VANCOUVER — Vernon Adams Jr. passed for 393 yards in his return Saturday, guiding the B.C. Lions to a 27-3 victory over the league-leading Montreal Alouettes.
Adams, making his first start since Aug. 1, completed 27 of 37 attempts with two touchdowns and two interceptions. The American quarterback added 39 rushing yards with another TD for the Lions (9-9).
Cody Fajardo connected on 7 of 9 passes for 67 yards for the Alouettes (12-4-1) before he was replaced with Davis Alexander at halftime.
Montreal continued to struggle to break through B.C.’s defence with the backup QB, and Alexander ended the night with only 67 passing yards.
The Lions got a pair of field goals from Sean Whyte, including a 33-yard strike, and Jose Maltos booted a 14-yard kick through the uprights for the Alouettes.
Saturday marked B.C.’s final game of the regular season, and the Lions will finish the campaign third in the West.
Adams wasted no time establishing his presence Saturday. His first play of the night was a long bomb to Justin McInnis, who made the catch under pressure for a 43-yard gain.
Adams completed the five-play, 60-yard scoring drive by muscling the ball into the end zone on a one-yard touchdown. Whyte added the extra point and the Lions went up 7-0 less than three minutes into the game.
The quarterback added another big play midway through the first quarter, airing out a 52-yard pass to Stanley Berryhill III as the wide receiver sprinted down field. Berryhill made the catch and stepped over the goal line for the Lions’ second TD of the night.
Whyte added a 33-yard field goal 6:48 into the second to give B.C. a 17-0 lead.
Montreal had a chance to bite into the deficit late in the first half as Fajardo steadily worked his way up the field.
Lions linebacker Ben Hladik denied the Als a touchdown on second down in dominant fashion, picking Dominique Davis up and dumping him on the three-yard line. Montreal went for it on third down, but Fajardo couldn’t connect with Charleston Rambo deep in the end zone.
The home side closed out the third with another major when Adams connected with Alexander Hollins on a pair of passes. After putting up a 20-yard gain, Adams found the wide receiver steps from the goal line and fired off a 10-yard pass. Hollins made the catch and stepped in for B.C.’s third TD of the game. Whyte put another kick through the uprights and the Lions’ cushion ballooned to 24-0.
Montreal had another prime opportunity to get into the end zone early in the fourth, but couldn’t convert in the red zone and instead set up for a field goal. Maltos sent a 14-yard kick through the uprights and cut the Als’ deficit to 24-3.
Whyte added a 18-yard field goal to the Lions’ tally midway through the final frame to make it 27-3.
B.C. shutdown another Alouettes’ red zone push late in the fourth, with Lions defensive lineman Christian Covington coming up with the ball after a goal-line stand.
NOTES
B.C. lost three players in the first half with running back William Stanback (elbow/shoulder), cornerback Garry Peters (stinger) and linebacker Ace Eley (lower back) all leaving the game with injuries. … The Lions swept the season series between the two sides. B.C. also took a 37-23 victory in Montreal on Sept. 6. … McInnis collected 106 passing yards and hit 1,469 for the season. The wide receiver from Pierrefonds, Que., is the first Canadian to pass the 1,400-yards mark since Dave Sapunjis hit 1,655 in 1995.
UP NEXT
Alouettes: Host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in their regular-season finale next Saturday.
Lions: Have a bye week and won’t play again until the West Division semifinal on Nov. 2.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2024.
Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press