Playoffs on the line as Lions host Redblacks

SURREY – The B.C. Lions and Ottawa Redblacks have had very different seasons.

While both teams stumbled early, the Lions recovered from a 1-5 start in dramatic form, and now have wins in eight of their last nine games.

The Redblacks (0-15), meanwhile, are still desperately searching for their first win of the campaign.

A 34-16 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats last week saw Ottawa make bleak history. The team now holds the record for most losses to open a CFL season, surpassing the 14 straight defeats the Shreveport Pirates posted in 1994.

That doesn’t mean the Redblacks have relinquished all hope, though, said running back Daniel Adeboboye.

“Even though we have the record that we have, we still have phenomenal practices,” he said this week. “Guys still come out with good energy; guys in the locker room are still doing what they have to do. We still all understand that there’s something to play for.”

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Adeboboye proved last week that he’s still fighting hard. The 27-year-old Canadian rushed for 74 yards against Hamilton, including a season-high 55-yard gain.

The Redblacks know they won’t be competing for the Grey Cup this season, said Adeboboye, but giving up isn’t an option.

“We see the turnover in professional sports — the second that they sense that (you’ve given up), you’re gone. So we have that to play for,” he said.

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“The nature of this business, they’re not afraid to let go of guys and pick up new guys. They’re scouting for next year and we have to do our job to make sure we’re on the team next year.”

The Redblacks will have another opportunity to prove themselves on Friday when they visit the surging Lions (9-6).

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The home side will have extra ammunition for coming away with a win — a victory would punch B.C.’s playoff ticket.

The Edmonton Elks (11-4) are the lone team in the West Division currently holding a post-season berth.

Friday will be the second meeting between the two sides this season, coming after the Lions took a 45-24 win in the nation’s capital on Aug. 30.

That game didn’t start well for the visitors. B.C. had to overcome a 14-3 deficit en route to the win.

The Lions aren’t thinking about the CFL standings or their opponent’s record as they prepare for Friday’s matchup, said head coach Buck Pierce.

“It doesn’t matter where you are, you have to be extremely focused on where your feet are and the next opponent,” he said.

“For us to get where we want to get to, it just happens to be Ottawa this week. And we’ve got to play better than we did last week.”

The Lions are coming off a 24-17 road win over the Toronto Argonauts where B.C.’s Sean Whyte kicked a team-record eight field goals.

Quarterback Nathan Rourke — set to make his 50th CFL start on Friday — went without an interception for a third straight game, and has now gone 110 pass attempts without getting picked off.

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He amassed 254 passing yards against Toronto and hit 4,105 on the season, but was held without a touchdown.

Pierce isn’t concerned that Rourke didn’t connect with any of his receivers in the end zone.

“We’ve been pretty efficient there this year,” the coach said. “I think it’s just consistency, the ability to maintain our focus. When you lose your focus, your execution goes with it as well. And that’s really what happened.”

B.C.’s defence also came up big last week with a pair of goal-line stands that preserved the lead.

Defence has been critical to B.C.’s recent success, with the Lions allowing an average of 24.0 points per game and 332 yards of net offence over their last nine outings.

“They’re playing well,” Pierce said, noting that the defensive unit understood the assignment against Toronto.

“There was a lot of field goals kicked. It was a field position battle. And they knew that, in the fourth quarter, it was going to come down to a stop … That’s what good teams do and that’s the complementary football that you’re always trying to instil.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2026.