Zander Horvath’s three touchdowns carry Lions to 35-19 win over Blue Bombers

WINNIPEG — Rookie quarterback Kaidon Salter made no apologies for gaining more yards with his feet than his arm.

The result was that the B.C. Lions picked up a 35-19 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Thursday in Salter’s first-ever CFL start. The 23-year-old Texan was 7-of-15 passing for 96 yards and one touchdown, and ran 10 times for 160 yards in front of a crowd of 31,509 at Princess Auto Stadium.

His rushing yards set a franchise record for a quarterback in a single game, surpassing Jimmy Walden’s 116 yards in 1960.

“It wasn’t something that I was coming out here looking forward to do it,” Salter said. “But it’s a big blessing to just to be able to come out here and compete, show the CFL that mobile quarterbacks can play in this league and it’s not all about just having to go out there and chuck the ball around.

“You want to be able to throw the ball, but when you have the legs, that’s a big advantage playing in this league with a whole lot of field to use.”

The Lions (2-5) were also propelled to victory by running back Zander Horvath, who rushed for a trio of touchdowns off 17 carries for 191 yards.

Fellow tailback Emani Bailey recorded 26 yards on the ground, giving the team a franchise-record 377 rushing yards in a game.

“Maybe in grade school, but not since I’ve been playing college, NFL or anything like that,” Horvath said of scoring three TDs in a game. “That’s a big one.”

The Indiana native out of Purdue is in his second season with the Lions and played 15 games with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2022.

Horvath scored on a one-yard run in the second quarter, but then burst through for 58- and 35-yard scores in the final three minutes of the fourth quarter.

Winnipeg head coach Mike O’Shea said a variety of factors played into the poor run coverage as the Blue Bombers (4-4) fell to 1-4 at home.

“Any time those massive runs take place, you’ve got more than one error,” he said. “It’s not a one-on-one miss.

“It’s usually a combination of two, probably three errors or a missed tackle and a couple of errors. Those big runs, especially near the end, we’re just not where we’re supposed to be. A combination of guys being tired near the end and also trying too hard, which is a bad combination.”

Lions receiver Jermaine Jackson caught a 24-yard pass from Salter and Keon Hatcher hung on to the ball for a two-point convert. Sean Whyte made field goals from 43 and 42 yards, but missed a 52-yard attempt. He connected on three converts.

Quarterback Dru Brown was 18-of-21 passing for 180 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. He left the game with 9:22 remaining in the fourth quarter after he ran with the ball but didn’t slide and was hit. He was replaced by Taylor Elgersma.

Tim White caught a two-yard TD pass from Brown. Kicker Sergio Castillo was good on four field goals from 16, 12, 33, 49 yards and one convert.

Running back Brady Oliveira rushed 19 times for 107 yards.

“I look at myself right away. I think I’ve got to be better,” Oliveira said. “I thought there was definitely some missed opportunities out there. I felt like we could’ve scored two on the run and it starts with me.

“I’ve got to keep my feet up. I think I let the guys down up front. They played one heck of a game.”

Winnipeg led 6-0 after the first quarter, B.C. went ahead 7-6 at halftime and the Bombers were in front 16-10 heading into the fourth quarter.

Lions head coach Buck Pierce said Salter played well for his first start in place of injured Nathan Rourke and had a good supporting cast.

“Obviously, there’s going to be some things he’s going to want back,” Pierce said. “I think the group rallied behind him and it wasn’t too big for him.

“He’s able to step in and make some throws early to get comfortable, but then our efficiency up front, and with our run game just how it was looking and feeling, we wanted to make sure we leaned into that.

“And to be able to do that, the defence has to hold them to three (points) and special teams. It’s a team effort and it’s team win.”

UP NEXT

Bombers: Go on a bye week.

Lions: Host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Aug. 8.

Judy Owen, The Canadian Press