Canada Day was Tuesday, but the CFL delivered its own fireworks four days late.

After a crazy (and controversial) final 30 seconds of a game that ended on a walk-off field goal by the visiting B.C. Lions against the Montreal Alouettes, a wild brawl broke out outside the Als’ locker room on Saturday night.

Following the Lions’ 21-20 win, the television broadcast showed Alouettes defensive lineman Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund and Lions defensive lineman Kemoko Turay exchanging punches before numerous other players hustled toward the two for more pushing and shoving.

On the Als’ post-game show on X, Adeyemi-Berglund accused a Lions player of trying to get into Montreal’s locker room.

“I don’t know really why. I wanted to give some passes to my family because they’re here visiting. And so (the Lions) are already in our locker room screaming profanity and throwing punches at coaches and players,” Adeyemi-Berglund said. “What else can you do? This is where we’re at. This is our locker room. Someone is entering our locker room. It’s not going to fly … You’ve just got to protect our locker room.”

The Als appeared to be in good shape to win the game when Jose Maltos kicked a 24-yard field goal with 28 seconds left to put Montreal ahead 20-18. But at the end of the play, Montreal’s Pier-Olivier Lestage was called for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for a skirmish with a B.C. player, pushing the ensuing kickoff back 15 yards.

“Anything they say to you, anything they do to you, cannot result in an action that would get a 15-yard penalty,” said Alouettes head coach Jason Maas. “He’s remorseful about it. I know he’s been very good about that and trying to be a disciplined football player, but he just let the emotions get the best of him in that part.”

Still, B.C. likely was out of field-goal range with 3.7 seconds left and the ball at Montreal’s 49-yard line. But the Lions decided to run one more play, and Nathan Rourke’s 13-yard pass to Jevon Cottoy was ruled to be done with 0.2 seconds left — television replays appeared to show the clock starting a bit late on the snap.

That gave Sean Whyte a chance for a 43-yard field goal to win, and he did just that.

“I thought the clock went out. I don’t know how you can hike the ball, throw it, catch it, run it, get down all within three seconds,” Alouettes veteran linebacker Darnell Sankey said on the team’s X broadcast.

The Lions snapped a three-game losing streak to improve to 2-3, while the East-leading Als dropped their second in a row and fell to 3-2.

“I’m just so proud of these guys,” said Whyte after the game. “We really needed a win. We needed to get the ball rolling and get some momentum. We finally got it. It’s really cool. I’m so happy.”

Trailing 17-12 as time wound down in the fourth quarter, Lions’ quarterback Nathan Rourke connected on a 46-yard passing play to Stanley Berryhill III for the 18-17 go-ahead score.

Rourke failed on the ensuing two-point conversion attempt, allowing Montreal to retake a 20-18 lead on a Jose Maltos 24-yard field goal with 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

The Lions quickly moved the ball downfield on the ensuing kickoff, setting up Whyte for his last-play heroics.

Rourke went 22-for-36, throwing for 352 yards and one touchdown. He was making his first start for B.C. since June 12 after missing his team’s last two games with an oblique injury.

“No one works harder than Nathan Rourke,” Whyte added. “I’m so proud of him as well. Mistakes are going to happen, but he clutched up at the end to put a drive like that together and get us into range to score points. That was a full team win and I’m just so happy for the whole team.”

Justin McInnis had six receptions totalling 109 yards to pace the Lions, his first 100-plus yardage game of the season.

McLeod Bethel-Thompson, starting his second straight game in place of the injured Davis Alexander, completed 15 of 23 pass attempts, good for 192 yards and two touchdowns.

“It’s a loss,” said Bethel-Thompson. “There’s no individual performance. It’s just a loss.

“There’s a lot of big plays we left out there, a lot of inches that we couldn’t quite accomplish. If we don’t kick ourselves in the foot, we should be pulling away with these games.”

Alouettes running back Sean Thomas Erlington, who played in his 100th career CFL game, collected 76 yards and scored his first receiving touchdown of the season. It marked the Montreal native’s fifth career non-rushing touchdown and his first since 2023. Tyson Philpot also scored his team-leading third touchdown of the season for Montreal.

The Alouettes suffered their fifth straight loss against the Lions, dating back to July of 2023. Montreal has yet to win a game against B.C. under current head coach Jason Maas.

“We stick together and we work,” said Maas. “That’s what we’ve got to continue to do. I want them to enjoy the bye week, too, because that’s what’s on our schedule right now. When we come back, they better be willing and ready to work. We’ve got to learn some lessons from this game and continue to grind.”

B.C.’s 43-yard offensive drive to start the game was quickly negated by the Alouettes. Rourke’s long downfield pass attempt to Keon Hatcher in the Lions’ end zone was intercepted by Alouettes’ defensive back Kabion Ento.

Montreal quickly took advantage of the B.C. turnover. Bethel-Thompson found running back Sean Thomas Erlington for consecutive first-downs, good for 35 total yards. On just the third play of the drive, Bethel-Thompson’s short pass to Philpot resulted in a 45-yard touchdown run by the wide receiver that gave the Alouettes an early 7-0 lead.

Lions’ defensive lineman Christian Covington’s sack of Bethel-Thompson at his own 25-yard line late in the first quarter offered an opening for B.C.’s offence, which Rourke quickly took advantage of. The 27-year-old subsequently threw four passes good for at least 12 yards each. He would cap off the 72-yard drive himself with a two-yard run into the end zone just 57 seconds into the second quarter, his second rushing major of the season.

Sean Whyte’s ensuing convert attempt was blocked by the Alouettes’ Shawn Oakman to preserve Montreal’s narrow lead.

Maltos’ 44-yard missed field goal attempt on the Alouettes’ ensuing possession opened the door for Rourke and the Lions’ offence to pick up right where they left off. The B.C. pivot orchestrated a 12-play, 64-yard drive, resulting in a 24-yard field goal by Whyte at 12:22 of the second quarter to give the Lions their first lead of the game.

That lead would be short-lived in large part thanks to B.C.’s lack of discipline. The Alouettes took advantage of a pair of infractions by the visitors, including an illegal contact penalty on defensive back Robert Carter that gave Montreal a first down at B.C.’s 14-yard line.

Bethel-Thompson’s pass to Thomas Erlington on the next play put Montreal back in front 14-9, a lead they would take into halftime.

The Montreal faithful held their breath in the third quarter when Bethel-Thompson was forced to leave the game following a hard contact with the Lions’ Deontai Williams. The 37-year-old would quickly return, however, after missing just three plays.

Despite his team’s victory, Lions head coach Buck Pierce knows his team can still be a whole lot better.

“Obviously, it feels good to win, but there’s a lot of mistakes that we’ve got to fix,” said Pierce. “We’ll be happy tonight, but we have a lot of room for growth and that’s the exciting part about this group.”

Lions: Visit the Edmonton Elks on Sunday, July 13.

Alouettes: Host the Toronto Argonauts on Thursday, July 17.

— With files from Sportsnet Staff