The Hamilton Tiger-Cats improved to 6-5 Friday night with a 39-23 win over the Edmonton Elks. The Tiger-Cats dominated the game. They were up 32-7 midway through in the fourth quarter, and the Elks scored sixteen points to make it a reasonable game. For the first time in Elks history, they are 0-6 at home.
Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Jeremiah Masoli was 17/24 for 357 yards, three touchdowns, and three carries for 26 yards. Masoli’s three touchdowns came in the first half. His first touchdown pass happened from the pocket, finding Steven Dunbar in between two Elks defenders for a twelve-yard touchdown that put them up 7-1 with 9:08 left in the first quarter.
Masoli’s second touchdown pass also happened in the first quarter. He dropped back from the pocket and threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Tim White, who had two Elks defenders on him. One of them managed to tip the ball before White caught it. The Tiger-Cats were up 14-1 with 3:03 left.
The final touchdown thrown by Masoli happened in the second quarter from the pocket. He threw a 65-yard touchdown pass to Jaelon Acklin, who blew by Elks’s defenders before catching the ball for the touchdown. The Tiger-Cats were up 24-4 with 1:59 left.
After the Tiger-Cats drive, two players began fighting. Elks running back James Wilder and Tiger-Cats linebacker Simoni Lawrence fought on the field. It started three plays earlier when Lawrence went helmet-to-helmet on Wilder. James Wilder didn’t appreciate that, and the two exchanged words.
Then, on the third play, Wilder missed a catch; however, Lawrence went low and hit Wilder on the knee, setting Wilder off and taking Lawrence down, clearing the benches. In the end, two players from both teams were ejected. One of them, Kameron Kelly of the Tiger-Cats, spat on an Elks player.
Tiger-Cats running back Don Jackson had sixteen carries for 120-yards, and one touchdown. In the fourth quarter, Jackson’s touchdown happened when he went up the middle and dived in for a sixteen-yard rushing touchdown for a 38-15 lead.
Tiger-Cats wide receiver Tim White led the receivers with six catches for 89-yards and one touchdown. Kicker Taylor Bertolet went 3/5 with his longest field goal at 47-yards, and the defense recorded four sacks, twice by Dylan Wynn.
For the Elks, quarterback Taylor Cornelius was 19/33 for 251-yards, and three carries for 26-yards. James Wilder finished the night with eight carries for 39-yard, wide receiver Gregg Ellingson had seven catches for 101-yards, and kicker Sean Whyte was 2/2, with his longest field goal being 34-yards.
The Elks’ two touchdowns came in the fourth quarter when backup quarterback Dakota Prukop had two one-yard rushing touchdowns. He finished with eight carries for nine yards and two touchdowns.
Next week, the Edmonton Elks face the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Friday, November 5th, at 9:45 pm on ESPN+. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats host the BC Lions on Friday, November 5th, at 7 pm on ESPN+.
