Tiger-Cats 37, B.C. Lions 33: Hamilton completes comeback with last-minute touchdown

National Post

a day ago

VANCOUVER — A last-minute touchdown reception from Kiondre Smith lifted the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to a 37-33 win over the B.C. Lions on Sunday.
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Bo Levi Mitchell threw for 389 yards, three touchdowns and an interception as the Ticats (5-2) stretched their win streak to five straight games.
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Jake Dolegala tallied a rushing major for the Ticats, and Brendan O'Leary-Orange also reeled in a TD pass.
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Kicker Marc Liegghio made four converts and three field goals, including a 40-yard attempt, as his team overcame a 10-point deficit late in the fourth quarter.
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Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke threw for 289 yards, connecting on 20 of his 27 attempts, while kicker Sean Whyte made four field goals — including a 45-yard kick — and three converts.
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Running back James Butler notched a pair of rushing TDs against his former team and rushed for 115 yards on 16 carries.
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Butler played two seasons for Hamilton before being released by the club in January. He signed with B.C. as a free agent hours later, making a return to the team where he started his CFL career and had a breakout campaign in 2022.
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He wasted little time in exacting revenge on his former team.
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About five minutes into the game, Rourke faked a handoff to Butler, kept the ball himself and sprinted toward the end zone.
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His backup, Jeremiah Masoli, came on for short yardage duty and dished off to Butler, who manoeuvred his way through traffic and over the goal line for a touchdown. He celebrated with an emphatic spike that sent the ball sailing into the stands.
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Rourke put in another big run before the end of the first quarter, dashing 21 yards through the midfield and Butler followed suit with a 23-yard run. The QB then handed off to Butler once again and the running back slipped through a hole and into the end zone for his second major of the night. Whyte made the convert and B.C. went up 14-3.
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Hamilton started the second with a first down on B.C.'s two-yard line and eventually made good on the positioning when Dolegala powered through the crowd for the Ticats' first touchdown of the game.
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Liegghio added an 11-yard field goal midway through the quarter, cutting his team's deficit to a single point.
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The Lions responded with some big plays, including Rourke's dish 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.
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With just over a minute left in the first half, B.C. cornerback Robert Carter Jr. made his own highlight reel-worthy play. Mitchell launched a rainbow toward the end zone, where Carter snuck up behind Hamilton receiver O'Leary-Orange, leapt up and — with one hand — reeled in the ball.