Bakes' Game Takes | BC 41 OTT 20

They punched their tickets to the dance with a convincing 41-20 win over the Ottawa REDBLACKS in front of 22,083 fans at Save-On-Foods Field at BC Place. The win improved the Lions to 10-6 and extended Ottawa's historic winless start to 0-16. Now for some Game Takes:

For a moment, it looked like a runaway. But you must credit the winless REDBLACKS for fighting for the better part of 60 minutes. The home side came out firing on all cylinders, as Nathan Rourke completed his first seven passes on an opening series that was capped with a touchdown strike to Keon Hatcher. Zander Horvath's 20th touchdown of the campaign- he later added a 21st- made it 14-0 on their second offensive series and it appeared we might have a beatdown on our hands. Rourke ended the first quarter with 137 yards through the air and threw 11 straight completions overall out of the gate.

But credit to the REDBLACKS for pushing back with a touchdown pass from McLeod Bethel-Thompson to Daniel Adeboboye. The Lions defence restored the two-score lead thanks to a strip sack by Mathieu Betts that was scooped up by Casey Sayles, leading to a Stanley Berryhill touchdown catch. The offence continues to get production from all of Rourke's playmakers.

The teams then traded giveaways in the eventful opening half, as Rourke threw an interception to Alonzo Addae that salvaged a field goal right before half. The Lions led 21-12 before Ottawa crept to within three points in the third and the Lions had a big miscue of their own on a Hatcher lost fumble inside Ottawa territory.

"I mean, it was a good start. I think, give credit to where credit's due. I thought they did a really good job adjusting to what we were doing and kind of a little bit of a lull there, " said Rourke after the win.

"I think, obviously, we did a better job in the red zone. But I don't think we can expect to win many football games with three turnovers. So, we've got to clean that up. Had a little bit of, you know, some mental things here and there. But a win is a win, no matter what the other team's record is."

Rourke finished with a remarkable stat line, completing 25 of 31 passes for 360 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

Before all was said and done, it was the opportunistic defence that kept making plays, as Sayles engineered another sack-fumble that was scooped up by Darnell Sankey and Deontai Williams later recorded an interception that took the wind out of the visitors' sails. Just like on offence, getting contributions from everybody was the key for Mike Benevides' group.

"I feel like we played with a high level of energy defensively. Yeah, I mean, four turnovers is what it is. It helps us win football games and it came from two strip sacks and an interception by Deontai," said Mathieu Betts.

We had a third-down stop at some point. So, it came from everywhere. A lot of guys contributed, so that was pretty cool too. Tight coverage. So no, it was fun. High-energy execution. So it's often pretty good."

James Butler finished the night with 141 yards from scrimmage.

"I think the group believes that next time they take the field, they're gonna be able to accomplish something great. And if you walk up and down our sidelines, you're with those guys in meetings, and throughout the course of the week, they're able to continue to believe if they get another opportunity that we're going to be successful," added Buck Pierce.

"And the belief in all three phases is what you want as a coach. Mistakes are going to happen, adversity is going to hit, but how are you going to respond? And that's what this game is all about, and I think the guys are truly taking hold of that and moving on quickly from a mistake or a lack of focus in certain times. It's pretty cool to watch and as a play caller, you can kind of tell when guys are feeling it, and you know what calls to call at certain times."

Playoff Bound After a 1-5 Start

It seems like only yesterday that this was a Lion team searching for answers after just a single victory in their first six games and the season looked to be slipping away. When asked by 3DownNation's J.C. Abbott if he could put his finger on what has led to this resurgence, Betts had this to say:

"No. And I don't even feel like we've changed much. I mean, we were banged up to start the year and I don't want to use that as an excuse. I feel like everybody should. I don't think that's why we weren't getting the results we wanted. But ultimately, I don't feel like we've changed much. Defensively, it's hard to explain. I think things just go better our way. I don't know if it's just guys feeling more comfortable with what we're doing, but I wouldn't be able to say one thing that I feel like we've changed throughout the year and like changed a lot of things. Last year we were kind of on a losing record too at some point and I don't want to blame it on one guy, but you know we got T.J. Lee back at some point last year and I really felt like that was a spark from 2025. But this year, there's nothing that I can say that's like, oh, this change or whatever. I think we just stayed together, played good football, and when you play good football, you get the results you want."

Here is where things stand: with one more win in their final two games, the Lions would lock up a home date on either October 31 or November 7. The first-place Edmonton Elks saw their magic number reduced to one for locking up the bye into the Western Final after taking down Hamilton earlier on Friday. A Saskatchewan loss on Monday at Montreal would assure the Lions will not be the fourth-place crossover team into the east. The Lions are currently four points clear of the Roughriders and Stampeders for second place. Buckle up.

Key Stats

531- a whopping total of net offence for a Lions unit that came out smelling blood.

6- touchdowns for the Lions after failing to find the end zone once in a win at Toronto last week. Sean Whyte didn't attempt one field goal after being relied on to hit a franchise-record eight of them against the Argonauts.

141- scrimmage yards for James Butler, including 76 on the ground. He added a fourth-quarter touchdown to put salt in the wound.

21- Horvath is now one touchdown shy of Cory Philpot's franchise record set in 1995 and two behind Milt Stegall's CFL mark set in 2002.

5- sacks by Betts and the defence: one for him, two for Sayles and one each for Sankey and Jonah Tavai.

4- turnovers generated by the Lions. The two fumble recoveries, the interception and a big one on downs in the late stages.

Next Up

The Lions head over the Rocky Mountains for a critical road divisional matchup against the Calgary Stampeders next Saturday, October 17. Kickoff is at 4:00 PM PT. The 8-8 Stampeders visit 7-8 Winnipeg on Saturday to close out Week 19. Calgary would also clinch a playoff berth with a win.