BC Lions

Nathan Rourke's final minute of work Friday night showed why the B.C. Lions' brass are so excited about him.

The Province. Saskatchewan missed the convert, making it 9-3. Saskatchewan quarterback Cody Fajardo, who didn’t play in their preseason opener on Tuesday against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, was 6-of-12 for 64 yards. Article content Rhymes, who has draw rave reviews from team brass for his training camp efforts, finished with four catches for 70 yards. Article content Article content He seemed to get more comfortable as the game wore on, going with some play-action and rolling out. Article content The Lions won 20-18 against the Saskatchewan Roughriders at B.C. Place in their second of their two pre-season games for this coming CFL season. Article content Article content

Nathan Cherry has been waiting for this moment. And wouldn't you know it? It comes against a team wearing familiar colours. The Lions' top draft pick of ...

“There is going to be a handful of guys who can help us this year that are new to us and we need to make sure we don’t miss out on those guys. This full season is going to be fun. This is going to be awesome.” I’m ready to start playing for real, to be honest. You’ve got to get used to the speed the first couple of days but once you get the hang of it, it’s all good.” On the field, Cherry brings size and the ability to shoot gaps.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders are on the road to take on the BC Lions in their final pre-season game Friday night.

9 hr ago 9 hr ago 9 hr ago 9 hr ago 9 hr ago 9 hr ago Every night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rallies Ukrainians to the fight with a video address on social media. “I’d like to see a little more offensive rhythm and I’d like to see our special teams play a little better. The hash marks are now 28 yards from each sideline instead of 24. So I am going to go out there and give it everything I have just like it’s the Grey Cup,” said Fajardo. Even though he won’t play an entire game and it is pre-season, Fajardo still plans to give it his all. Quarterback Cody Fajardo is eager to finally hit the field for the first time in 2022.

The B.C. Lions rolled out their new, young quarterback tandem on a high note Friday night as Nathan Rourke and Michael O'Connor combined to produce a 20-18 ...

The Riders finished 0-2, losing 25-16 to Winnipeg on home turf. A sequence of defensive penalties, including a negated interception, helped B.C. move the ball downfield before Josh Pearson grabbed a 24-yard toss from O’Connor to push B.C.’s lead to 17-12. This time, it was kicker Henry Nell who missed on the convert, keeping the margin at 18-17. Rourke hit Dominique Rhymes with a 45-yard bomb that brought the home team to the two-yard line. With 1:24 remaining in the half, the Riders increased their lead to 12-3 off a 27-yard field goal from Lauther. Then, the Lions got the crowd roaring with 32 seconds left to play. Starter Cody Fajardo played just over 20 minutes, passing for 64 yards and recording a one-yard rushing touchdown.

The Riders closed out the 2022 CFL pre-season with a 20-18 loss to the host B.C. Lions on Friday.

I think he showed that he belongs and he did enough to give him a spot on the team.” Each week, sports editor Rob Vanstone will provide additional commentary on the Roughriders, Pats and other teams/sports of interest, along with a peek behind the curtain. The sports world is ever-changing, as are the times. “I would have liked to have won the game,” Riders head coach Craig Dickenson told CKRM’s Michael Ball. “The main thing is we came out of it relatively healthy and we got to play a lot of guys. “I thought for the most part, (Fine and Dolegala) took care of the football. Fajardo rushed for his touchdown on the next play. They commanded the huddle and there weren’t any time-count penalties. Sankey, another high profile free-agent signing by the Riders, had a strong outing. There has been speculation about the Riders possibly using Hughes as a second-down pass rusher to preserve his legs. Friday’s result dropped the Riders’ pre-season record to 0-2. Morrow had three carries for 14 yards. The Lions improved to 1-1.

The Riders closed out the 2022 CFL pre-season with a 20-18 loss to the host B.C. Lions on Friday.

I think he showed that he belongs and he did enough to give him a spot on the team.” Each week, sports editor Rob Vanstone will provide additional commentary on the Roughriders, Pats and other teams/sports of interest, along with a peek behind the curtain. The sports world is ever-changing, as are the times. “I would have liked to have won the game,” Riders head coach Craig Dickenson told CKRM’s Michael Ball. “The main thing is we came out of it relatively healthy and we got to play a lot of guys. “I thought for the most part, (Fine and Dolegala) took care of the football. Fajardo rushed for his touchdown on the next play. They commanded the huddle and there weren’t any time-count penalties. Sankey, another high profile free-agent signing by the Riders, had a strong outing. There has been speculation about the Riders possibly using Hughes as a second-down pass rusher to preserve his legs. Friday’s result dropped the Riders’ pre-season record to 0-2. Morrow had three carries for 14 yards. The Lions improved to 1-1.

Michael O'Connor connected with Josh Pearson for a 24-yard third-quarter touchdown while Sean Whyte's field goal with 5:05 to play proved to be the winning ...

I would have loved to have finished that with a touchdown, but I was happy with the fact that we were kind of in a lull there but we got the score at the end of the half. With the Riders pressing to take a two-score lead in the third quarter, newcomer Quincy Mauger saved the day with an end zone interception, his second in as many pre-season contests. I was happy with the mindset and the effort that the guys gave and how we were able to put a 15-play drive out to start. In the locker room, those guys were itching to go,” said the head coach. Everybody. I know the veterans were ready to go out there and get some competitive football in. Rourke was able to establish connections with Burnham and Dominique Rhymes while the defence made plays when it had to, highlights for the starting unit coming on a couple of pass knockdowns from Jordan Williams and Obum Gwacham. Rick Campbell took note of just how ready these elder statesmen were to play a game, meaningless or not.

Perhaps the solution here is in the emergence of Canadian David Knevel or 2022 second-round pick Noah Zerr, but neither played in the preseason due to injury.

As happens at many games, the task of unfurling the giant Canadian flag for the national anthem was given to a group of youth football players. That role should be as the backup quarterback and it’s time we acknowledged a simple reality: Michael O’Connor is a gamer. “Internal growth” is the key word for the organization here and the Lions believe that a deep dive in the preseason film will be much more favourable than initial impressions. “There’s going to be some tough decisions made, but we’re going to try to keep as many of these good players around, whether that means o the practice roster or whatever it is. “I sit on the rules committee and we’re trying to cut the crap after the whistles. We think he’s a guy that’s close to pro ready and hopefully he is pro ready.” Second-year player Jarell Broxton is supposed to be the next man up, but he was turned into a turnstile by depth Canadian defensive end Nic Dheilly on a couple of occassions. The Ohio product looked antsy when there was even a semblance of pressure and missed badly on a couple of open throws downfield as a result. The less than ideal result was no fault of Rourke’s, as he placed the ball where it needed to be on a goal-line corner to Jevon Cottoy that was perfectly covered. He seemed tentative to take off and run — perhaps by instruction — and the Lions felt hapless on offence for the middle portion of the half. He’s a young guy that I think the more playing time he gets, he’s just going to continue to improve.” He looked extremely poised on the Lions’ first series, a 16-play endeavour that ate up almost eight minutes of clock and culminated in a Sean Whyte field goal.

VANCOUVER - On a team loaded with veterans, rookie Quincy Mauger made the play of the game for the B.C. Lions on Friday night.

After Mauger’s interception set the Lions up to take a 17-12 lead, the Riders regained their edge with 10:37 left in the fourth quarter when Dolegala hit Justin McInnis from five yards out. Michael O’Connor took over for B.C. in the second half, finishing with 130 passing yards and a touchdown of his own. Rourke hit Dominique Rhymes with a 45-yard bomb that took the home team to the two-yard line. The Riders finished 0-2, losing 25-16 to Winnipeg on home turf. With 1:24 remaining in the half, the Riders increased their lead to 12-3 off a 27-yard field goal from Lauther. Then, the Lions got the crowd roaring with 32 seconds left to play. We’ll have to get into a little better shape but for the most part we got what we needed to out of this game.” He also returned late in the fourth, and finished with 36 yards. A video review by the CFL’s command centre ruled the pass incomplete. The Lions rolled out their new young, Canadian quarterback tandem, with success. “Now we have some tough decisions to make on the guys who are your backups. Those guys have definitely been in the conversation.” “But we’re going to try to keep as many of these good players around, whether that means on the practice roster or whatever it is.

Saskatchewan used all three of its quarterbacks at B.C. Place Stadium. CFL rookie Jake Dolegala took over midway through the third quarter and finished with 77 ...

A sequence of defensive penalties, including a negated interception, helped B.C. move the ball downfield before Josh Pearson grabbed a 24-yard toss from O’Connor to push B.C.’s lead to 17-12. The Riders finished 0-2, losing 25-16 to Winnipeg on home turf. Rourke hit Dominique Rhymes with a 45-yard bomb that brought the home team to the two-yard line. This time, it was kicker Henry Nell who missed on the convert, keeping the margin at 18-17. With 1:24 remaining in the half, the Riders increased their lead to 12-3 off a 27-yard field goal from Lauther. Then, the Lions got the crowd roaring with 32 seconds left to play. A video review by the CFL’s command centre ruled the pass incomplete.

VANCOUVER — The B.C. Lions rolled out their new, young quarterback tandem on a high note Friday night as Nathan Rourke and Michael O'Connor combined to ...

A sequence of defensive penalties, including a negated interception, helped B.C. move the ball downfield before Josh Pearson grabbed a 24-yard toss from O’Connor to push B.C.’s lead to 17-12. The Riders finished 0-2, losing 25-16 to Winnipeg on home turf. Rourke hit Dominique Rhymes with a 45-yard bomb that brought the home team to the two-yard line. This time, it was kicker Henry Nell who missed on the convert, keeping the margin at 18-17. With 1:24 remaining in the half, the Riders increased their lead to 12-3 off a 27-yard field goal from Lauther. Then, the Lions got the crowd roaring with 32 seconds left to play. A video review by the CFL’s command centre ruled the pass incomplete.