{"id":786104,"date":"2026-07-07T13:19:36","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T13:19:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/786104\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T13:19:36","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T13:19:36","slug":"lions-earn-1st-win-by-handing-elks-their-1st-loss-in-36-24-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/786104\/","title":{"rendered":"Lions earn 1st win by handing Elks their 1st loss in 36-24 decision"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Estimated 4 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

James Butler and the B.C.\u00a0Lions\u00a0won the ground battle while grinding out\u00a0their\u00a0first\u00a0victory of the CFL season, beating the previously undefeated Edmonton\u00a0Elks\u00a036-24\u00a0on Saturday\u00a0in\u00a0front of another sellout crowd at the Apple Bowl.<\/p>\n

Butler rumbled for 135 yards and two touchdowns, outshining league-leading rusher Justin Rankin on another sunny evening\u00a0in\u00a0the Okanagan \u2014 the\u00a0Lions’ home away from home after being punted out of B.C. Place stadium\u00a0in\u00a0Vancouver\u00a0by\u00a0the FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n

“It feels good to get\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0win\u00a0column. To be able to get one\u00a0in\u00a0Kelowna is great, but just to get one overall is good,” said\u00a0Lions\u00a0quarterback Nathan Rourke, who again passed for more than 300 yards.<\/p>\n

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. That’s a team that was 3-0 and they had won three close games. They were playing with a lot of confidence and we definitely saw that today. I just thought we fed off the energy of the crowd. We bounced back.”<\/p>\n

Led\u00a0by\u00a0Butler, who scored consecutive touchdowns\u00a0in\u00a0the second quarter to turn a 14-10 deficit into a 23-14 advantage, the\u00a0Lions\u00a0head into a bye week with some confidence.<\/p>\n

\"MenEdmonton Elks’ Austin Mack (3) is swarmed by the B.C. Lions defence during the second half of their game in Kelowna, B.C., on Saturday. (Steve Dunsmoor\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n

“It was awesome to see. We know that he’s capable of doing those things all the time,” Rourke said. “He ran extremely well behind the offensive line. They did a really good job setting the tone for the game. They opened up those holes for him.<\/p>\n

“We want to be balanced as an offence. We want to do a lot of different things. We want to get the ball to different people. Him and Zander [Horvath] are doing a really good job of running the rock for us. It certainly makes my job easier.”<\/p>\n

Horvath also scored twice, on the ground\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0first\u00a0quarter and through the air\u00a0in\u00a0the fourth, and Sean Whyte kicked three\u00a0first-half field goals for the\u00a0Lions\u00a0(1-3). Whyte was good from 16, 33 and then 40 yards on the final play of the second quarter for a 29-21 lead at the halftime break.<\/p>\n

“Very impressed with what we were able to do\u00a0in\u00a0running the ball,” said\u00a0Lions\u00a0head coach and offensive co-ordinator Buck Pierce.<\/p>\n

“And I thought our defence played hard. [Justin] Rankin’s going to make his plays. He’s one of those type of guys that you should buy a ticket to go watch. But, coaching-wise, they did a great job devising a game plan to take him out.”<\/p>\n

Cody Fajardo countered with three touchdown passes for the\u00a0Elks\u00a0(3-1), twice connecting with Kaion Julien-Grant before finding Austin Mack\u00a0in\u00a0the end zone\u00a0in\u00a0the final minute of the\u00a0first\u00a0half. Fajardo also threw three interceptions, with Vincent Blanchard\u2019s lone field goal\u00a0in\u00a0the fourth quarter accounting for Edmonton’s only offence of the second half.<\/p>\n

The teams combined for 50 points\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0first\u00a0half \u2014 including three majors each \u2014 to deliver another high-scoring, highly entertaining contest that concluded the Touchdown Kelowna festivities on a high note for more than 19,000 boisterous fans.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Lions\u00a0lost the opener of\u00a0their\u00a0two-week stint here, falling 41-33 to the Calgary Stampeders\u00a0in\u00a0a battle of winless teams last Saturday. But they held on this time, with several players stepping up on defence and special teams to support Butler, Rourke and the rest of the offence for an all-around impressive triumph.<\/p>\n

“It’s huge that we finished here with a\u00a0win,” said defensive back Jackson Findlay, who had a\u00a0first-half interception for the\u00a0first\u00a0of B.C.’s four turnovers.<\/p>\n

“We really enjoyed our time here. Great weather, great people, and we had a lot of fun,” he said. “We left a lot on the table those\u00a0first\u00a0three games. We know we’re a better team than that … and I think we showed that today…. So we’re super excited to be going to the bye week with a\u00a0win.”<\/p>\n

\"MenB.C. Lions’ James Butler (20) rushes for a touchdown against the Edmonton Elks during the first half of Saturday’s game. (Steve Dunsmoor\/The Canadian Press)Key moment<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Lions\u00a0opened the scoring on\u00a0their\u00a0second possession to fire up the fans, marching down the field thanks to four straight completions from Rourke before Horvath punched it\u00a0in\u00a0from the one-yard line.<\/p>\n

Darnell Sankey’s interception at B.C.’s goal line late\u00a0in\u00a0the fourth quarter was another key moment, snuffing out Edmonton’s comeback bid and getting the capacity crowd roaring again.<\/p>\n

Key stat<\/p>\n

Rankin had only four carries\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0first\u00a0half, resulting\u00a0in\u00a0a\u00a0loss\u00a0of three yards. He finished the game with 19 yards rushing and 100 yards receiving. He also fumbled for a turnover and didn’t factor into the scoring. He entered the game as the\u00a0Elks’ leading rusher and receiver through three games.<\/p>\n

Up next<\/p>\n

Elks: Host the Ottawa Redblacks (0-4) on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Lions: Visit the Edmonton\u00a0Elks\u00a0on Friday, July 17.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":786105,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-786104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=786104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/786105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=786104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=786104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=786104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}