Nathan Rourke’s Excellence Continues

After having the best game of his career, Nathan Rourke followed up last week’s incredible performance with a strong win over the Ottawa Redblacks.

This week, Rourke threw for 359 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, while also adding 87 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Most of Rourke’s rushing yards came in the first quarter on a 50-yard rushing touchdown breakaway.

Last week, Rourke focused on wide receiver Dominique Rhymes, but this week his main beneficiary was former Arkansas wide receiver Keon Hatcher who caught 7 passes for 166 yards and a touchdown.

The game was not smooth sailing for the BC Lions, as they went down 20-14 in the middle of the third quarter. The Lions, however, did not back down, outscoring Ottawa 20 to 10 for the remainder of the match. The BC Lions went on to take a 34 to 31 win. The Redblacks face the Saskatchewan Roughriders next week while the Lions face their toughest task against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

A Battle of the Winless

Was this an upset many saw coming?

Even though the Tiger-Cats hadn’t won a game, they opened as -320 favorites versus the lowly Edmonton Elks. The bookmakers seemed to be off with their prediction, as the Elks pulled off an upset in the last minutes, beating the Tiger Cats by a score of 29 to 25.

The story of the game was the Elks’ defense, forcing Hamilton to turn the ball over three times while also “safetying” them and recovering a fumble for a touchdown. The Tiger-Cats looked to regroup with a week off while the Elks prepare for a lopsided game against the Calgary Stampeders.

Are you joking??!??!? @GoElks with the late lead!!!!#CFLGameday pic.twitter.com/NpO5F4Bezq

— CFL (@CFL) July 2, 2022

Saskatchewan Gets Revenge

In week 3, Montreal overcame the Roughriders by a score of 37-13. This week, roles were reversed as Saskatchewan dominated the Alouettes in a 41 to 20 win.

Saskatchewan’s supremacy was mostly due to their establishment of a running game. Running backs Jamal Morrow and Frankie Hickson combined for 160 yards and a touchdown while wide receiver Kian Schaffer-Baker helped them out with 7 receptions, 90 yards and a touchdown.

Alouettes quarterback Trevor Harris looked rattled as he threw two interceptions in Montreal’s loss. Montreal have a rest week, while Saskatchewan face the Redblacks.

Blue Bombers Stay Undefeated

Right from the get-go, this game looked to be a Winnipeg blowout. The Blue Bombers intercepted a McLeod Bethel-Thompson pass for a touchdown in the early minutes of the first quarter. The Blue Bombers continued to put pressure on the Argonauts, going up 17 to 3 at halftime.

Bethel-Thompson fought to keep his team in the game and managed to score to (seemingly) force overtime, but was spoiled due to a missed extra point. Although Toronto came out with a loss, there were some very promising takeaways from the game. Argonauts running back Andrew Harris rushed for 111 yards on 22 carries and wide receiver Brandon Banks caught 5 passes for 95 yards and a touchdown.