You can add the Saskatchewan Roughriders to the growing list of teams that have run into a Nathan Rourke problem as of late.
The B.C. Lions quarterback put together another outstanding performance against the Green and White on Friday night at B.C. Place, throwing four touchdown passes and for nearly 400 yards in a 31-24 Lions victory.
And while Saskatchewan’s defence limited Rourke for much of the second half, the reigning CFL MOP still found a way to put up the points he needed to secure the victory.
“They kind of got one-dimensional in their pass game, forcing us to try to mix some things up and then we didn't make the plays,” Riders coach Corey Mace said on the Rider Broadcast Network postgame show. “The explosion plays came at bad times and, ultimately, I thought we needed to create a turnover, but we couldn't get one there. We just got to tighten up on defence.”
Beyond Rourke’s ability to scramble and extend plays — something he did with great success much of the evening — were the those explosive breaks.
Time and again Saskatchewan would appear to have the Lions offence in trouble, but Rourke would find Stanley Berryhill III, Justin McInnis or Jevon Cottoy for big gains.
And when it came to the red zone, Rourke couldn’t miss, as Keon Hatcher caught a pair of touchdown passes, Jermaine Jackson grabbed one, and Cottoy nabbed their other.
Easily the biggest example of Rourke’s dominance came late in the fourth quarter. With the Lions clinging to a 24-16 lead, he narrowly evaded three tacklers, scrambled to his right and found McInnis for a 59-yard gain up to the Riders 11. One play later, he was again flushed from the pocket, again rolled right and this time found Jackson for the major.
That was the dagger. Saskatchewan got a late touchdown from A.J. Ouellette but nothing more.
Riders defensive back James Burgess Jr. pointed to Rourke’s mobility as the key to the Lions’ success on the night.
“He’s a great quarterback with not only just his arm, but he's really good with his feet, so he can extend the play for a long time,” said Burgess said. “As a DB, that's more like a scrambler drill because he can have you scrambling for long.”
Still, Burgess felt the opportunity was there to disrupt the Lions pivot.
“They really executed on the late back outs and tight end slips and underneath routes, so we could have communicated better,” he said. “I still take it as a kind of win because you learn from something.”
Rourke went 22-for-28 for 375 yards passing, no interceptions and another 37 yards rushing to go along with those four touchdowns. McInnis had three catches for 111 yards and Cottoy corralled nine balls for 96 yards.
Trevor Harris went 26-for-33 passing for 297 yards and one touchdown for the Riders, who trailed 7-3 after the first quarter, 17-13 at halftime and 24-13 through 45 minutes.
Ouellette had 19 carries for 77 yards on the ground and KeeSean Johnson led the air attack with nine catches for 119 yards. Dylan Djete had a 14-yard catch for Saskatchewan’s lone aerial major.
Riders kicker Dawson Hodge was 3-for-3 on field goals with a long of 32 yards.
Saskatchewan and B.C. are now tied for second place in the West Division with 8-6 records, but the Lions are ahead in the standings after taking the season series two games to one.
