Late field goal powers B.C. Lions to 27-24 victory over Hamilton Tiger-Cats

B.C. Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke (right) looks to run after teammate Chris Schleuger (centre) knocks down Hamilton Tiger-Cats' Mario Kendricks Jr. with a block during first half of CFL action in Vancouver on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Rich Lam

Nathan Rourke knows he wasn’t at his best.

After missing a pair of games with a left shoulder injury, the B.C. Lions quarterback admitted there were points during Saturday’s contest with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats where he “wasn’t trusting it.”

“I think that’s just part of coming back and missing some time, and just kind of getting back into the rhythm of things,” said the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player of 2025. “It’s different when there’s live bullets, right? So it’s just getting comfortable with that again, and I’m glad that we figured it out.”

Rourke passed for 370 yards in his return, and the Lions held on for a 27-24 victory over the Ticats.

The Canadian QB made good on 22 of his 39 attempts for B.C. (3-5), including touchdown passes to Zander Horvath and Justin McInnis.

Horvath also drove in a major and Sean Whyte scored on 2-of-3 field goal attempts, putting a 24-yard kick through the uprights with 28 seconds left on the game clock to seal the decision.

“I don’t think anyone on offence is going to claim that this is our best game, but it’s a team football game and other areas stepped up,” Rourke said.

The Ticats (3-6) got 239 passing yards from Harrison Frost, who completed 20 of 33 attempts, including a TD toss to Kurleigh Gittens Jr. and a third-quarter interception in the first start of his CFL career.

The 27-year-old American filled in for veteran QB Bo Levi Mitchell, who remains sidelined after having surgery for an ankle injury he picked up against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on July 5.

“I thought he was composed,” Tiger-Cats head coach Scott Milanovich said of Frost’s performance. ”I thought he made good decisions, with one exception. There in the third quarter, we didn’t protect him very well. That was a function of that play, but that one happened to be a poor decision.”

The showing was enough to give Milanovich confidence in Frost moving forward.

“He’s the quarterback,” he said.

Playing his first game since July 17, Rourke started off strong on Saturday, steadily working the ball up the field on B.C.’s first possession. Stationed at Hamilton’s seven-yard line, he tossed a pass to Horvath, who spun out of a tackle and landed in the end zone to give the Lions an early lead.

The Ticats responded midway through the quarter with a drive that saw Frost sail a 34-yard pass to Kenny Lawler and Keric Wheatfall followed up, driving it into the five-yard line.

Hamilton was gifted more valuable yards when Lions defensive back Deontai Williams got called for unnecessary roughness, placing the ball on the one-yard line. Jake Dolegala leaped into a pile on the goal line and touched for the major.

The visitors pulled ahead early in the second, thanks in part to Isaiah Wooden Jr.’s 42-yard punt return. Frost capped the series with a touchdown pass to Gittens Jr. and Marc Liegghio’s convert gave the Ticats a 14-7 lead.

McInnis clawed back some crucial points for the Lions with just over two minutes left in the first half. Tangled up with defensive back Jamal Peters near the sideline, the Canadian receiver worked himself free in time to collect a long toss from Rourke and spring up the field unimpeded for a TD.

“I have a pretty good idea of Justin on that route and where he’s going to be. And we’ve ran that route I feel like 1,000 times and so I felt like his body language kind of picked up on where he was going to be,” Rourke said. ”So I just tried to give him a chance and luckily we figured it out and made a play.”

Liegghio put a bow on the frame with a 47-yard field goal that gave Hamilton a 17-14 lead going into the locker rooms.

The Lions answered with a patient stretch midway through the third, getting the ball up to the one-yard line. Horvath collected the ensuing snap and jumped up and over a mound of bodies for his second touchdown of the game to give B.C. a 21-17 advantage.

Whyte tried to pad the lead with a 43-yard field goal in the final seconds of the frame but Mario Kendricks Jr. blocked the attempt.

The Lions got possession back on the next play when Darnell Sankey tipped Frost’s pass and Williams nabbed the loose ball for the interception. The defensive back made it 39 yards up the field before getting hauled down.

Whyte capitalized early in the fourth, booting a 33-yard field goal.

B.C.’s defence has been playing “extremely well,” said Lions head coach Buck Pierce.

“I think they’ve found an identity,” he said. “Offensive football up here, you’re going to have some of those explosive plays, and those things are going to happen. But collectively they stepped up when they needed to step up.”

Hamilton continued to push and tied the score once again midway through the final quarter after Frost spotted Myron Mitchell well up field and hit him with a long lob for a 46-yard gain. Dolegala followed up with a one-yard rush up the middle for his second TD of the game.

The Ticats tried to level the score once again after Whyte’s strike, but were held to the midfield and Liegghio’s 57-yard field goal attempt as the final seconds ticked down was no good.

The result saw the two sides split the season series after the Ticats took a 41-27 win in Hamilton on June 19.

This report by Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press, was first published Aug. 8, 2026.