B.C. Lions rebound with decisive 38-27 win over Ottawa Redblacks

VANCOUVER — Deontai Williams knew what he needed to do.

Midway through the third quarter on Friday, the B.C. Lions defensive back spotted Ottawa Redblacks quarterback Dustin Crum holding the ball low and thought that provided a prime opportunity.

Williams darted in off the edge, stripped the ball from Crum with one hand, held on and sprinted up the field for a touchdown.

It wasn’t the first time he’s made the play.

“If you look back, back in college I did the exact same thing, strip sack for a touchdown,” the Nebraska alum said after the Lions downed the visiting Redblacks 38-27.

Practising ball disruption is routine, he added, and combining a strip sack with a big run came naturally for the athlete who grew up playing offence.

“I was a both-sides-of-the-ball type of guy, and luckily, I’m playing defence instead of offence,” Williams said. “So it is what it is, but I still got the moves.”

The moves impressed Lions head coach Buck Pierce, himself a former CFL quarterback.

“That’s a heck of a play. We talk about going for the ball, right? When you’re free, you go for the football. Quarterback can’t throw if he doesn’t have the football right?,” he said.

“And just a fantastic play to finish it as well. It’s one thing to take the ball away, but to then finish and put points on the board? So just a phenomenal play by him.”

B.C.’s defence has been closely scrutinized this season as the team has coughed up big leads in narrow losses. The entire unit has been talking about getting more takeaways, Williams said, and he thought a big play could help get the defence clicking through the final stretch of the regular season.

“So that was just my opportunity, just to try to get that momentum that we need, keep the ball rolling when it comes to getting turnovers when we go against teams next week and the weeks (ahead),” he said.

The victory snapped a two-game skid for the Lions (6-7) and came after the Redblacks (4-9) mounted a second-half comeback to beat B.C. 34-33 last week.

This time out, the Lions finished when they needed to finish and got some big defensive stands, Pierce said.

“I thought overall we were more consistent throughout the course of the game,” the coach said. “I thought we were able to control our emotions a little bit better and have some emotional intelligence of just how the game was going. Whether we were up or they made a play, we were able to bounce back. And that’s important.”

B.C.’s offence was led by Nathan Rourke, who threw for 308 yards and punched in a pair of rushing touchdowns. He connected on 21 of his 26 pass attempts, with a TD toss to Keon Hatcher Sr.

Lions running back James Butler added another major, and kicker Sean Whyte made five converts and a 15-yard field goal.

Crum once again started for the Redblacks in place of injured quarterback Dru Brown, who dressed for the game but stayed on the sidelines as Crum passed for 307 yards. He was 30-for-35 with a touchdown pass to Justin Hardy and tallied a pair of rushing TDs.

Ottawa got one convert and two field goals from kicker Lewis Ward, including a 47-yard strike.

Redblacks head coach Bob Dyce said it was a “real tough defeat.”

“Offensively, I thought we did some things well early, and it’s one of the things that we wanted to focus in on,” he said. “But defensively, obviously, we were challenged. They scored on touchdowns on their first four drives, and that’s obviously unacceptable, and puts you in a very, very tough situation.”

Crum was sacked seven times, including four times by defensive lineman Mathieu Betts.

“They have a talented front. They have guys that get after it,” Crum said. “Obviously, they’re professional football players, and they’re good at what they do. So they made a lot of plays tonight, and you’ve got to tip your hat to them.”

Rourke scored on back-to-back Lions possessions in the second quarter, starting with a big play to Hatcher.

The American wide receiver collected a pass from the quarterback and weaved his way up the field for a 51-yard gain. Rourke then forced his way through a bunch of bodies to punch in his first rushing touchdown of the night.

With less than two minutes to go in the frame, Rourke made good on another third-down play by slipping around the pack and muscling his way into the end zone for a four-yard major. Whyte’s fourth convert of the night gave B.C. a 28-13 lead heading into halftime.

Despite the win, Rourke saw room for improvement, saying he and the offence didn’t play up to their standard in the second half.

Williams’ touchdown and Whyte’s field goal were the only points the Lions put on the board across the third and fourth quarters.

“Good first half. But we can’t expect to play that way in the second half and win too many games,” Rourke said. “So I think hats off to our defence and special teams for keeping us in the second half.”

UP NEXT

Redblacks: Host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Saturday, Sept. 20.

Lions: Visit the Calgary Stampeders on Friday, Sept. 19.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2025.

Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press