CFL.ca Staff
VANCOUVER — It appears as though Mike Reilly has cemented his spot as Travis Lulay’s backup.
Reilly completed 16 of 24 passes for 189 yards and three touchdowns in just over two quarters of work as the Lions routed the Roughriders 44-10 in pre-season action.
The Lions got the ball rolling on their opening drive, thanks to a 20-yard field goal by reining Most Outstanding Canadian Paul McCallum.
McCallum’s kick capped off an impressive first drive by the Lions, one that saw the Lions trek 56 yards downfield.
The first quarter saw Darian Durant and the Rider offence struggle, as the unit went two-and-out on their first two drives.
The Lions added to their lead with just over a minute remaining in the opening frame, with McCallum connecting on his second field goal of the quarter, this time from 28 yards out.
The second quarter saw more of the same from the always dangerous Lions offence.
With Lulay on the bench, Reilly completed a nine-yard pass to Canadian receiver Shawn Gore in the endzone, increasing B.C.’s lead to 13.
With Durant also on the sidelines, CFL rookie J.T. O’Sullivan led the Riders on a drive that was capped off with a 44-yard Chris Milo field goal, cutting B.C.’s lead to 10.
However, Reilly struck again with under one minute remaining, finding receiver Nick Moore in the endzone for the score.
With Levi Brown now under centre for Saskatchewan, the Riders hoped to begin generating some sort of traction on the offensive side of the ball.
However, an errant pass from Brown resulted in an interception by Lions linebacker Adam Bighill, who returned it 44 yards for a touchdown.
Eight minutes later, Reilly tossed his third major of the day, finding Moore once again for a 30-yard touchdown.
With just over four minutes remaining in the game, the Riders finally garnered some traction offensively. With Drew Willy under centre, the Rider offence put together a 15-play, 76-yard drive that was capped off with a three-yard TD pass from Willy to receiver Jason Chery.
But with 25 seconds remaining in the final frame, Andrew Harris punched one in from two yards out, increasing B.C.’s lead to a final score of 44-10.
