Bo Levi Mitchell tied his career high with five touchdown passes as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats beat the B.C. Lions 41-27 on Friday. The win gave Hamilton consecutive victories and its first home win of the season, while Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke—named the 2
HAMILTON — Bo Levi Mitchell didn’t just win the showdown with Nathan Rourke. He turned it into a Hamilton statement.
Mitchell tied his career high with five touchdown passes to lead the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to a 41-27 victory over the B.C. Lions on Friday, delivering Hamilton its second straight win and its first at home this season. The 14-year veteran also pulled much of the spotlight from the Lions’ star quarterback. Rourke. who was named the 2025 MOP—even though Mitchell finished with more passing yards (5. 296 to 5. 290) and more touchdown passes (36 to 31).
Mitchell’s numbers on the night were vintage control: he went 15-of-18 for 285 yards. Hamilton improved to 2-1, while B.C. fell to 0-2 and hasn’t started a season with consecutive losses since ’19.
Rourke. who was the league’s top-rushing quarterback last season with 564 yards and 10 touchdowns. still delivered in the pocket at Thomas field—24-of-35 passing for 291 yards with a touchdown and an interception. But he was sacked three times, and the Lions’ offense never had full access to its usual weapons.
B.C.’s attack was missing receivers Keon Hatcher Sr. (thigh), Stanley Berryhill III (thigh), Seven McGee (foot) and Canadian Jevon Cottoy (thigh). Kieran Poissant and Canadian Justin McInnis were also hurt during the contest.
“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.”
Rourke’s frustration was sharper than his stats could show.
“I’ve never been part of something like this, it’s absolutely crazy how unlucky we’ve been this early in the season,” he 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.”
The game swung decisively in Hamilton’s favor in the fourth quarter. Mitchell’s fifth touchdown pass came 21 seconds into the period, a 24-yard throw to Kurleigh Gittens Jr. that extended the lead to 41-12.
That moment carried a simple message from Mitchell: they were taking shots because they were allowed to.
Mitchell, 36, has started the season in a way that already looks like a franchise highlight reel. He has 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.”.
Hamilton built its lead early, scoring four touchdowns on its six first-half possessions. The Tiger-Cats opened the contest by finding the end zone on their first three drives. B.C. matched that early rhythm—also scoring on its first three possessions—but it came in the form of Sean Whyte field goals. helping put B.C. ahead of 9-0 before the game began tilting.
Whyte had four field goals and two converts for the Lions. Carl Meyer added a single.
The halftime advantage was 27-9 for Hamilton after a key sequence that combined early scoring and defensive disruption. Mitchell’s 49-yard TD pass to Kenny Lawler at 12:16 of the second quarter made it 27-9, following a Stavros Katsantonis interception.
The pick gave Hamilton a path to pile on, and Milanovich made clear that it mattered.
“That was big,” head coach/playcaller Scott 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’s touchdown list kept moving: Rourke’s team got on the board after 11:19 when he found Canadian rookie Nick Cenacle on a 14-yard TD pass, then at 14:17 Cenacle hauled in an 18-yard touchdown toss from backup Chase Brice, who was six-of-seven passing for 87 yards.
Back on Hamilton’s side, Mitchell connected with Kurleigh Gittens Jr. for his late-game clincher, while Max Mang (with two), Kiondre Smith, Jake Dolegala and Kenny Lawler provided the rest of Hamilton’s scoring. Marc Liegghio added five converts.
When asked about what the game required from his group, Mitchell didn’t dress it up.
“We’re having run right now because we’re doing our job and what we’re supposed to do,” he 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.”
B.C.’s offense may have managed yardage, but the Lions didn’t turn enough drives into points—something Rourke owned plainly.
“I thought we moved the ball well all game, didn’t finish enough with touchdowns and I’ll take responsibility for that,” he said.
Milanovich, meanwhile, pointed to the defensive edge.
“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.”
By the time the announced crowd at Hamilton Stadium hit 20,402, Mitchell’s performance had already defined the night: five touchdown passes, a tied career high, and a home victory that—most importantly—kept Hamilton rolling.
CFL Hamilton Tiger-Cats Bo Levi Mitchell B.C. Lions Nathan Rourke 2025 MOP James Butler Kurleigh Gittens Jr. Kenny Lawler Sean Whyte Katsantonis interception