The lone BC Lions’ victory this season came less than two weeks ago against the Edmonton Elks.
The rematch comes around quickly as the Lions look to make it two straight wins when they visit Edmonton on Friday night.
BC (1-3) had a bye last week after pulling out the 34-24 home win over the Elks on July 4.
Reigning CFL Outstanding Player of the Year Nathan Rourke passed for 320 yards and one touchdown — he was intercepted twice — and James Butler rushed for 135 yards and two scores on 15 carries.
“We did some good things,” Rourke said this week. “The defense played really well. I thought we played with a lot of energy. We finished some drives, which we hadn’t been able to do in previous games.”
Neither Rourke nor coach Buck Pierce wanted a bye to follow win No. 1 but both men said regaining that momentum will be key this week.
“To get that win was big,” said Pierce, “but it’s about the work that you put in and about our process and doing the things the right way to lead to those results.”
The Elks (4-1) rebounded with a 40-17 home victory over Ottawa last week. Edmonton pulled away with 24 fourth-quarter points.
The Elks picked off quarterback Jake Maier four times with defensive back Kordell Jackson nabbing two of them.
That continues the early season opportunistic nature of a defense that leads the CFL in both fumble recoveries (seven) and interceptions (six).
“I think it’s a tackling environment,” Edmonton coach Mark Kilam said of the team’s seven forced fumbles. “They create a lot of them with violent tackling. They’re playing good team defense.”
Cody Fajardo passed for 340 yards and two touchdowns and Justin Rankin rushed for 107 yards and two scores on 14 carries against Ottawa. He added 10 receptions for 100 yards.
Fajardo has passed for 1,499 yards, eight touchdowns and four interceptions. Rankin leads the CFL with 513 rushing yards and seven touchdowns (six rushing, one receiving).
The Elks allow a league-best 24.2 points per game while looking to slow a BC attack that leads in total offense at 454.0 yards per game.
Rourke hasn’t found his stride yet this season. He has 1,403 yards and five touchdowns against four interceptions.
Last season, Rourke passed for 5,290 yards, the most ever by a Canadian-born CFL quarterback.
–Field Level Media
