REGINA — After a dreadful start to the season, the B.C. Lions are heading into the CFL playoffs on a six-game winning streak following a 27-21 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday.
With the win, the Lions clinched second place in the West Division and a home playoff game. The victory improved B.C. to 11-7 and the Lions will now face the third-place Calgary Stampeders — who also finished with an 11-7 record — in the West semifinal on Nov. 1 in Vancouver.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who finished fourth in the West with a 10-8 mark, will crossover and travel to Montreal to play the 10-8 Alouettes in the East Division semifinal on Nov. 1.
The Lions limped out of the starting gate with a 1-3 mark and were 3-5 as the season headed into July. They turned their fortunes around in the second half of the schedule, going 8-2 and gaining momentum as the playoffs drew closer.
Quarterback Nathan Rourke feels the Lions were their own worst enemy early in the season.
“I think the games that we lost, we feel like we were basically shooting ourselves in the foot. When we got out of our own way and started making a few more plays, good things happened for us,” said Rourke, who finished 23 of 28 passing for 366 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
“We’ve believed in ourselves since training camp. We believe in this team and believe in each other, and we’ve just got to go out there and execute.”
Although the Lions overcame an 18-10 deficit to win the game, a controversial play five minutes into the third quarter had a major impact on the final result.
On a second-and-10 play from the Saskatchewan 12-yard line, Rourke hit Keon Hatcher in the flat. As Hatcher neared the goal line, he was hit by Riders defensive back DeMarcus Fields and fumbled. Saskatchewan cornerback Tevaughn Campbell scooped up the ball and took it 107 yards to the end zone for a touchdown that would’ve increased the Riders lead to 25-13.
However, after the scoring play was reviewed by the CFL Command Centre, it was ruled that an official had whistled the play dead at the point of the fumble, negating the touchdown. Although the Riders regained possession of the ball, the momentum switched as the Lions forced a punt which led to a Rourke touchdown pass on their next possession that gave the Lions a 19-18 lead.
Campbell was adamant that he didn’t hear a whistle on the play.
“Never. No. I feel like in the play, if I did hear a whistle there would have been a moment of indecision, like, ‘Oh, do I need a run?’ But it was just a clear recovery, pick up, scoop, run to the end zone.
“I didn’t hear a whistle. I don’t think anyone else heard a whistle, because people were still in pursuit. I don’t really have much more to say about it. It was kind of just crazy,” said Campbell.
While there was still 20 minutes of game time left, Campbell believes the ruling had a major effect on the final outcome.
“It had a huge impact. I think it changed (the momentum) because we got the ball backed up instead of going back out on the field as a defence, having those seven points. But I think it changed the trajectory of the game just removing those points and you see what we lost by — six points. So yeah, definitely, it altered the outcome,” said Campbell.
Lions defensive end Mathieu Betts wasn’t about to apologize for his team catching a break on the play.
“I’ll be honest, that’s a big swing. My understanding is they blew the whistle. I’m not sure exactly how everything happened, but for sure, that would have been bad for us. We had a little bit of luck, but yeah, good on us,” said Betts.
“They got the ball deep, and we were able to stop them and get good field position for our offence and that’s when we scored the second touchdown.”
The Lions trailed 21-19 in the fourth quarter when quarterback Rourke led a six-play, 73-yard scoring drive that culminated with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Hatcher. A two-point convert was successful, with Rourke and Hatcher connecting again, to give the Lions a 27-21 lead with four minutes remaining.
Rourke entered the game with an opportunity to become the first Canadian quarterback to lead the league in passing yardage since Russ Jackson of the Ottawa Rough Riders in 1969. Rourke trailed Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell by 374 yards heading into the game. Rourke’s 366 yards Saturday left him nine yards shy of eclipsing Mitchell’s total.
Rourke finished the season 352 of 500 passing for 5,290 yards with 31 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. When asked if those numbers are worthy of consideration for the league’s Most Outstanding Player, Rourke refused to participate in that discussion.
“That’s not up for me to decide. I’m more worried about being a Grey Cup champion, and that starts with winning next week against Calgary,” said Rourke.
The Riders, who clinched first place in the West two weeks ago, are now off for a week before hosting the West final on Nov. 8.
Kian Schaffer-Baker, who had six catches for 69 yards, insisted the Riders need to stay the course heading into the post-season despite losing their final two regular-season games.
“I think you don’t change a thing. You just attack each and every single day, the same way that you’ve been doing the entire time,” said Schaffer-Baker.
Saskatchewan starting quarterback Trevor Harris played three series before exiting midway through the second quarter. The Riders scored on all three possessions, collecting two rushing touchdowns from backup quarterback Jack Coan and a 28-yard field goal from kicker Michael Hughes, who was making his CFL debut.
Ayden Eberhardt had two touchdown receptions for the Lions. Kicker Sean Whyte had two field goals and punter Karl Meyer had a 73-yard single.
Coan scored two rushing touchdowns for the Riders while Hughes had two field goals and a single on a 90-yard kickoff.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 25, 2025.
Jeff DeDekker, The Canadian Press
