Lions still unbeaten after beating Redblacks

OTTAWA — Nathan Rourke showed why everyone is talking about him with an impressive outing in the B.C. Lions’ 34-31 win over the Ottawa Redblacks on Thursday night.

The young Canadian quarterback is being compared to some of the league’s best of all time, and while it might be early to hand him the crown, he’s definitely made an impression leading the Lions to a third straight CFL victory.

Rourke finished the game at TD Place Stadium completing 23 of 31 passes for 359 yards, two passing touchdowns, one rushing TD and two interceptions, the first of his career.

"I’ve never met someone with more confidence in himself,” said Lions running back James Butler. “He’s a great leader and even better person and there’s no other quarterback I want to play for.”

Much was made about the short week for the Lions, who played last Saturday against Toronto and had the cross-country travel, while the Redblacks were coming off a bye week.

"It’s a huge win for us to fly across the country,” said Lions head coach Rick Campbell. “Ottawa’s a good team so to beat these guys on the road, I’m really proud of our guys … we made enough plays to win the game.”

The same can’t be said about the Redblacks as they dropped their third consecutive game.

“You know, we made probably too many mistakes against a good football team,” said Redblacks coach Paul LaPolice. “You can’t give up the edge, you can’t drop coverage. You’ve got to be a little bit more consistent offensively, we had too many two-and-outs.”

There were some positives as Ottawa managed to score three touchdowns after having gone nine quarters without making it to the red zone, but moral victories are starting to ring hollow.

After having thrown for more than 700 yards in his first two games,