HAMILTON – Bo Levi Mitchell won the showdown between last year’s CFL outstanding player finalists.
Mitchell tied his career high with five touchdown passes to lead Hamilton past the B.C. Lions 41-27 on Friday, giving the Tiger-Cats their second straight victory and first at home this season. The 14-year veteran also took much of the spotlight from Lions star quarterback Nathan Rourke, who was named the 2025 MOP despite Mitchell having more passing yards (5,296 to 5,290) and TDs (36 to 31).
Rourke, though was the league’s top-rushing quarterback last season with 564 yards and 10 touchdowns.
“I had a chip on my shoulder last year when it happened but that’s not to say he wasn’t deserving of it, he was,” Mitchell said. “It’s always extra motivation going into a game but it’s not against any single quarterback.
“Every single team has an amazing quarterback right now. Its going to be tough sledding no matter who we play but it definitely was a little extra motivation.”
Mitchell was 15-of-18 passing for 285 yards as the Ticats (2-1) earned their first win in four home games versus B.C. (0-2) before an announced Hamilton Stadium gathering of 20,402. Not since ’19 have the Lions opened a season with consecutive losses.
Rourke, also the CFL’s top Canadian last season, was 24-of-35 passing for 291 yards with a TD and interception while being sacked three times. However, B.C.’s offence was minus receivers Keon Hatcher Sr. (thigh), Stanley Berryhill III (thigh), Seven McGee (foot) and Canadian Jevon Cottoy (thigh) while Kieran Poissant and Canadian Justin McInnis were both hurt during the contest.
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“I’ve never been part of something like this, it’s absolutely crazy how unlucky we’ve been this early in the season,” Rourke said “We’ve had a bunch of guys go down, we’ve had injuries up front on our offensive line.
“I don’t really know how to explain it but it’s certainly a huge obstacle.”
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Mitchell, 36, is off to a fabulous start to the season, having completed 68-of-81 passes (84 per cent) for 879 yards with eight TDs and an interception.
“There’s a lot of trust between us (Mitchell and head coach/playcaller Scott Milanovich) right now,” Mitchell said. “I’m just trying to do the right thing and he’s trusting me to take the shots when I see them.
“I’ve got an amazing receiving crew … every single person can make crazy catches and plays down the field. It makes it tough on DBs, makes it tough to run zone but no one is going to run man against us. This (B.C.) is a team that runs heavy man and I don’ think they ran man against us one snap. It just shows teams know and understand who we are as an offence.”
Mitchell’s fifth TD pass — the fourth time he’s done that over his 14-year CFL career — came 21 seconds into the fourth, a 24-yard strike to Kurleigh Gittens Jr. that put Hamilton ahead 41-12.
“We’re having run right now because we’re doing our job and what we’re supposed to do,” Mitchell said. “The elephant in the room, everybody obviously knows they lost five starting receivers.
“You don’t use it as an excuse at all to kind of relax. I think our defence did a heck of a job shutting them down and still shutting down one of the best quarterbacks in the game, one of the best running backs (James Butler) in the game. We took advantage of what we could.
Rourke found Canadian rookie Nick Cenacle on a 14-yard TD pass at 11:19. Then Cenacle caught an 18-yard touchdown toss at 14:17 from backup Chase Brice, who was six-of-seven passing for 87 yards.
Max Mang, with two, Kiondre Smith, Jake Dolegala and Kenny Lawler had Hamilton’s other touchdowns. Marc Liegghio added five converts.
B.C.’s Sean Whyte had four field goals and two converts. Carl Meyer added a single.
Mitchell’s 49-yard TD pass to Lawler at 12:16 of the second staked Hamilton to its 27-9 halftime advantage. It followed Stavros Katsantonis’s interception.
“That was big,” Milanovich said. “That kind of put us where we needed to be.
“You never feel like a game is over but that one made it tough for them.”
Hamilton scored four touchdowns on its six first-half possessions, including its first three to open the contest. B.C. also scored the first three times it had the ball but in the form of Whyte field goals to fall behind 21-9 before Katsantonis’s interception.
“We didn’t do it,” Rourke said. “I thought we moved the ball well all game, didn’t finish enough with touchdowns and I’ll take responsibility for that.”
Added Milanovich: “I felt like it was a back-and-forth game early but the difference was our defence kept them out of the end zone. We’ve improved a lot in our redzone defence and that’s a good thing obviously.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
