Surging Elks lick Stamps 37-16 to escape West basement
The Edmonton Elks are finding a way to return to respectability in what initially looked like a lost season.
McLeod Bethel-Thompson threw a pair of touchdown passes as the Elks defeated the Calgary Stampeders 37-16 on Saturday to leapfrog their Alberta rivals into fourth place in the West Division.
Edmonton (5-8) has now won five of its last six games after a woeful 0-7 start to the season that included firing Chris Jones and bringing in Jarious Jackson.
“It feels great,” Jackson said. “Especially with the type of season we have been having. We’ve turned it around these last five or six games and to be where we are, that is pretty exciting.”
It was the first time that Edmonton has swept the home-and-home Labour Day series with Calgary in 20 years, going back to 2004.
“I think it is awesome,” said Elks receiver Eugene Lewis, who led the team with 97 yards and a touchdown. “It is awesome for this organization, it is awesome for these fans and it’s awesome for us. It’s a big rivalry. It’s huge. It is something we wanted to accomplish and we believed it, we knew that we could do it.”
Stampeder slide
Calgary (4-8) has now lost four straight for the first time since 2004 — a span of 331 games. The Stampeders have yet to win a game on the road, dropping to 0-6 away from home.
“I need to step back and figure out what is going to resonate and who is going to listen and who is willing to put in the hard work,” said Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson. “It’s not going to change overnight, though. Right now we are not a good football team, we are not doing a lot of things well. We are doing very little well.”
The game started with Edmonton recording a pair of punt singles, with a 32-yard field goal by Calgary’s Rene Paredes sandwiched in-between.
The Stampeders then marched all the way down to the Edmonton six-yard line, but quarterback Logan Bonner was intercepted in the end zone by Loucheiz Purifoy.
The Elks started the second quarter with a huge play as Bethel-Thompson sent a deep pass to Hergy Mayala for what turned into a 60-yard touchdown play. The two-point convert pass to Eugene Lewis was also good.
Calgary responded with a 42-yard field goal by Paredes.
Edmonton made it 17-6 midway through the second as Bethel-Thompson handed it off to receiver Tevin Jones on a wide sweep for a 13-yard TD.
The Elks got a 41-yard field goal from Boris Bede with a minute to play and then added another from 20 yards out to close out the first half after an interception by Nick Anderson.
Calgary got the first points after a sluggish start to the third by both teams, adding a 46-yard Paredes field goal with 3 1/2 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Edmonton countered with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Lewis to start the fourth quarter.
A Calgary third-down gamble failed with just under 10 minutes to play deep in Edmonton territory, but the Stamps would end up getting their first major score of the game a few minutes later anyway, as Bethel-Thompson was intercepted by defensive lineman Mike Rose, and he took it back 83 yards for the touchdown.
Calgary turned over the ball on downs again, this time on their own 21-yard line, with three minutes to play, quickly leading to a five-yard touchdown run by Justin Rankin.
Bonner was picked off for a fourth time with just under two minutes to play as he was intercepted by Devodric Bynum at the Edmonton 27-yard line and then a fifth time by Bynum again in the end zone as time expired.
NOTES
Edmonton won the first half of the home-and-home series with the Stamps 35-20 last Monday in Calgary, with Bethel-Thompson passing for a career-high 486 yards. Because of that superb showing, MBT remained the starter, despite Tre Ford returning from injury. … Bonner took over as the Stampeders’ starting quarterback for Jake Maier, who threw four interceptions on Labour Day. It was Bonner’s first start of the season. … The Stampeders were intercepted nine times in the two games against Edmonton combined. … Elks RB Kevin Brown passed 2,000 rushing yards for his career. … Edmonton WR Tevin Jones came into the contest leading the league with an average of 27.4 yards per catch. … Paredes, who has played 223 consecutive games for Calgary, moved past Dave Cutler into eighth all-time in CFL scoring.
UP NEXT
Stampeders: Host the Montreal Alouettes (10-2) on Saturday, Sept. 14.
Elks: Bye week, then host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (7-6) on Saturday, Sept. 21.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 7, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING Hurricane Milton strengthens into a Category 5 storm. Florida orders evacuations
Hurricane Milton strengthens into a Category 5 storm off Mexico and threatens Florida, forecasters say.
'Selfish billionaire': Chip Wilson's mansion vandalized after political sign erected outside
Days after a political sign was erected outside Chip Wilson's Vancouver mansion, the waterfront property has been vandalized with graffiti.
Hurricane Milton has been upgraded to a Category 5 storm. What does that mean?
Hurricane Milton quickly intensified to a Category 5 storm on Monday, reaching the most dangerous rank on what's known as the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
Two people injured in apparent road rage incident, shooting in Toronto
Two people are in hospital after they were chased and shot at in what appears to be an act of road rage before eventually flipping their car while trying to escape, police say.
Canadian soldier wins compensation for cancer linked to burn pits after Veterans Affairs denied claim
A Canadian soldier who was exposed to toxic chemicals from burn pits while serving in Afghanistan has been awarded full medical compensation for testicular cancer after Veterans Affairs initially denied his claim.
Sammy Basso, longest living survivor of rare rapid-aging disease progeria, dies at 28
Sammy Basso, who was the longest living survivor of the rare genetic disease progeria, has died at the age of 28, the Italian Progeria Association said on Sunday.
Senior charged after minivan set ablaze outside Vancouver City Hall
The day after a minivan was set ablaze outside Vancouver City Hall, a 78-year-old man has been criminally charged.
Cissy Houston, Whitney Houston's mother and a Grammy-winning singer, dies at 91
Cissy Houston, the mother of the late Whitney Houston and a two-time Grammy winner who performed alongside superstar musicians like Elvis Presley, and Aretha Franklin, has died. She was 91.
A Canadian woman was recently diagnosed with scurvy. Here are the factors tied to the disease
Scurvy is not just an archaic diagnosis of 18th-century seafarers and doctors should watch for possible cases, according to researchers following a recent case.