KELOWNA – There was no shortage of touchdowns — nine in total — but when things settled down, Vernon Adams Jr. and the Calgary Stampeders were spoilers with a 41-33 win over the BC Lions on Saturday night for their first win of the young CFL season.
“I’m happy to come out on top this time,” Stampeders receiver Tevin Jones said after suffering two close losses, including one in overtime, to start the 2026 campaign.
He scored the only touchdown of the third quarter, a 56-yarder with 1:06 remaining, to keep Calgary ahead by two scores at 31-17.
More than 19,000 fans attended Touchdown Kelowna’s home opener at the Apple Bowl, with the Lions kicking from BC Place in Vancouver for the FIFA World Cup, but Adams Jr. threw three touchdown passes to beat his former team.
“VA is a strong leader. Everyone is behind him, and he just swings the ball,” Jones said. “So as long as we keep doing that, we’ll be fine.”
Nathan Rourke, who replaced Adams Jr. BC’s starter, resulting in his trade to Calgary, had a strong first half — matching Adams Jr.’s effort. at that point, with two passing touchdowns — but couldn’t rally the Lions in the fourth quarter as they slipped to 0-3.
“That’s usually a sticking point that the media likes. It’s all a matter of respect and admiration for me, for the VA,” Rourke said of their rivalry. “He made some big plays. He did a really good job of protecting the ball. Hats off to VA, he played really well, and we’ve got to do a better job just finishing drives. I think we left some things out there.”
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“We just have to continue to control what we can control. It’s easy at this point, you’re 0-3, to point fingers at other people. But I think it’s more important to look at yourself in the mirror and try to figure out how you can improve. And that’s what I’m going to do.”
Its coaches agreed, with special teams, turnovers and penalties preventing the Lions from getting into the win column and giving fans more reason to celebrate.
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“The crowd showed up for us,” said bench boss Buck Pierce, who also serves as the Lions’ offensive coordinator. “Momentum and excitement… you need to make sure, as a football team, you’re able to maintain it. It can’t be peaks and valleys, and we had too many of those tonight.”
The Stampeders improved to 1-2 after getting touchdowns from five different players and setting a field goal record for this stadium.
connected with Dedrick Mills, Jalen Philpot and Jones through the air, with Calgary also getting a rushing touchdown from Quincy Vaughn and a 90-yard punt return from Tyreik McAllister as their exclamation point in the final frame.
Jude McAtamney rounded out Calgary’s scoring with two field goals, including a 57-yarder — tying the longest streak here, a mark previously set by Steven Shott of the Okanagan Sun junior program before playing for the Lions.
“The fans are amazing. I don’t know where they come from, but they come. There’s a lot of people out here bringing good energy, and I feel it. We all feel it,” Jones said. “And we will always give points when we feel that kind of energy, so shout out to Kelowna.”
Rourke also put on a good showing, with TD throws to Zander Horvath, Jermaine Jackson and Hergy Mayala. Horvath added the final score on the field, and Sean Whyte kicked a 36-yard field goal to account for BC’s offense.
“It felt like a home game for us. It was great,” Rourke said of the atmosphere. “I know this has been a long time in the making, a lot of planning, a lot of people involved. From our point of view, it’s amazing. And we just hope we can play a little better in front of the crowd because they deserve it. And hopefully we can get it done next week.”
IMPORTANT MOMENT
BC’s Silas Bolden fumbled a kickoff late in the second quarter, allowing Calgary to score two touchdowns in just over a minute to take a 10-point halftime lead.
It was a huge burst of momentum after Rourke had the crowd roaring en route to the Lions’ first lead. Adams Jr. responded with a six-yard TD pass to Philpot with 1:09 remaining in the second quarter, then quickly got the Stampeders back into scoring territory and Vaughn dove in from two yards out with three seconds left to capitalize on the special teams turnover.
KEY STATUS
The quarterback battle lived up to its billing, with Rourke throwing for 462 yards — reaching that total with the Lions on pace in the second half. He finished 32-for-42 with three touchdowns and one interception — made deep in Stampeders territory on the Lions’ third possession of the first quarter, when Zy Alexander stepped in front of his intended receiver at the three-yard line.
Adams Jr. finished 19-of-27 for 229 yards with three TDs and no interceptions.
In the first half, their stats were nearly identical: Rourke was 12-17 for 176 yards and Adams Jr. 12-18 for 124 yards.
NEXT
Stampeders: Host the Toronto Argonauts (2-1) on Thursday.
Lions: Host the Edmonton Eskimos (3-0) on Saturday, July 4, in Kelowna.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 27, 2026.
© 2026 Canadian Press
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