Stop. Hammer time.
The B.C. Lions ran into a buzzsaw Friday night, dropping a 41-27 decision to the host Hamilton Tiger-Cats in CFL action at Hamilton Stadium.
Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell passed for 285 yards and five touchdowns for the Ticats (2-1), who got majors from Maximilian Mang (2), Kenny Lawler, Kiondre Smith, Kurleigh Gittens Jr. and Jake Doleaga. Kicker Marc Liegghio added five conversions.
For the Lions (0-2), who were missing four wide receivers due to injury, Nathan Rourke tossed for 291 yards and a touchdown, with backup Chase Brice coming in late in the fourth and tossing a. TD of his own. Receiver Nick Cenacle caught both B.C. touchdowns and finished with 120 yards receiving. Kicker Sean Whyte added four field goals and two converts and punter Carl Meyer had a single.
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The Ticats came out firing, taking the lead just a minute into the contest, as Mitchell hooked up with Smith for a 56-yard touchdown. Liegghio’s convert made it 7-0. It was Smith’s third TD in his first three games this season.
B.C. responded on their first drive, with Whyte booting a 40-yard field goal at 5:41 to cut the lead to 7-3.
Immediately after getting the ball back, Mitchell found Myron Mitchell for another 56-yard gain and shortly thereafter, Dolegala powered in from one-yard out to give the Ticats a 13-3 lead and Liegghio followed with the conversion.
B.C. again marched down the field, but their drive stalled deep in Hamilton territory and they settled for a 14-yard field goal from Whyte to pull within 14-6 with 1:02 left in the quarter.
Mitchell loaded up again on Hamilton’s next play, going deep for Smith and drawing a 47-yard pass interference penalty on B.C.’s Tyson Russell.
Mitchell finished the first quarter with a whopping 140 passing yards.
On the first play of the second quarter, Mitchell found tight end Mang for a seven-yard touchdown. Liegghio’s convert made it 21-6.
The Lions answered back with their third straight scoring drive, ending in another Whyte field goal, this time from 17 yards out to cut the lead to 21-9 with 8:44 left in the quarter.
Mitchell’s first incomplete pass came with five minutes left in the half, after eight straight completions.
Liegghio missed the ensuing field goal try from 45 yards out. B.C.’s Silas Bolden carried the missed try out of the end zone, giving the Lions the ball back on their own two-yard line.
With 2:52 left in the quarter, Rourke was intercepted by Hamilton’s Stavros Katsantonis.
On the very next play, Mitchell went deep again, connecting with Lawler for a 49-yard major. Liegghio’s convert gave the Ticats a 28-9 lead, which held up through halftime.
In the first half, Mitchell was 9-for-10 for 218 yards and three TDs.
Big Mang counted his second touchdown of the game just over eight minutes into the second half, catching an eight-yard pass across the middle from Mitchell. Liegghio added the convert to up the lead to 34-9.
Whyte’s fourth field goal of the game, a 43-yarder, completed the third-quarter scoring, with the Ticats heading into the final 15 minutes up 34-12.
Sixteen seconds into the fourth quarter, Mitchell tossed a 23-yard TD to Gittens, with Liegghio’s convert making it 41-12.
Three minutes later, punter Meyer added a 46-yard single to cut the lead to 41-13.
With 3:41 to play, Cenacle, one of the fill-ins at wide receiver, scored his first CFL touchdown off a 14-yard toss from Rourke. Whyte’s convert pulled B.C. within 41-20. It was the first TD pass of the year for Rourke, the CFL’s reigning most outstandng player.
With two minutes to play, B.C. pulled Rourke and inserted Brice at QB and he found Cenacle with a late 18-yard major with 43 seconds left to round out the scoring.
NOTES: Receivers Seven McGee, Jevon Cottoy, Stanley Berryhill and Nate DeMontagnac all missed the contest due to injury… B.C. dropped its season opener, 31-27, to the defending Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders in Week 2… James Butler led the Lions in rushing, with 15 carries for 62 yards… Darnell Sankey led the way on defence with seven tackles… The loss snapped B.C.’s three-game win streak in Hamilton… The Lions host the Calgary Stampeders on Saturday, June 27 (4 p.m.) for their home opener.