Big things are expected from Nathan Rourke of Victoria, British Columbia this season. With the British Columbia Lions in 2022, Rourke has become the first number one starting quarterback for a Canadian Football League franchise since Chomedey, Quebec native Gerry Dattilio was at the helm for the Calgary Stampeders in 1982.
On Saturday night, Rourke was a huge difference maker as the Lions clobbered the Elks 59-15. He completed 26 of 29 passes for 282 yards and three touchdowns. Rourke also had seven rushes for 78 yards and two more touchdowns.
Rourke’s touchdown passes were 20 yards to running back James Butler at 4:25 in the first quarter to open the scoring and put the Lions up 6-0, 13 yards to Butler at 10:38 in the second quarter to put the Lions up 27-6, and seven yards to Keon Hatcher with 24 seconds left in the first half, which put the Lions up 41-6. Rourke’s touchdown runs were for two yards and 17 yards. The two-yard touchdown put the Lions up 34-6 with one minute and 13 seconds left in the first half, and the 17-yard touchdown put the Lions up 48-15 with one minute and 25 seconds left in the third quarter.
Two more Canadians had touchdowns in victories this past weekend. In the Lions’s win over the Elks, British Columbia backup quarterback Michael O’Connor of Ottawa, Ontario had a one-yard touchdown run to put the Lions up 58-13 with one minute and 53 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Also in the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ 30-13 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Saturday, Saskatchewan wide receiver Kian Schaffer-Baker of Guelph, Ontario, had a 20-yard touchdown catch from Cody Fajardo with three minutes and six seconds left in the fourth quarter, and put the Roughriders up 21-13 at the time.
