After getting rocked last week in Toronto, the B.C. Lions (4-1) returned to BC Place on Sunday night to close out Week 5 against the Montreal Alouettes (2-2). B.C. Lions quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. threw six interceptions against Toronto. He was looking for a better performance. Not only did he have a good game, the whole team put on a show in front of the home crowd.
The game got off to a fast start in the first quarter. At first, it looked like Adams was on the verge of repeating last week’s game. On the second play for the Lions, Adams dropped back to throw the ball to Dominique Rhymes but it was intercepted by Marc-Antoine Dequoy and taken for a 45-yard touchdown.
However, an illegal contact penalty on Dequoy took the touchdown away. On the replay, it showed that Dequoy made very little contact with Rhymes and the announcers agreed that it should not have been a penalty.
The Lions got lucky on that one, otherwise, it should have been a Montreal touchdown. Vernon Adams Jr. took advantage of the second chance to lead the team down to the one-year line. After failing to score himself, Dominique Davis came in and scored the touchdown to put the Lions up 7-0 with 9:44 left.
The Alouettes needed to respond on their first drive of the series. On the fourth play, Cody Fajardo threw a short pass to William Stanback for a gain of 23 yards. On the next play, he tried to throw a deep pass to Quartney Davis but a holding penalty on the Lions moved the ball to their 21-yard line. Both teams committed a lot of penalties in this game.
Next, Cody Fajardo threw a 20-yard pass to Austin Mack and he nearly scored the touchdown but his knee hit the one-yard line. Fajardo lined up the offense and scored the touchdown with a quarterback sneak. The game was tied 7-7 with 5:57 left.
After an exciting first series by both teams, the game slowed down for the rest of the first quarter and it remained tied 7-7.
In the second quarter, the Lions started to distance themselves from Montreal. B.C. Lions quarterback threw a couple of passes to Keon Hatcher for 19 yards and Jevon Cottoy for 14 yards. The Lions got down to the Alouettes’ three-yard line when Shaun Shivers rushed up the middle for his first CFL touchdown. It was now 14-7 Lions with 9:55 left.
Later in the game, the Alouettes cut the Lions lead down to 14-10 when David Cote made a 47-yard field goal with 6:55 left. Next, the Lions’ special teams made a big play. Montreal kicker David Cote attempted a 43-yard field goal. During the kick, Woody Baron blocked it. The ball was up in the air before Jalon Edwards-Cooper got it and returned it for a 62-yard touchdown. It was now 21-10 with 3:06 left.
Late in the second quarter, the two teams traded field goals. B.C. Lions kicker Sean Whyte kicked a 21-yard field goal for a 24-10 lead, followed by David Cote’s 51-yard field goal. It was now 24-13 at halftime.
The first half numbers saw B.C. Lions quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. complete 12 of 17 passes (70.6%) for 113 yards, and two carries for 22 yards. Running back Shaun Shivers had six carries for 19 yards and one touchdown.
Wide receivers Lucky Whitehead, Keon Hatcher, and Jevon Cottoy combined with 11 catches for 108 yards as part of the Lions’ 150 yards of offense. The Lions were penalized four times for 30 yards.
Montreal quarterback Cody Fajardo completed a perfect 13 for 13 passes for 108 yards, four carries for 23 yards, and one touchdown. Running back William Stanback had four carries for 12 yards, and one catch for 23 yards, and wide receiver Austin Mack had six catches for 50 yards as part of the Alouettes 140 yards of offense. They were penalized three times for 30 yards.
In the third quarter, B.C. Lions quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Jevon Cottoy in-between two Montreal defensive backs for a 31-13 lead with 10:02 left. Adams looked comfortable and his offensive line protected him.
Later in the third quarter, Montreal kicker David Cote kicked a 13-yard field goal. It was now 31-16 with 3:37 left. There were seven penalties committed by both teams in the third quarter. The Lions led 31-16 heading into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, B.C. Lions punter Stefan Flintoft punted the ball for 51 yards that went in the endzone and out of bounds for a single point. It was 32-16 Lions with 14:47 left.
Both defenses made key stops and the offenses struggled to move the ball in the fourth quarter. For the rest of the fourth quarter, the two teams traded field goals. B.C. Lions kicker Sean Whyte booted a 37-yard field goal for a 35-16 lead with 6:10 left, and Montreal kicker David Cote kicked a 38-yard field goal which made it 35-19 with 3:43 left.
Montreal had a couple of chances to get closer to the Lions but B.C.’s defense stepped up to finish the plays. The Lions went on to defeat the Alouettes by the final score of 35-19. The win keeps the Lions ahead in the West Division with a tiebreaker over Winnipeg, while Montreal sits alone in second place in the East Division. This was an entertaining game minus the penalties. The Lions committed nine penalties for 85 yards, and the Alouettes had ten penalties for 105 yards.
B.C. Lions quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. finished the night completing 20 of 25 passes (80%) for 283 yards, one touchdown, one interception, and two carries for 22 yards. Shaun Shivers had an impressive debut for the Lions with 14 carries for 63 yards, one touchdown, and two catches for 73 yards. He almost had a second touchdown late in the game but had the ball stripped.
B.C. wide receivers Keon Hatcher and Jevon Cottoy combined with eight catches for 141 yards. B.C.’s defense allowed 328 yards, with 50 tackles, seven sacks (2 of them by Mathieu Betts), and one forced fumble.
Montreal quarterback Cody Fajardo completed 24 of 39 passes (61.5%) for 280 yards and led the rushers with eight carries for 57 yards, and one touchdown. Running back William Stanback had six carries for 17 yards and wide receiver Austin Mack had eight catches for 72 yards. Montreal’s defense allowed 351 yards, with 38 tackles, three sacks, one interception, one forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries.
Next Friday, the Montreal Alouettes host the Toronto Argonauts at 7:30 pm on CFL+ and the B.C. Lions are on a bye week. Subscribe to Fubo to watch all of the 2023 CFL Season. Purchase CFL tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
