Latest news with #ChaseBrice
CTV News
13 hours ago
- Sport
- CTV News
Rourke throws three TDs, B.C. Lions dump Edmonton Elks 31-14 in season opener
B.C. Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke (12) makes the throw against the Edmonton Elks during first half CFL pre-season action in Edmonton, on Friday May 30, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson Nathan Rourke reminded football fans why he's one of the CFL's top talents on Saturday. The 27-year-old Canadian quarterback threw for 324 yards with three touchdowns, and rushed for another 54 yards as his B.C. Lions opened the season with a 31-14 win over the Edmonton Elks. 'I think at the end of the day, what was the coolest for me was that, despite not playing our best in the first half at times, we rallied,' said Rourke, who went 27 for 36 on his passing attempts. 'We didn't point fingers, we didn't keep our heads down like it felt like we did a lot of time last year. We just rallied and we stuck together.' The game got off to a promising start for the Lions with Rourke and his teammates steadily working the ball up the field on their first possession to give B.C. a first down at Edmonton's two-yard line. Chase Brice came in for short yardage duty and appeared to stretch the ball into the end zone on third down. A review by the command centre, though, determined the QB went down before getting the ball across the line. B.C. again came within inches of a touchdown early in the second frame when Rourke threaded a crisp pass to Jevon Cottoy directly under the uprights. The Canadian receiver fumbled the ball, then stared at his gloves in apparent disbelief. By halftime, the Lions were behind 7-3. Inside the B.C. locker room, head coach Buck Pierce had a simple message for his team. 'Just be us. Continue to finish,' he said. 'We were doing some things that were kind of self-inflicted. And the guys understood that we needed to ramp up our details and just focus on finishing plays, finishing drives. But I was proud of the effort.' The Lions came alive early in the second half, stringing together a possession that ended with Rourke escaping the pocket, taking a few steps and sailing a 34-yard pass to Stanley Berryhill III in the end zone. Veteran Kicker Whyte made the convert and the Lions jumped out to a 10-7 advantage. Edmonton had an opportunity to level the score minutes later when Vincent Blanchard lined up for a 45-yard field goal, but his kick went wide. Rourke proved on the next possession that he's a dual threat, rushing for 13 yards on one play and 22 on another. He capped the drive with a 37-yard lob to Berryhill under the uprights and another convert from Whyte increased the Lions' lead to 17-7 midway through the third quarter. Rourke is a multi-talented athlete, Pierce said. 'You look at what he can do and how accurate he is, how fast he gets the ball out of his hands and is aggressive also with his legs. So I thought he had great command of the offence tonight,' the coach said. 'He was fantastic on the sidelines with the guys and it was awesome to watch.' Elks quarterback Tre Ford struggled early on Saturday, going 0-for-3 on his first attempts of the game before connecting with Zach Mathias for a six-yard gain on his fourth attempt. He finished the night with 178 passing yards, making good on 18 of his 27 attempts and throwing one interception. He was sacked twice. '(Ford's) still learning. He gets better every time he plays and he has to play to get better,' said Elks head coach Mark Kilam. 'You see some of the dynamic things that he can do – he will always have that and defences have to account for that. But we've got to iron out the functionality of our offence on the day to day.' Ford showed his speed in the dying seconds of the third quarter. He darted around midfield to avoid multiple sack attempts and got a 37-yard pass off to Justin Rankin, who similarly snuck past several B.C. defenders before being felled at the three-yard line. Edmonton opened the fourth with QB Cody Fajardo powering through traffic for his second short-yardage touchdown of the night. Blanchard sent the convert through the uprights to cut the Elks' deficit to three points. B.C. kept pressing and launched a seven-play, 86-yard scoring drive, capped by a 17-yard pass from Rourke to Justin McInnis in the end zone. McInnis, who hails from Pierrefonds, Que., led the CFL in receiving yards last season with 1,469. The Lions defence got to work next with linebacker Ben Hladik picking off Ford's pass and dashing 61 yards to put his team back in prime scoring position. B.C. capitalized with Rourke handing off to running back James Butler, who sprinted into the end zone for the home side's fourth touchdown of the night. Another convert from Whyte put the Lions ahead 31-14. Rourke hopes the way his team rallied on Saturday can be a rallying point later in the season when they need to be resilient once again. 'We've just got to stay together,' he said. 'Every team is good, they're going to have their day. So overcoming adversity is what champions do. That's what we want to be at the end of the year.' Notes Rapper Snoop Dogg performed for the announced crowd of 52,837 fans before kickoff. ... Both Pierce and Killam worked their first games as CFL head coaches. … Saturday marked the first time two Canadian quarterbacks have started and gone head to head in a CFL season opener. Up next Elks: Host the Montreal Alouettes on Thursday, June 19. Lions: Visit the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Thursday. -- Gemma Karstens-Smith This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 7, 2025.
National Post
15-05-2025
- Sport
- National Post
B.C. Lions training camp: Can a taskmaster in Buck Pierce toughen up these Leos?
Article content Rourke will get limited snaps Monday, with most of them going to Masoli and Brice. And McEvoy had appreciation for what both bring to the table. Article content 'That's the reason why we brought Jeremiah, and it's just to be a very confident voice at the end of the day,' he said. 'Nathan is still a young quarterback. He's played his 10 games with us, and then got hurt unfortunately. He did the NFL tour … and now he's back. So the reality is, he's a young quarterback. Article content 'And I'm happy for a guy like Chase Brice. He's in a position that it would be easy for someone to come here and see the guys in front of him and just throw up your hands and say, 'I guess it's over. I'm not going to be on this team. And let's move on.' He hasn't done that. He's competed and made us all realize that, 'Hey, we have a guy. This guy's played at a high level.' ' Article content The term 'physicality' was a buzzword for the Lions' front office staff when they talked about this team's identity. They needed a fierceness, an edge that they felt was lacking. Article content The pads were broken out for the first time earlier this week, and linebacker Micah Awe was glad to strap them back on. Article content Article content 'The pads come on, and it's not war, but it's as close as you can get to in sports,' he said Wednesday. 'Football is like the gladiators back in the day … (It's) not necessarily about touchdowns and all these big-time things. It's about tackling, blocking, running — it's all of it. And so is being physical.' Article content But the reality is, it's still camp. Players aren't going full out. They're learning how to play with Pierce's physical mindset, but also being professional about it, which means taking care not to injure or put their teammates in harm's way. Article content That, of course, will change Monday against the Stamps. Article content 'Every team wants to get more physical, but until we go on to the field and play someone else, it's easy to tee off on guys we're not even hitting,' said McEvoy. 'I know we have pads on, but in reality, no one's being taken to the ground. No one's breaking tackles because no one's tackling. So until we play a pre-season game and really get into the regular season, when it really, really means it, that's when we're really going to know how physical our football team is and what type of physicality we have.' Article content A couple dozen names have already been peeled off the Lions' training camp roster. Article content They had to get down to 85 by May 10, and dropped down to 75 by May 13. The final 46-man roster won't be set in stone until the start of the regular season. Article content Despite having 100 bodies to start with, it hasn't been easy for Pierce and Co. to make their choices, nor would he give his opinion on the roster hot spots. Article content 'There are no easy decisions. There's a lot of talent here. (General manager Ryan Rigmaiden and McEvoy) have done a good job of bringing a lot of talent in. The CFL mandates that we've got to be to certain numbers at certain times. And there's competition everywhere, and that's the message. Article content 'I'm not going to single out any specific position — there's competition everywhere. Everybody's competing at a high level. Everybody's putting their best foot forward and understanding that this is what training camp is for. Article content 'Camp, in my mind, is coming together as a team. Finding out about who we are and establishing that foundation for the season. Article content 'It's also about evaluation as well,' he said, looking ahead to Monday. 'That's what the pre-season is; what guys do when they're called upon in those type of moments.' Article content 4. RUNNING AWAY WITH IT Article content James Butler III, who returned to B.C. after two years in Hamilton, is the early front-runner to be the starting running back. He's got an established relationship and chemistry with Rourke, and pointed out his best years were playing with the Canadian pivot. His four-touchdown-in-one-half performance against the Elks in 2022 seems to back that up. Article content Of course, chemistry with Rourke didn't help Quadree Ollison, who was cut earlier this week. The former Jacksonville Jaguar was on the receiving end of Rourke's viral touchdown in the pre-season in 2023. Article content Jason Huntley, who was brought in as a returner, has stuck it out with the running backs as well, and Xander Horvath — a Mike Alstott clone with size, speed and power — is in the mix also. Those three are expected to see heavy rotation against the Stamps. Article content 'I like all our backs in camp right now,' said Pierce. 'James looks really good. He's picking up the verbiage really well. He's got a familiarity with a lot of our calls upfront, some of the O-linemen he's played with already. Article content 'They all bring a little bit of something different … We're in the process of looking at what they do well. It's our job as coaches to identify those things and see how they fit. They're all talented. They all do specific things extremely well. Article content Article content Article content Article content
