OTTAWA – Zander Horvath doesn’t like talking about himself a whole lot, even when his performance gives him good reason to articulate.
asserted
performance → like → reason
Horvath was unstoppable Sunday night, rushing for 164 yards and four touchdowns to help lead the surging B.C. Lions to a 45-24 victory over the winless Ottawa Redblacks.
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Horvath → rush → Redblacks
The Lions have won five in a row and improved to 6-5.
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Lions → win → 6
“It’s never a one-man show, it’s about everyone doing their job out there,” said Horvath, who also had four catches for 30 yards.
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who → ’ → yards
“I think we executed on offence, defence, special teams and just locked in toward the end of the game.”
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we → think → game
Horvath leads the league with 13 TDs and his 625 rushing yards ranks fifth.
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yards → lead → TDs
Lions head coach Buck Pierce says he’s seen steady improvement from the 27-year-old Horvath since the season kicked off.
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season → say → Horvath
“I think him and (running back) James Butler make each other better,” said Pierce.
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Pierce → think → ?
“We’re able to mix it up a little bit to keep those guys fresh and you’ve got to credit the O-line too, and the receivers for doing a great job on some of those runs.”
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you → ’re → runs
Butler had 45 yards on seven carries.
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Butler → have → carries
Having their run game going was in complete contrast to the struggling Redblacks who finished with minus-three net rushing yards.
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who → have → yards
The run-game has been a challenge all year for Ottawa which sits last with 548 rushing yards.
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which → sit → yards
Redblacks head coach Ryan Dinwiddie knows it’s been an issue and would love nothing more than to find a way to get it going but circumstances often make it difficult.
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“I mean, if we can just get to second and six, if we just get four yards and then we can still have a run game available on second down,” said Dinwiddie.
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Dinwiddie → know → down
The Redblacks are 0-11 on the season and will go more than a calendar year without a victory.
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Redblacks → go → victory
Ottawa last won Sept. 5, 2025 and with a bye next week won’t play again until Sept. 12.
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Ottawa → win → Sept.
The loss also put Jake Maier in a unique position as he became the first quarterback in league history to start a season with 11 straight losses.
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he → put → losses
“This is obviously challenging, you know, to the spirit of a man,” said Maier.
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Maier → challenge → man
“I think everybody is in that boat right now in terms of like this is our reality.
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this → think → terms
“But we’re not gonna lay down and we’re not gonna quit and we’re not gonna be a bunch of quitters and we’re not gonna go down that route.
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we → go → route
We’re just gonna continue to show up every day because that’s what a man is supposed to do and we believe in that.”
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we → go → that
Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke had a rough start getting picked off twice, but settled in and finished 22-for-25 for 355 yards and two touchdowns.
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Rourke → have → yards
“I’m so grateful for the other phases and other people on offence picking me up because I made some mistakes, made some bad decisions,” said Rourke.
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Rourke → ’m → decisions
“What happened in the first half is on me and I think we just played cleaner football in the second half.”
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we → happen → half
The Redblacks capitalized on Alonzo Addae’s two interceptions in the first half.
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Redblacks → capitalize → half
After picking off Rourke, Ottawa took advantage with Maier connecting on a 10-yard touchdown pass to Ayden Eberhardt for a 7-3 lead.
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Maier → pick → lead
Addae then picked off Rourke at the Lions’ 35 and returned it to the nine.
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Addae → pick → nine
A horse-collar penalty moved Ottawa to the goal line, where Bryson Barnes ran it in for a 14-3 lead.
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Barnes → move → lead
But the Lions rallied with a pair of touchdowns, Rourke connected with Butler from 10 yards out before Horvath’s two-yard run gave B.C. a 17-14 lead.
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run → rally → lead
A 43-yard Brett Lauther field goal tied the game 17-17 at the half.
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goal → tie → half
B.C. started the second half strong when a major Grade 2 unnecessary roughness penalty for 25 yards put them on Ottawa’s 18-yard line.
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penalty → start → line
Three plays later Horvath scored his second touchdown.
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Horvath → score → touchdown
Maier found Eberhardt, who spun out of a tackle and raced 49 yards for a touchdown to tie the game 24-24.
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who → find → game
Horvath would go on to add two more touchdowns and receiver Jevon Cottoy had a 14-yard catch for a major.
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Cottoy → go → major
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 30, 2026.
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report → publish → Press
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