazing,' Smith said of the 35-year-old American. 'He's a playmaker. He's a baller. He ages like wine and is continuing to show.' Jake Dolegala chalked up a rushing major for the Ticats, and Liegghio made four converts and three field goals, including a 40-yard attempt. 'I'm just so proud of these guys. Their confidence is building,' said Hamilton's head coach Scott Milanovich. 'Most of all, their faith and their belief in their teammates is building. And they believe when the game's on the line, that somebody's gonna make plays. And that's what happened.' When a game slips away late, it comes down to a team's mental toughness, said Lions defensive back Robert Carter Jr. 'It's a game of inches, so I would definitely say we had to mentally lock in there,' he said. 'And maybe one or two just wasn't mentally there.' Despite the final result, B.C. (3-5) had shining moments on Sunday. Rourke threw for 289 yards, connecting on 20 of his 27 attempts, while Whyte made four field goals — including a 45-yard kick — and three converts. Running back James Butler drove in a pair of TDs against his former team and rushed for 115 yards on 16 carries. Midway through the second quarter, Rourke dished off to an unmanned Keon Hatcher Sr. in the midfield. The receiver took advantage, sprinting deep into Hamilton territory for a 73-yard gain. Whyte capped the scoring drive with a 22-yard field goal. Carter made his own highlight reel-worthy play with just over a minute to go in the first half. Mitchell launched a rainbow toward the end zone, where the corner back snuck up behind Hamilton's O'Leary-Orange, leapt up and — with one hand — reeled in the ball. Losing after some big moments hurts, Carter said. 'I would definitely say this is a devastating loss, just because we were up 10, three minutes left, you know?' he said. 'Like, you've got fans leaving the game, thinking, like, 'Oh, this game is over.' So I definitely thought we should have put that one away.' Lions head coach Buck Pierce said his message to the team after the loss was that everyone in the locker room needs to understand the reality of where they are. 'And have the ability to look at yourselves and ask yourself, 'What more can I do?'' he said. 'Because we've got to be able to finish football games. We've got to be able to get ourselves to a point where we're more consistent and find a way to close games out.' B.C. is now headed into a bye week, and Pierce believes some time off will serve his group well. 'This is gonna sting for a while, right?' he said. 'But they have to move past the emotion of it to grow. And that's the big thing. It's OK to let it hurt, and it's OK to be a little hard on yourself right now. But you've got to move past that. And it's a resilient group, a tough group.' UP NEXT Tiger-Cats: Visit the Edmonton Elks on Saturday. Lions: Visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Thursday, Aug. 7. This report by Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press, was first published July 27, 2025.
National Post
2 days ago
- Sport
- National Post
Mitchell, Hamilton Tiger-Cats complete late comeback to beat B.C. Lions 37-33
VANCOUVER — Even when his Hamilton Tiger-Cats were down 10 points with less than four minutes on the game clock, Kiondre Smith believed someone on his team would make a big play. Article content He was right. Article content Smith reeled in a last-minute touchdown reception on Sunday, lifting the Ticats (5-2) to an improbable 37-33 comeback victory over the B.C. Lions that stretched Hamilton's win streak to five straight games. Article content 'You just have to buckle down to the details and understand that you got to come back,' said the Canadian receiver. Article content 'And with the group that we have this year and the staff that we have and what we've been doing in practice, the way we've been taking care of each other, there was never any doubt in there. It was just knowing that you had to do your job. Had to do your job and bite down. And we did that fully.' Article content B.C. pulled away with about four minutes left in the fourth quarter after Hamilton's Greg Bell fumbled and Sione Teuhema recovered the ball. Article content Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke then lobbed a 43-yard toss to Ayden Eberhardt, giving the home side a first down at Hamilton's two-yard line. Backup QB Jeremiah Masoli came on for short-yardage duty and propelled himself through a mass of bodies for a touchdown. Kicker Sean Whyte made the convert and the Lions took a 33-23 lead. Article content The Ticats weren't about to go quietly, however. Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell sailed a 44-yard pass to Brendan O'Leary-Orange in the end zone and kicker Marc Liegghio made a convert that cut Hamilton's deficit to three points. Article content On their next possession, Mitchell and his teammates worked their way up the field until, with 16 seconds left on the clock, the QB connected with an unmanned Smith for the game-winning major. Article content 'I'm not gonna lie to you, I saw that pre snap,' Smith said of the play, which marked his second TD of the game. 'We had (players) bunched to the right, and they had two people out there. Someone was gonna be wide open. I'm fortunate enough for it to be me on that one.' Article content Mitchell made good on 34 of his 41 passing attempts on the night, throwing for 389 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Article content 'That man is amazing,' Smith said of the 35-year-old American. 'He's a playmaker. He's a baller. He ages like wine and is continuing to show.' Article content Jake Dolegala chalked up a rushing major for the Ticats, and Liegghio made four converts and three field goals, including a 40-yard attempt. Article content 'I'm just so proud of these guys. Their confidence is building,' said Hamilton's head coach Scott Milanovich. 'Most of all, their faith and their belief in their teammates is building. And they believe when the game's on the line, that somebody's gonna make plays. And that's what happened.'
National Post
4 days ago
- Sport
- National Post
Nathan Rourke: B.C. Lions offence needs to find a way to 'start fast' against Hamilton Sunday
The B.C. Lions have a punctuality problem. The Lions (3-4) head into a Sunday visit to B.C. Place by the Hamilton Tigers-Cats (4-2) having led just once after the first quarter this season, and having been outscored by 34 points in those opening frames so far in the campaign. They've been outscored by 16 points in total to date. Article content Article content B.C. is coming off a 33-27 loss at home to the Saskatchewan Roughriders last week that didn't feel as close as the scoreboard actually read. That's because Saskatchewan seemed to put it into cruise control after going up 17-1 in the first quarter. The Roughriders had a 10-0 cushion, in fact, before Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke had taken his third snap — B.C. went two-and-out on the opening drive and that was followed by a Saskatchewan touchdown, a B.C. turnover on a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and then a Roughrider field goal. Article content 'We have to score more touchdowns and especially early,' Rourke said after practice Friday at the Lions' Surrey headquarters. 'We need to give our defence a little more cushion there, a little more confidence. Article content 'As an offence, our goal this week is to start fast, but it's going to be a challenge, because that's a very good defence we're playing.' Article content B.C. has been moving the ball. The Lions (404.7 yards per game) were third in the league in net offence average going into the week, trailing only the 5-2 Calgary Stampeders (406.3 yards per game) and the 5-1 Roughriders (405.7 yards per game). They aren't capitalizing enough on that success, though, to reiterate the earlier Rourke thought. The Lions (23.3 points per game) were eighth in the league in scoring going into the week. Only the 1-6 Ottawa Redblacks (21.1 points per game) were tallying less. Article content There are clear reasons why. The Lions have a league-worst 19 turnovers on the season, and their minus-10 takeaway/giveaway ratio is at the bottom of that category as well. Article content B.C. was also seventh in the league in penalties (7.9 per game) and penalty yardage (73.3 per game) to start the week, and that included a league-worst 13 flags on special teams. Article content It's a hard team to get a read on right now. Rourke is on a three-game streak of 300-yard passing games and can tie his longest run of such games as a Lion if he can hit the number again Sunday. The matchup with the Tiger-Cats will be his 40th as a Lion. Article content 'We need to first and foremost take care of the ball. We can't turn the ball over,' explained Rourke, the 27-year-old pivot. 'Secondly, we have to keep out of second and long situations. I think we showed the second time when we played Edmonton (in a 32-14 road win on July 14) that when we're second and medium we can be very, very good. If we do that, we put ourselves in a good position. Article content Article content B.C.'s defence is looking to rally after being picked apart by Saskatchewan veteran quarterback Trevor Harris, who was 23-of-30 for 395 yards, with three touchdowns and one interception last week. Hamilton, who are winners of four straight, are led by another seasoned pivot in Bo Levi Mitchell. Article content Mitchell, 35, has been so good this season that Pat Steinberg at was pegging him the early favourite for Most Outstanding Player honours on Friday. Mitchell came into the week leading the league in passing yards (1,812) and touchdowns (12), with just two interceptions.
BBC News
23-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Irish kicker McNamee signs NFL deal with Packers
Irish kicker Mark McNamee has signed a contract with the Green Bay Packers in the 25-year-old from Wicklow was part of the 2025 International Player Pathway programme and took part in the NFL Combine in March.A former goalkeeper for his Gaelic club Ballyboden St Endas, McNamee spent June with the BC Lions in the Canadian Football League before signing with the Packers on becomes the second Irish kicker on their roster, joining Wicklow-born Dan Charlie Smyth (New Orelans Saints) and Jude McAtamney (New York Giants), there are now four kickers from the Island of Ireland plying their trade in the Packers are one of the most successful American football teams with a record 13 league championships and have won the Superbowl four times.
Yahoo
20-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Davis: Saskatchewan Roughriders change styles to dominate B.C. Lions
The Saskatchewan Roughriders badly needed a mid-season makeover. Even while winning four of their first five CFL games this season the Roughriders had been slow starters who eschewed deep passes, rarely blitzed opposing quarterbacks, got caught being too enamoured with themselves and were heading to an unfriendly stadium to play the red-hot B.C. Lions. So the Roughriders made some strategic changes and beat the Lions rather easily on Saturday, grabbing a 16-point lead and — despite some late-game foibles — cruising to a 33-27 victory inside B.C. Place Stadium, where Saskatchewan had lost its three previous contests. The Lions were also on a two-game streak, with victories in their last two road games, before falling to 3-4. Instead of relying solely on their predictable short-passing attack, Riders quarterback Trevor Harris took advantage of decent protection by his offensive line to complete four long passes of 30-plus yards, which included 50- and 30-yarders that Dohnte Meyers caught for touchdowns. Harris wasn't sacked and, despite Darius Washington making his first CFL start at left tackle against a strong defensive line, the Roughriders also got 72 rushing yards from A.J. Ouellette and 12 from Ka'Deem Carey, who left the game with a gruesome knee injury in the third quarter. 'We know we're an explosive offence,' said Meyers, who led all receivers with 132 yards on seven catches. 'That's what we want to do and continue to be explosive throughout the game. 'Just because you may start fast, we want to finish fast also. That was the goal this week.' It didn't happen exactly like that. Meyers' touchdowns came on Saskatchewan's opening possession of each half, so after his third-quarter major put the Roughriders ahead 30-11 they scored only one more field goal from Brett Lauther, whose 4-for-4 day outing improved his season success rate to 70 per cent (14-for-20). While completing 23 of 30 passes for 395 yards with three touchdowns and one interception, Harris said during a halftime interview the Roughriders' offence needed to keep attacking its opponents. Instead the Roughriders became more conservative and subsequently replaced Harris with short-yardage quarterback Tommy Stevens in an ill-advised attempt to kill the final minutes of the fourth quarter. That silly strategy actually set up Lions QB Nathan Rourke's third TD pass and ensuing two-point convert, which pulled the Lions within six points and a failed short kickoff away from somehow winning a game that shouldn't have been that close. On defence the blitz-adverse Roughriders repeatedly blitzed Rourke, who sometimes escaped but often overthrew open receivers because of the pressure. With a penchant for playing zone defences, it was surprising to see the Roughriders blitzing different linebackers and defensive backs while sometimes deploying a three-man front. Rourke was sacked once, completed 27 of 41 passes for 337 yards and was intercepted when Riders linebacker A.J. Allen, who led his team with six tackles, tipped a ball to teammate Marcus Sayles. Everyone is calling it a 'bounce-back game,' a 'rebound' from the Roughriders' lacklustre performance one week earlier, when a match against the visiting Calgary Stampeders was rescheduled from Friday night to Saturday afternoon because of smoky air. The home team barely quivered while being eviscerated 24-10 in that contest. 'Do we have a glass jaw or not?' Riders head coach Corey Mace had wondered afterwards, using an old boxing analogy, following his team's first loss of the CFL season. It turns out the Roughriders are more tough-to-knockout George Chuvalo than glass-jawed Gerry Cooney. They were angry after the loss to Calgary. The offensive and defensive lines had been dominated in the trenches, a fact noted by Mace and validated by the players. They also thought they may have become too egotistical about their unbeaten record. They began last week's workouts with a rare, pads-on practice that featured lots of popping. The players told reporters afterwards they had learned a lesson from the loss and they vowed to work harder, which allowed them to keep pace with the 5-1 Stampeders atop the West Division. They didn't mention the strategy changes, a little nip-and-tuck that lets the Roughriders look at themselves in the mirror again. Related Davis: Saskatchewan Roughriders offensive linemen are ticked off ... at themselves 10 Thoughts: Roughriders put together redeeming performance against Lions The Regina Leader-Post has created an Afternoon Headlines newsletter that can be delivered daily to your inbox so you are up to date with the most vital news of the day. Click here to subscribe. With some online platforms blocking access to the journalism upon which you depend, our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed. Click here to subscribe.
