VANCOUVER, BC- It was billed all week as a heavyweight, first-place battle. And the 5-1 BC Lions would prevail in a fight that took all 12 rounds and featured more than its share of momentum swings.
Vernon Adams Jr. threw for a season-high 451 yards and helped put it out of reach with a 12-yard touchdown run in the late stages as the home squad prevailed 35-20 over the 4-1 Saskatchewan Roughriders in front of 30,803 fans at Save-On-Foods Field at BC Place. Justin McInnis was once again Adams Jr.’s favourite target as he hauled in a new career-high of 243 yards and a touchdown while hauling in a reception on all 14 of his targets. Now for some game takes.
Turnover Trading Highlights Wild 4th Quarter
It was a 60-minute street fight that was defined by some back and forth moments after the Lions took a 22-13 lead into the final quarter. The Lion defence began the final frame by stuffing quarterback Shea Patterson on a third and goal from the one only for it to be followed by by Adams Jr.’s second interception of the game which returned the Riders’ instant field position inside the ten and led to the second touchdown of the game from A.J. Ouellette to cut the lead to two.
The Riders kept the momentum and the ball by executing an onside kick. The Lion defence then buckled down again as Josh Archibald’s forced fumble wound up in the hands of Manny Rugamba. The Lions capitalized with the Adams touchdown run on a series that was aided by two big completions to Alexander Hollins who had struggled with a couple of drops that would have led to touchdown receptions and a bigger cushion. Redemption is always sweet.
“Just wow,” said the winning quarterback after the win.
“Just an outstanding game by the defence in my opinion, giving us a lot of opportunities. Getting the stop on the one down there, then I turn it over which was bad by me. Special teams put us in good field position. I want to be better. I want to be better for the team, get more completions. It was tough at first but we fought through it.”
As for McInnis, he continued to be clutch despite having to come out of the game on two occasions late with some cramping issues in his leg. Adams Jr. was so complimentary of this top target that he said he would trust him with his kids. Now there would be a fun reality show.
“He’s a dude man. He’s been working ever since he got here, “said Adams.
“He’s got such strong hands, I’m throwing the ball a little bit behind him and he’s making great catches with DBs all over him. He’s a huge part of this team, this offence. A great dude as well off the field. I’m so happy for him and all of his success.”
And perhaps it comes as a neat sidebar that it came against the team that drafted him in 2019 and where McInnis would spend the first three seasons of his career before finding his home on the west coast.
“I just like it more for after the fact when I get to see the guys I do know and just kind of rub it in there face a little bit,” said the receiver in a jokingly fashion.
“It was a super fun, exciting and competitive game. 243, that’s the most (yards) I’ve ever had in my life. I am just happy to come out of it healthy because I had a little scare there in the third quarter but you know, it was good.”
Sean Whyte made good on all seven of his field goals, the longest coming from 52 yards out, and his last one coming with no time left as Rick Campbell had point differential in a possible tiebreaker scenario in mind. It’s never too early to thing about that stuff with the final meeting between these teams coming in October at Regina.
“I think they’re good. Just watching them live, I can see why they give people problems and create turnovers because they’re very athletic, very physical,” said Campbell of the Roughriders.
“I was just super proud of our guys for making plays. That’s what it comes down to in this league is who makes plays in the fourth quarter, particularly in the second half of the fourth quarter. They were trying to fight theri way back into the game and they came close. Our guys made major plays when they needed to to win the game.”
First place in the West with one-third of the season gone. Not a bad start.
Key Numbers
457- another solid production for the offence when it came to net yards.
4- quarterback sacks from the defence, one each from Josh Archibald, Christian Covington, Bo Lokombo and Jonah Tavai who picked up a big one in the fourth quarter in his CFL debut.
4/2- the Lions took the turnover battle which was something we said would be a big key to another victory.
39- Whyte’s field goal streak which moves him past Rene Peredes for the second-longest in CFL history. Next up is Ottawa’s Lewis Ward at 69 straight.
4-0 the Lions’ remain unbeaten against West Division rivals with a chance to wrap up a season series next week in Calgary.
34- head coaching victories for Campbell with the Lions, moving him past his current special teams co-ordinator Mike Benevides for fifth on the franchise’s all-time list. Next up in fourth spot is 1964 Grey Cup champion Dave Skrien at 42 wins.
Next Up
The Lions visit 2-3 Calgary next Sunday, July 21 with kickoff at McMahon Stadium 4:00 pm PT. It is the second of three regular season meetings after the Lions prevailed 26-17 back in week two at home.
Matt Baker: mbaker@bclions.com