A new era of B.C. Lions football got underway in a fresh location on Monday, as head coach Buck Pierce led his charges into battle for the first time in Victoria.
The result was preseason football in all its glory: sloppy mistakes, limited excitement, and quarterback play that would make a moth yawn. When all was said and done, the Leos had fallen 26-16 to the Calgary Stampeders with plenty of teaching tape to take back to their training camp dormitories.
Here are my thoughts on the game.
Dropping bodies, dodging bullets
Unfortunately, the biggest storyline of this game was one you never want to see in the preseason: injury. The training staff may have been sweating more than some of the players with how often they were forced to erect — and then collapse — the pop-up medical tent, as a stream of athletes came in with various knicks and bruises.
The Lions did not provide a full accounting of the casualties but it appeared that only one of the wounded wasn’t walking to the locker room. Rookie American receiver David Durden went down late with what appeared to be a serious lower-body injury, bringing a solid CFL debut to a sour conclusion.
The former Boston Red Sox draft pick — yes, you read that right — made a couple of heads-up plays on tipped balls on the game’s opening drive, the first off the hands of a fellow receiver to convert on second-and-10 in plus territory and the second to turn a potential Marloshawn Franklin interception into a TD. The team is high on his 4.45 speed but his availability is likely to influence his eligibility for the final roster.
While Durden may have caught a stray in his quest to make the team, the Lions dodged a bullet on the other serious-looking injury. Canadian offensive lineman Anu Una, the team’s 2024 first-round pick, was looking every bit as good as hoped at right guard on the first drive when he got rolled up on behind the play. He went down and immediately grabbed his leg, needing to be carried off the field and later carted off the sideline. Mercifully, he was walking around in a protective boot post-game and the word is that he might only be out a couple of weeks. That means a big sigh of relief for a team that desperately needs a young National offensive lineman to emerge long-term.
The only other injury that I was able to get a firm sense of was rookie Canadian fullback Luka Stoikos, who had his arm in a sling after a rough collision on special teams. Defensive tackle Marcus Moore got poked in the eye but eventually returned to the game.
Calgary may have suffered the most serious injury of the afternoon, as American fullback Ryan Jones looked to be in agony while being attended to by both medical teams and was eventually carted away with a splint on his leg. You hate to see it any time, but these situations are especially heart-breaking when they happen at this time of year to rookies who have very little contractual protection.
Brice for impact
While we got a brief and uninspiring look at veteran Jeremiah Masoli running Buck Pierce’s offence for the first time, much of Monday’s game was dedicated to letting third-stringer Chase Brice strut his stuff. He finished a respectable 14-of-20 passing for 135 yards and a touchdown while running five times for 11 yards, but hardly established himself as the team’s QB of the future.
By his own admission, Brice left a lot out on the field — as did the offence as a whole. Pressure was an issue at times but not all of that fell on the offensive line. I thought the 27-year-old was quick to drop his eyes and try to create with his feet, despite the fact he’s never been much of a rushing threat. From my vantage point, there were throws he could have made that he didn’t and hits he took that he didn’t need to.
The All-24 film will tell the ultimate story but Brice is now entering his third CFL season and the Lions have given him ample opportunity to develop. To paraphrase an old expression, it is time to defecate or exit the lavatory. I’d like to see the team bring in another option to push him and force a statement performance in the final preseason game, because I’m still not convinced that B.C.’s QB depth is on par with some of their competition’s.
An abundance of riches
For my money, the Lions’ best player in this game was rookie Canadian safety Jackson Findlay. The North Vancouver native got basically three quarters of uninterrupted play on defence and looked in complete command in his first action since B.C. traded up in the second round to get him.
The former Western Mustang showed off his range early with a tremendous pass break-up, coming across to disrupt ex-Clemson star Joseph Ngata as he streaked up the seam with a step on Ronald Kent Jr. He was constantly around the ball no matter where it was on the field and mixed it up in the box just like his grandfather Greg did for this franchise back in the 1960s. The result was three defensive tackles, two special teams tackles, and a knockdown in a memorable return to his home province.
There was little question that Findlay was the best prospect on the board when the Lions drafted him but it still came as a surprise because the team selected Cristophe Beaulieu last year, who looked like a future star safety as a rookie. It is clear that both young DBs are ready to contribute in a meaningful way right now, which puts the onus on defensive coordinator Mike Benevides to find some way to get them both on the field.
Taking the boat
Monday marked the second time in as many years that the Lions have ventured across the Georgia Strait to play in a suburb of Victoria. Last year’s Touchdown Pacific game was hailed as a rousing success and I think you can safely place this exhibition in the same category, though the two experiences could not have been more different.
For one, fans in Langford were treated to a grey, damp and chilly afternoon instead of blazing summer heat. In exchange, they received a much smaller venue in Starlight Stadium that was perfectly equipped to handle a crowd of just over 6,000. That was preferable to an overstuffed Royal Athletic Park in 2024 where accessing basic amenities was a challenge with more than twice that many people coming through the turnstiles. The media, too, was treated to cushier accommodations, with a functioning outdoor pressbox instead of a converted baseball dugout below field level.
Preseason stakes brought a more subdued atmosphere but far more of a local feel. There were noticeably fewer Lions fans making the early morning trek via BC Ferries, which isn’t particularly shocking given that the game sold out in just 12 minutes. That didn’t leave as much time for travellers to pre-plan a long weekend away and, frankly, the league is better for it.
It is great to see people who might not regularly get access to CFL football take full advantage and there was plenty of gear on display from across the diaspora. Those fans, whether they are casual watchers or devoted followers, deserve outreach as much as anybody in a major market and events like these are a fantastic way to do it.
On the road again
On that note, the Lions will almost certainly be playing home games at a non-traditional CFL venue again when the FIFA World Cup briefly evicts them from BC Place in 2026, but don’t bank on a return to Vancouver Island. Victoria hasn’t been ruled out as an option, but it sounds like the team is carefully considering potential alternatives in the Interior or a temporary facility in the Lower Mainland.
From the franchise’s perspective, they don’t want to lose out on more ticket revenue than absolutely necessary. Neither of the Victoria facilities they’ve visited thus far can reasonably be pushed to accommodate an ideal crowd of over 20,000. With financial assistance from the provincial government likely coming to shape a temporary home as needed, they’ll lean toward the model that causes the least pain at the gate.
Close the trenchcoat
In addition to Findlay, there were a handful of Lions players that I’d charge with flashing in their first action of 2025.
Among the receiving group, Idaho speedster Jermaine Jackson really separated himself with an impressive third-quarter drive. He finished with four catches for 54 yards after turning up the sideline for one long gain and capping that series with a short slant for the touchdown. He also served as the team’s only returner until the fourth quarter, which was a bit of a surprise given the number of options and how much the team hyped up the signing of Jason Huntley this offseason.
Jordan Terrell looked really nice on the opening drive at running back and it is clear that the ground game will be different under Pierce, who was already showcasing plenty of his beloved six OL packages. Second-year Canadian receiver Ezechiel Tieide also had a couple of splash plays late in the game, though he wasn’t going against Calgary’s best and also took a dumb penalty.
Defensively, projected starting strong-side linebacker Tyler Coyle came as advertised with an impressive interception and a serious presence. Halfback Robert Carter Jr. also made a compelling case to be included in the starting secondary, nearly squeezing a pick on an early deep throw he read perfectly and delivering a hellacious blow in the fourth quarter.
Though he had the fewest tackles of that group, I thought Jeremy Lewis was the best of the three American linebackers auditioning. He was active when lined up off-ball and also showed some things when used as an edge rusher. Third-year DT Marcus Moore was the clear standout along the defensive line, tying for the team lead with five tackles and adding a sack.
Urinary teams infection
The Lions will have a new punter this season and South African rugby convert Carl Meyer got the first kick at the can — pun intended.
Meyer averaged 53.1 gross yards per punt, including a booming 67-yarder, but his net average of 40.9 yards was a bit concerning. There is a colloquial term I can’t use for what was coming off of his foot all game but let’s just say that it is a synonym of “urine projectiles.” He consistently out-kicked his coverage and left the special teams unit scrambling to get into position.
I don’t know that he has even half of Meyer’s raw leg strength but I hope we get a look at first-round Global pick Ross Bolger in the next game. A little more touch and accuracy would not go amiss at that spot.
Bump and run
No matter what coaches say, the scoreboard is meaningless in the preseason. Even so, some of the reasons B.C. lost will need to be addressed before records actually matter, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.
First and foremost, the Lions committed 11 penalties for a stunning 187 yards. More than half of that came as a result of three clear pass interference infractions — one by Jordan Perryman and two by rookie Johnny Dixon. The Penn State product was known for his press coverage prowess in college but you just can’t play through the body like that in the CFL. He may have been a favourite to win a job at corner coming into the game but it’s hard to see him maintaining that status now.
Perhaps predictably given the personnel, the team also had some lapses in their run fits and surrendered 135 yards total on the ground. None were bigger than the 30-yard touchdown given to sixth-round Canadian rookie Ludovick Choquette, where Jacob Bond and Travian Blaylock allowed themselves to be entirely erased at the second level. That won’t happen to the starting unit but the details will need to be cleaned up regardless.
Pointless snaps
Buck Pierce can wax poetic all he wants about every snap being valuable and the need to adjust to a new cadence, but there is no justification for Nathan Rourke’s usage in this game that isn’t utterly farcical.
The franchise pivot was the only proven starter to dress and saw the field for exactly four snaps — three handoffs and a shovel pass that went for seven yards. It was nothing more than meaningless fan service and an attempt to tantalize Victoriates with the chance to see their local-born hero, only to pull him away before they had even registered what was happening.
If you want to protect Rourke by not playing him in a meaningless game, by all means, do it. That’s the smart decision. Don’t patronize fans with the rest of the charade.
The House of Stewart
For all the meaningless trivia lovers out there, you can officially jot down that Langford was home to both the very first game of the CFL’s Stewart Johnston era and the first he personally attended as the commissioner.
There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the three-down league’s new head honcho and he lived up to my expectations in our first in-person meeting. While the pre-game press conference was hardly a grilling, Johnston was able to answer tougher questions crisply, informatively, and without a tinge of panic — all things Randy Ambrosie regularly struggled with.
Loops-ing back
B.C. will now return to Kamloops for another two weeks of training camp and won’t see live snaps again until Saturday, May 30 when they visit Edmonton for the final game of the preseason. Decisions don’t have to be made until after the final whistle of that contest, but I suspect the Lions will do some trimming between now and then, focusing their time and resources on players who actually have a chance to make the active roster.
The reality is that most of the guys who saw the field in this game aren’t in that category, so the team’s underwhelming performance shouldn’t cause any panic. At the same time, there wasn’t much cause for celebration either when you consider that the Lions will need to find several contributing rookies to challenge in a tough West Division.
The true litmus test will come when the starters strap on the pads at the end of the month but for that, we’ll have to wait.
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