Nathan Rourke of Victoria, British Columbia is becoming a star quarterback for the British Columbia Lions. The fact he is Canadian is noteworthy, but Rourke needs to be considered among the very best quarterbacks in the Canadian Football League, period.
On Saturday night at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver, Rourke set the CFL record for most passing yards in a game by a Canadian with 436 in the 44-3 Lions thrashing over the Toronto Argonauts. He broke the record previously set by Montreal Alouettes quarterback Gerry Dattilio of Quebec City, Quebec on September 6, 1981 in a 35-26 loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Dattilo had 427 yards.
Rourke completed 39 of 45 passes for 436 yards and four touchdowns. Rourke’s touchdowns were a 19-yard pass to Bryan Burnham with three minutes and 46 seconds into the first quarter to put the Lions up 6-0, a 19-yard pass to Dominique Rhymes with seven minutes and 51 seconds left in the first half to put the Lions up 16-3, a 30-yard pass to Jevon Cottoy with 1:36 left in the third quarter to put the Lions up 29-3, and a 25-yard pass to Rhymes with 4:52 into the fourth quarter to put the Lions up 36-3. It should be noted that Cottoy has lived in Calgary since age nine and played in the Canadian Junior Football League with the Calgary Colts. With the win, the Lions improved to a record of two wins and zero losses.
Two more Canadians from a winning CFL team registered a touchdown in week three. Kaion Julien-Grant of Toronto, Ontario had a 70-yard touchdown catch on Thursday in the 37-13 Montreal Alouettes win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders on June 23. The major score came eight seconds into the second quarter and put the Alouettes up 19-3. Meanwhile, Brady Oliveira of Winnipeg, Manitoba had a one-yard touchdown run on Friday in the 26-12 Winnipeg Blue Bombers win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats with 23 seconds left in the second quarter. At the time, the Blue Bombers went up 13-9. With the wins, the Blue Bombers improved to 3-0 and the Alouettes improved to 1-2.
