Briefly: Victoria-born quarterback Nathan Rourke led the B.C. Lions to a 38-12 win over the Ottawa Redblacks on Aug. 31 in B.C.’s capital city.
Nearly 15,000 people jammed Royal Athletic Park for the first Touchdown Pacific as the Lions ended a five-game losing streak and renewed hopes they can challenge for the Grey Cup at B.C. Place Stadium in November.
Nathan Rourke (left) and B.C. Lions teammates celebrate near the end of the first half in Victoria’s Royal Athletic Park on Aug. 31, 2024 (Mackin).
Bob Mackin
Victoria: A city better known for rugby and political football shoehorned 14,727 people into a temporary stadium at the local minor league baseball team’s park on the last day of August for the first Canadian Football League game on Vancouver Island.
In Touchdown Pacific, Victoria-born quarterback Nathan Rourke shone as bright as the afternoon sun as his B.C. Lions ended a five-game losing streak. They beat the 7-3-1 Ottawa Redblacks 38-12 before the sellout crowd at Royal Athletic Park.
Fans unlucky to get the hottest ticket in town gathered kitty corner in Central Park to watch on big screens.
The heat and humidity were a little greater than many expected, which made the long lineups for food, drink and washrooms seem a little longer. But fans were rewarded when the Lions leapt to a 31-6 halftime lead.
Rourke rushed for a touchdown and threw threw more. After two disappointing losses since returning from NFL tryouts, Rourke completed 21 of 30 passes for 325 yards in the victory. He was intercepted once.
Kicker Sean Whyte completed one of two field goals attempted, but converted all five touchdowns. Defensive lineman Matthieu Betts, who led the league with 18 sacks last year, returned from NFL tryouts to add a sack.
Sold out Royal Athletic Park in Victoria during Aug. 31, 2024’s Touchdown Pacific (Mackin)
Ottawa quarterback Dru Brown went 21-for-33, with 206 yards and one touchdown to Dominique Rhymes. Kicker Lewis Ward added two field goals.
As the sun set over the Pacific, beyond the emptied stadium, Rourke said he would love to see the Lions return to Royal Athletic Park.
“[Lions’ owner Amar] Doman and the rest of the staff did a fantastic job, hats off to them, the business operation for putting it together,” Rourke said after spending time with family members on-field. “It was a great experience for us. We felt welcomed. I know it was a little bit of a different experience for us, but we felt like it was a great trip. It’s always cool to show the Americans the beautiful parts of our country, right? So this is definitely one.”
In less than two years, the FIFA 26 World Cup will take over B.C. Place Stadium and force the Lions to start their season elsewhere. Perhaps a return to Victoria or a similar match in Kamloops or Kelowna could be the solution.
Before the Lions can begin those plans in earnest, Rourke has a big task: to keep his team atop the West division and clinch a playoff spot.
“We’re coming down the last third of the season, and we’ve got to stay in the mix,” said head coach Rick Campbell. “We said the whole time the last few weeks, that the West is up for grabs, and who knows what’s going to happen, and those other four teams got to play each other back to back these next two weeks.”
Victoria-born Nathan Rourke pleased his family and Lions’ fans on Aug. 31 (Mackin)
The game was the Lions’ first in B.C. on natural grass since their original Vancouver home, Empire Stadium, installed artificial turf in 1970.
Touchdown Pacific lived up to the hype with all the trappings of a mini-Grey Cup; even the trophy was there after a waterfront festival downtown.
Commissioner Randy Ambrosie was among the VIPs who took in the proceedings with Lions’ Victoria-raised owner Doman and president Duane Vienneau. Vienneau was instrumental in the production. He came to the club after serving as chief operating officer of the league’s events division, which was behind Touchdown Atlantic neutral site matches in Moncton (2019) and Wolfville, N.S. (2022).
The Lions arranged for BC Ferries to postpone the last sailing from Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen on the mainland by an hour to 10 p.m. Orange and black was the dominant combination for hundreds of fans that still had enough energy to chant, cheer and bang on drums in the passenger boarding lineup.
The Lions visit the league-leading Montreal Alouettes on Sept. 6 before returning to B.C. Place on Sept. 13 against the Toronto Argonauts. They don’t see one of their western rivals until October. 4, when the Calgary Stampeders visit.
The 111th Grey Cup championship is Nov. 17 in Vancouver.
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