The BC Lions are back where they started.
In their regular season finale Saturday night against the visiting Montreal Alouettes, the Lions re-instated Vernon Adams Jr. at quarterback.
Adams started BC 5-1 before the team hit the skids. Since then, the Lions are 3-8, including last week’s 39-8 drubbing of Saskatchewan for third place in the West. That will force them to hit the road in two weeks for their first playoff game.
Adams has thrown for 2,544 yards this year with 14 touchdowns and seven touchdown passes but has only attempted seven passes in the past nine games. Coach Rick Campbell went with Nathan Rourke amid BC’s struggles.
Despite strong wins against Ottawa and Montreal in a seven-day span, Rourke hasn’t been the same quarterback who played for BC in 2022 and then received NFL opportunities with four different franchises. Rourke threw for 1,781 yards in eight games with just four touchdowns and nine interceptions.
“We’ll roll with whatever gives us the best chance in the playoffs,” Campbell said.
While the Lions (8-9) are looking for momentum, the Alouettes (12-3-1) know they will be the top seed in the East in the playoffs. All they have to do to play for a second straight Gray Cup is win the conference final at home on November 9.
Montreal is coming off Monday’s 19-12 win against Ottawa that saw backup quarterback Davis Alexander complete 14 of 24 passes for 208 yards with a touchdown. Alexander replaces Cody Fajardo, who was in Nevada when his second child was born.
There is no question that Fajardo is the starter when he is ready to return but Alexander is more than capable of winning. He has won four of his starts this year, filling in over the summer when Fajardo suffered a hamstring injury.
Alexander ran for the win against the Redblacks, but coach Jason Maas wants him to be smarter as time goes on about looking for contact when he runs.
“We’ve never been happy for him to take songs like this,” Maas said. “You’d rather he didn’t get a hit.”
–Field Level Media
Source link