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The B.C. Lions started the evening missing four receivers to injury and then things somehow got much worse.
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Bo Levi Mitchell’s first five pass attempts Friday night for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats featured a pair of 56-yard completions and a 47-yard pass interference penalty against the Lions. The veteran pivot finished the night tying a career-high with five touchdown tosses, helping the Tiger-Cats to a 41-27 win over the visiting Lions.
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B.C. scored a pair of touchdowns in the final four minutes to make the scoreboard read closer than the game actually was.
The Lions, who have Grey Cup aspirations this season, are off to their first 0-2 start since 2019. They host the Calgary Stampeders Saturday at the Apple Bowl as part of their two-game Touchdown Kelowna series. The Lions’ regular B.C. Place home digs are currently being used by the FIFA World Cup.
“We are what we put on tape and right now we’re an 0-2 football team,” Lions defensive end Mathieu Betts said in an interview on the team’s YouTube channel afterward. “It’s on us. It’s on the players, it’s on the coaching staff, to look at ourselves in the mirror, turn this thing around and be 1-0 next week.
“It’s one game at a time. It’s always been that way. As of right now, we’ve lost two games. It’s not the end of the world, but if we keep playing that way it’s going to be hard for us to go where we want to be be.”
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Receiver Keon Hatcher (thigh) was a game-time decision for the Lions. When the team opted to sit him out after the warm-up, he joined fellow pass catchers Stanley Berryhill (thigh), Seven McGee (foot) and Jevon Cottoy (thigh) on the sidelines for the coach Buck Pierce’s squad.
Receiver Kieran Poissant left the game Friday as well after taking a knee in the back while making a block.
Berryhill, Cottoy and McGee are on the six-game injured list. Receiver Nate DeMontagnac (shoulder), who was B.C.’s first-round pick in this year’s CFL draft, is on the list as well after getting hurt in the preseason.
Mitchell was 15-of-18 for 285 yards for the game. Along with the 56-yard passes to Kiondre Smith and Myron Mitchell, he also had a 49-yard connection with Kenny Lawler.
The Lions had trouble with the deep pass in their season-opening 31-27 loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, too, as Saskatchewan quarterback Trevor Harris had completions of 52, 38 and 37 yards as part of his 30-of-36, 417-yard effort.
Hamilton connected on so many big plays Friday that they won handily despite having the ball for 24:39, compared to B.C’s 35:21 time of possession.
Nathan Rourke was 24-of-35 for 291 yards for B.C., with one touchdown and one interception. Chase Brice finished the game at quarterback for the Lions was 6-of-7 for 87 yards, with one touchdown.
Rookie receiver Nick Cenacle, who was B.C.’s fifth-round pick in this year’s draft, had nine catches for 120 yards and two touchdowns in his CFL debut.
@SteveEwen
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