MONTREAL - Sean Whyte’s 43-yard field goal on the final play of the game lifted the B.C. Lions to a stunning come-from-behind 21-20 win over the Montreal Alouettes in front of 21,144 Percival Molson Stadium spectators on Saturday night.
Trailing 17-12 as time wound down in the fourth quarter, Lions' quarterback Nathan Rourke connected on an 46-yard passing play to Stanley Berryhill the Third for the 18-17 go-ahead score.
Rourke failed on the ensuing two-point conversion attempt, allowing Montreal to retake a 20-18 lead on a Jose Maltos 24-yard field goal with 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
The Lions quickly moved the ball downfield on the ensuing kickoff, setting up Whyte for his last-play heroics.
The Lions snapped their three-game losing streak and improved to 2-3.
Rourke went 22-for-36, throwing for 352 yards and one touchdown. He was making his first start for B.C. since June 12 after missing his team’s last two games with an oblique injury.
Justin McInnis had 6 receptions totalling 109 yards to pace the Lions, his first 100-plus yardage game of the season.
McLeod Bethel-Thomspon, starting his second straight game in place of the injured Davis Alexander, completed 15 of 23 pass attempts, good for 192 yards and two touchdowns.
Alouettes running back Sean Thomas Erlington, who played in his 100th career CFL game, collected 76 yards and scored his first receiving touchdown of the season. It marked the Montreal native’s fifth career non-rushing touchdown and his first since 2023. Tyson Philpot also scored his team-leading third touchdown of the season for Montreal.
The Alouettes (3-2) suffered their fifth straight loss against the Lions dating back to July of 2023. Montreal has yet to win a game against B.C. under current head coach Jason Maas.
B.C.’s 43-yard offensive drive to start the game was quickly negated by the Alouettes. Rourke’s long down field pass attempt to Keon Hatcher in the Lions’ end zone was intercepted by Alouettes' defensive back Kabion Ento.
Montreal quickly took advantage of the B.C. turnover. Bethel-Thompson found running back Sean Thomas Erlington for consecutive first-downs, good for 35 total yards. On just the third play of the drive, Bethel-Thompson’s short pass to Philpot resulted in a 45-yard touchdown run by the wide receiver that gave the Alouettes an early 7-0 lead.
Lions’ defensive lineman Christian Covington’s sack of Bethel-Thompson at his own 25-yard line late in the first quarter offered an opening for B.C.’s offence, which Rourke quickly took advantage of. The 27-year-old subsequently threw four passes good for at least 12 yards each. He would cap off the 72-yard drive himself with a two-yard run into the end zone just 57 seconds into the second quarter, his second rushing major of the season.
Sean Whyte’s ensuing convert attempt was blocked by the Alouettes’ Shawn Oakman to preserve Montreal’s narrow lead.
Maltos’ 44-yard missed field goal attempt on the Alouettes’ ensuing possession opened the door for Rourke and the Lions’ offence to pick up right where they left off. The B.C. pivot orchestrated a 12-play, 64-yard drive, resulting in a 24-yard field goal by Whyte at 12:22 of the second quarter to give the Lions their first lead of the game.
That lead would be short-lived in large part thanks to B.C.’s lack of discipline. The Alouettes took advantage of a pair of infractions by the visitors, including an illegal contact penalty on defensive back Robert Carter that gave Montreal a first-down at B.C.’s 14-yard line.
Bethel-Thompson’s pass to Thomas Erlington on the next play put Montreal back in front 14-9, a lead they would take into halftime.
The Montreal faithful held their breath in the third quarter when Bethel-Thompson was forced to leave the game following a hard contact with the Lions’ Deontai Williams. The 37-year-old would quickly return, however, after missing just three plays.
UP NEXT
Lions: Visit the Edmonton Elks on Sunday, July 13.
Alouettes: Host the Toronto Argonauts on Thursday, July 17.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 5, 2025.
