Elks storm past Stamps 37-16 to escape West Basement – Edmonton
The Edmonton Elks find a way to regain respectability in what was originally It looked like a lost season.
McLeod Bethel-Thompson threw two touchdown passes as the Elks beat 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 dismal 0-7 start to the season that included the firing of Chris Jones and the arrival of Jarious Jackson.
“It’s a great feeling,” Jackson said. “Especially with the type of season we’ve had. We’ve been able to turn it around the last five or six games and it’s pretty exciting to be where we are.”
It was the first time Edmonton had won the Labour Day home-and-home series against Calgary in 20 years, since 2004.
“I think it’s awesome,” said Elks receiver Eugene Lewis, who led the team with 97 yards and a touchdown. “It’s awesome for this organization, it’s awesome for these fans and it’s awesome for us. It’s a great rivalry. It’s huge. It’s something we wanted to accomplish and we believed in it, we knew we could do it.”
Calgary (4-8) has now lost four straight games for the first time since 2004, a streak of 331 games. The Stampeders have yet to win a road game, their record is 0-6 on the road.
“I have to step back and figure out what’s going to resonate, who’s going to listen and who’s willing to work hard,” Stampeders coach Dave Dickenson said. “It’s not going to change overnight, though. Right now, we’re not a good football team, we don’t do a lot of things well. We do very few things well.”
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The game opened with a pair of Edmonton punt singles, with a 32-yard field goal by Calgary’s Rene Paredes sandwiched in between.
The Stampeders then marched 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 threw a deep pass to Hergy Mayala for what turned into a 60-yard touchdown play. The two-point conversion pass to Eugene Lewis was also good.
Calgary responded with a 42-yard field goal from Paredes.
Edmonton made it 17-6 midway through the second period when Bethel-Thompson connected with 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 left, then added a 20-yarder to close out the first half after a Nick Anderson interception.
Calgary got the first points after a slow start to the third quarter for both teams, adding a 46-yard field goal from Paredes with 3 1/2 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Edmonton responded with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Lewis to start the fourth quarter.
A third-down gamble by Calgary failed with just under 10 minutes left deep in Edmonton territory, but the Stamps ended up getting their first major touchdown of the game a few minutes later when Bethel-Thompson was intercepted by defensive lineman Mike Rose and returned it 83 yards for the touchdown.
Calgary lost the ball again on downs, this time at its own 21-yard line, with three minutes left, which quickly led to a five-yard touchdown run by Justin Rankin.
Bonner was intercepted a fourth time with just under two minutes left when he was picked off by Devodric Bynum at the Edmonton 27-yard line, then a fifth time by Bynum again in the end zone as time expired.
REMARKS
Edmonton won the first half of a home-and-home series against the Stampeders 35-20 last Monday in Calgary, with Bethel-Thompson throwing for a career-high 486 yards. Because of that stellar performance, MBT remained the starting quarterback, despite Tre Ford’s return 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 combined against Edmonton. … Elks RB Kevin Brown topped 2,000 career rushing yards. … Edmonton receiver Tevin Jones entered the game leading the league with a 27.4 yards per reception average. … Paredes, who played 223 consecutive games for Calgary, passed Dave Cutler for eighth in CFL scoring all-time.
FOLLOWING
Stampeders: Host the Montreal Alouettes (10-2) on Saturday, September 14.
Elks: rest week, then hosting the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (7-6) on Saturday, September 21.
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