Week four of the Canadian Football League is now in the books and four Canadians were able to shine. Two of the Canadian offensive stars were quarterbacks and the other two were wide receivers.
On Thursday, Nathan Rourke of Victoria, British Columbia continued to shine for the British Columbia Lions in a 34-31 win over the Ottawa Redblacks in Ottawa. He completed 23 of 31 passes for 359 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, along with five rushes for 87 yards and one touchdown.
Rourke opened the scoring with a 50-yard touchdown run to put the Lions up 6-0 with four minutes and seven seconds into the game. He then put the Lions top 13-3 with a six-yard touchdown catch to running back James Butler with three minutes and 17 seconds into the second quarter, and then threw a 71-yard touchdown to Kevin Hatcher with five minutes and 44 seconds left in the third quarter to tie the game at 20.
On Friday, Edmonton Elks quarterback Tre Ford of Niagara Falls, Ontario threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Lawler with three minutes and 32 seconds into the fourth quarter in a 29-25 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Ford completed 15 of 26 passes for 159 yards, one touchdown and one interception, and had six rushes for 61 yards.
Then on Saturday, two Canadian Roughriders receivers caught touchdown passes in a 41-20 Saskatchewan win over the Montreal Alouettes. Mitchell Picton of Regina, Saskatchewan had an eight yard touchdown catch with 1:46 left in the first quarter to put the Roughriders up 6-3 and then Kian Schaffer-Baker of Mississauga, Ontario had a 44 yard touchdown catch with 5:57 left in the third quarter to put the Roughriders up 31-13. Schaffer-Baker head seven catches for 90 yards and Picton had two catches for 14 yards.
The Lions improved to 3-0, and the Roughriders improved to 3-1. It was the Elks’ first win of the season, as they are now 1-3.
