Like any good feline, the B.C. Lions played with their food before eating it on Friday night — then hacked up a hairball at the end — beating the Saskatchewan Roughriders 33-26 in an outing far more dominant than the score indicated.
Here are my thoughts on the game.
Second-Half Sandpaper
The Lions came out flying in this football game but had painfully little to show for it. By the end of the first quarter, Vernon Adams Jr. had sliced up the Riders’ defence for 181 yards through the air and generated just six points — a stunning discrepancy.
Saskatchewan made a couple of nice defensive plays in scoring territory to force field goals but the Lions’ lack of finish was very much a product of their own making. Their first dive was a brilliant display of timing and chemistry, up until VA caught Jevon Cottoy seemingly by surprise on a tight end screen where he never released. On the second scoring drive, an out-breaking ball to Keon Hatcher was thrown slightly behind and nearly picked by Derrick Moncrief in the same fashion as Darius Bratton last week, only to be overturned on review. Behind the sticks on second-and-long, Adams couldn’t find an endzone connection.
As much as the Lions moved the ball at will through the air, something always seemed to stall them in the first half. A strong performance by the offensive line was undercut by a couple of sacks and ill-advised scrambles by VA, which killed a few series. The quarterback took full responsibility for those mistakes at the podium while wearing a custom-made graphic t-shirt featuring his blockers.
“Early in the first half, my feet were a little choppy, like just too quick, and I just needed to slow them down a bit,” Adams said. “I told myself that at halftime, ‘Slow it down, no need to skip reads.'”
A 34-yard touchdown strike to Hatcher with 12 seconds remaining before the intermission seemed to cure all ills, as the offence emerged in the third quarter with all the finish and scoring touch they initially lacked. Adams finished with 458 yards through the air — a league-high for 2023 — and three impressive touchdowns in an aerial showcase.
The Lions need to ensure that big play burst continues into next week, as an offensive explosion will be critical for beating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The Lions have all the firepower necessary to pull it off, but they simply can’t afford to use wet powder on their most critical shots.
Like a Good Neighbour
It was a far better performance from the Lions’ defence than the final numbers will show, but the Riders’ late-game comeback should be cause for concern.
“I think our defence ran out of gas a little bit. I don’t think it was from lack of effort or want to; you’ve just got to keep playing the game,” head coach Rick Campbell said post-game, noting that his team has become well-versed in the dangers presented by the final three minutes in the CFL.
The Lions did a fantastic job of rendering the Riders one-dimensional just as they did to Edmonton last week, making huge plays against the run to keep their opponent to just 38 rushing yards. Quarterback Jake Dolegala put up solid numbers throughout but his stats felt mostly padded — until they weren’t.
Ryan Phillips’ secondary, who did a great job keeping receivers in front of them all game long, got far too soft in the dying minutes and a noticeable lack of pass rush allowed Saskatchewan’s favourite folk hero quarterback to feast. Dolegala put up 409 yards through the air while making it a one-score game and will be viewed as a real bright spot for the losing side, ignoring his bad endzone interception to T.J. Lee.
“We’re giving them the dump passes and we’re just trying to let the clock run out,” Lions cornerback Garry Peters said of the late production. “We’ve got to do a better job of understanding the alignment, understanding where they’re releasing, and matching up to the receiver instead of just letting them catch it in front of you every time.”
The near collapse will cause a couple of strong performances from young Canadians to go unrewarded, as middle linebacker Ben Hladik had 11 tackles and a sack and Adrian Greene performed admirably in an unexpected start at corner. Still, the tough love is needed as B.C. knows they can’t afford to give Zach Collaros that much empty real estate next week.
Better Late Than Never
Keon Hatcher had one of the best games from a CFL receiver all season, catching 10 passes on 13 targets for a whopping 172 yards and a touchdown. 148 of those yards came in the first half, putting him over the 1,000-yard mark for the second straight season — not that anyone recognized it.
The Lions made a big show of announcing Alexander Hollins’ 1,000-yard accomplishment when he crossed the threshold in the second half, but they initially forgot to acknowledge Hatcher when he achieved the same feat much earlier. Eventually, the mistake was rectified and an announcement was made, though I can’t think of a more fitting metaphor for Hatcher’s status in the CFL. He’s one of the best in the league but so often gets forgotten in the national conversation.
There He Is!
There was a lot of conversation in the press box around Hollins’ lack of involvement in the offence in the first half, where he was targeted just once. It was the continuation of a concerning trend from the last few games, in which the breakout star has been awfully quiet.
As if to answer the media’s queries, Hollins made a couple of catches to begin the third quarter and truly announced himself by torching a busted Riders’ coverage for a 71-yard touchdown. That play put him over 1,000 yards for the first time in his career and he wasn’t done yet, springing wide open on a corner route later in the frame for a second major.
The Lions are the definition of receiver by committee and each player has gone through quiet stretches before breaking out with a big game. Veteran Lucky Whitehead, who had three catches for 39 yards, may be the next man due for a statement outing, tweeting after the win that at least he “got [his] cardio in.”
Perfect Equilibrium
The football world found itself perfectly in balance twice on Friday, as a couple of uncommon plays ended in unique washes between the two warring sides.
The most notable came with the Riders pressing for a comeback in the dying seconds. Kian Schaffer-Baker appeared to score a touchdown while drawing a pass interference flag from Marcus Sayles, however, Rick Campbell challenged the call claiming it was the Canadian receiver who did the interfering.
The command centre took considerable time with the review — no doubt marvelling at how incredibly far the Lions’ coach tossed his red hanky — but ultimately determined that all sides were correct. Schaffer-Baker had placed an improper vice grip on Sayles’ shoulder and the defensive back pushed him down in turn, earning ultra-rare offsetting interference penalties.
Earlier in the game, the football gods restored equilibrium to the universe in a different way. When Sayles dropped a certain interception, it seemed as if the Lions were going to get unlucky with the bounces. Instead, they got their interception in the next quarter via the most bizarre of plays, as receiver Tevin Jones whiffed on a ball that hit him dead in the hands and stood dumbfounded as it casually rolled over his shoulder, down his back, and into the arms of Garry Peters.
I’ve never seen a ball behave quite like that before, so clearly it needed to cancel out Sayles’ earlier error.
Smouldering
There is no debate as to whether the Lions can toss the ball around with the best of them, but those who believe a potent running game is essential for playoff success likely came away from this contest frustrated.
Coming off his best game of the season, the Lions hardly used Taquan Mizzell at all. What made that decision especially perplexing was that they experienced early success against a defensive unit that has struggled to stop ground attacks. Smoke went for nine and 11 yards on his first couple of carries, but rushed just four times for 26 yards in the first half.
His second-half touches weren’t nearly as successful, as he finished with 10 carries for 38 yards. However, offensive coordinator Jordan Maksymic made no attempt to keep the game plan multi-faceted. The Riders’ porous secondary may be a fairly good excuse for that this week, but it will not satisfy most traditionalists as we head into the cold winter months.
Public Enemy No. 1
A word of advice to Riders’ defensive back Amari Henderson: don’t step foot in White Rock/South Surrey anytime soon or you may be faced with a horde of angry teenagers.
As part of a wonderful partnership between the Lions and the Surrey school district, my high school team will be lucky enough to have receiver Dominique Rhymes and strongside linebacker Emmanuel Rugamba help coach one day a week for three weeks. Their first appearance was on Thursday and both were fantastic with the kids, with Rhymes making waves during the post-practice breakdown by promising to score two touchdowns for the team.
That looked very possible when the 2022 CFL all-star was targeted in the endzone on the game’s opening drive, but Henderson made a tremendous play to break it up. He was there the second time that Adams looked to Rhymes in scoring position as well, forcing an overthrow with blanket coverage. Safe to say he won’t be welcome on school grounds anytime soon.
Despite the lack of scoring plays, Rhymes’ return from the six-game injured list lived up to the billing and he caught five passes for 92 yards. Both Vernon Adams Jr. and Keon Hatcher raved about how his presence on the field opened up space for others to succeed. I’m hoping that effect rubs off on the next generation as well.
Orange Shirt, Blue Shoes
It was difficult to miss cornerback Garry Peters in this game, as his brightly coloured cleats made him look like a blue-footed booby amidst a flock of crows. The change in footwear this week was prompted by a lingering toe injury, but there was a meaning behind the vibrant blue tone of the new shoes.
Earlier this week, Lions fan Jeremiah Peters — a friend and supporter of Garry’s since 2018 — performed an Indigenous naming ceremony to acknowledge the defensive back as a brother within his culture. He was gifted the Indigenous name Ma’t T’saltSalka, meaning Two-Feathers in the Kwagiulth language, as well as a ceremonial blanket.
“I’ve been blessed by a lot of great people. The first time was by Gino Odjick and his father. Within my cultural ways, I’m rich with dreams.”
The story of a special bond between Garry Peters and Indigenous #BCLions fan @jeremiahpeters_ ?
READ ? | https://t.co/TAMsjnEuzo pic.twitter.com/mUZVnk7Kh4
— BC LIONS (@BCLions) September 29, 2023
The bright blue of that blanket — which Peters carried with him throughout the game — was a perfect match for the new cleats. As the Lions honoured the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation with a multitude of acknowledgements and initiatives throughout the game, this was his way of showing his own support.
I’m certainly no expert on the CFL’s dress code, but typically colourful cleats are a faux pas in professional football. Peters was unsure if he might face a fine for his footwear, but he didn’t much care.
“The league doesn’t provide cleats like they do CFL gloves, so if they want to fine me, that’s their decision,” he said. “At the end of the day, I’m doing it for a bigger purpose than just me. It’s bigger than just football.”
Shaping Up Nicely
It appeared that Canadian defensive lineman Joshua Archibald was unable to finish this contest due to a shoulder injury, but his development this season deserves a shoutout.
With two special teams tackles on Friday, the second-year man now has nine on the season — a rather impressive number for someone who plays in the trenches. This is especially true given Archibald’s prior history, as he saw his draft stock take a hit coming out of McGill after playing a disappointing senior season considerably overweight.
Unlike many prospects, the Montrealer repeatedly owned his mistakes throughout the pre-draft process and swore they would never happen again. You can see how much effort he’s put into his body since the Lions’ took him in the third round and it has made him one of the best special teams size mismatches in the league.
Tough Son of a Kick
Kickers and punters are the ugly step-children of a football locker room, but both of Saskatchewan’s specialists showed some impressive toughness in this game.
Punter Adam Korsak was the first to gain notoriety, hauling down Lions’ returner Terry Williams on what would have been a touchdown-saving tackle if not for a holding penalty. The play earned several “Korsak for M.O.P.” comments from Rider fans online — high praise if it weren’t such an indictment of the rest of the team’s recent performance.
Kicker Brett Lauther also got a shot at tackling Williams later in the game, though he ultimately missed his sliding attempt and injured himself in the process. The Truro, N.S. native was in considerable pain with what looked to be a shoulder/collarbone injury but kept on kicking, grimacing noticeably every time he did his job. While Lauther missed one field goal after the injury, he also made one and delivered a perfect onside kick as well.
Luckily for the Lions, Sean Whyte didn’t have to be nearly as tough as his opponent in hitting four field goals and Stefan Flintoft never had to attempt a tackle. That’s because the Lions’ special teams shut down the uber-dangerous Mario Alford all night.
Home, Sweet Home
“We have a game next week?”
Head coach Rick Campbell had his tongue firmly planted in cheek with that particular post-game comment, as the Lions now turn their attention to a clash with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers that could decide the top seed in the West Division. Both teams have now secured home playoff dates, the only question that remains is in which order.
The rivals have split the season series with one dominant win apiece and boast identical 11-4 records. With Winnipeg barely getting past a vacationing Argonauts squad in the early game on Friday, the road team should have some extra motivation. Meanwhile, the Lions desperately need a win to ensure winter weather has no bearing on their path to the Grey Cup.
“Pressure is a privilege, man,” Vernon Adams Jr. remarked. “I think all the guys in that locker room were built for it.”
Get your tickets now, you simply won’t want to miss this.
J.C. Abbott is a University of British Columbia graduate and high school football coach. He covers the CFL, B.C. Lions, CFL Draft and the three-down league's Global initiative.
