The Edmonton Elks (3-10) hosted the Calgary Stampeders (4-9) in round two of the battle of Alberta on Saturday night from Commonwealth Stadium.
Last week, the Stampeders came back from 15 points down to beat the Elks 35-31 in front of the home crowd at McMahon Stadium. This time around, the Elks gave their fans a happy ending.
In the first quarter, Edmonton running back Kevin Brown rushed up the middle created by the offensive line. He broke a tackle before taking off for a 45-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 9:46 left. Later in the first quarter, Calgary quarterback Jake Maier completed a 35-yard pass to Markeith Ambles. Then, running back LeVante Bellamy had three carries for 23 yards, leading to a Rene Paredes 37-yard field goal, making it 7-3 Edmonton with 2:44 left.
Late in the first quarter, Edmonton quarterback Tre Ford ran for 15 yards before Nick Taylor stripped the ball out and it was recovered by Jonathan Moxey. On the final play of the first quarter, running back Ka’Deem Carey rushed for a gain of 11 yards. Edmonton led 7-3.
In the second quarter, Calgary punted the ball back to Edmonton. On their next drive, Calgary quarterback Jake Maier completed a 16-yard pass to Reggie Begelton, who was tackled on the Elks’ 34-yard line.
Two plays later, the two would connect again for 14 yards. Then, Maier threw a three-yard touchdown pass to William Langlais which made it 10-7 Calgary with 6:20 left of the second quarter.
Late in the second quarter, running back Ka’Deem Carey rushed up the middle for a gain of 16 yards. Six plays later, Jake Maier completed a deep pass up the middle to Reggie Begelton for a 10-yard touchdown for a 17-7 lead at halftime.
Calgary had 235 yards on offense. Quarterback Jake Maier completed 17 of 20 passes (85%) for 160 yards, two touchdowns, and two carries for 16 yards. Running back Ka’Deem Carey had six carries for 46 yards, and Reggie Begelton had five catches for 56 yards and one touchdown.
Edmonton had 166 yards on offense. Quarterback Tre Ford completed 3 of 6 passes (50%) for 11 yards, and three carries for 32 yards. Running back Kevin Brown had nine carries for 123 yards, and one touchdown, and wide receiver Steven Dunbar Jr. had one catch for 16 yards.
In the third quarter, Tre Ford attempted to complete a pass to Eugene Lewis but Brad Muhammad made the interception on the Elks’ 26-yard line. Running back Ka’Deem Carey had two carries for eight yards before Rene Paredes kicked a 25-yard field goal for a 20-7 lead with 12:03 left.
Later in the third quarter, Tre Ford attempted to complete a pass to Eugene Lewis but it was intercepted by Tre Robinson. Two plays later, Jake Maier completed a 31-yard pass to Marken Michel. The Stampeders would reach the Elks’ 22-yard line before Rene Paredes made a 29-yard field goal for a 23-7 lead with 2:03 left of the third quarter.
On the final plays of the third quarter, Edmonton running back Kevin Brown had two carries for nine yards before he was tackled on the Stampeders’ one-yard line.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Edmonton quarterback Taylor Cornelius scored a one-yard touchdown with a quarterback sneak. They attempted a two-point conversion but did not get it. The score was now 23-13 Calgary with 14:23 left.
Edmonton continued to chip away at Calgary’s lead. On the fourth play of scrimmage, quarterback Tre Ford completed a 32-yard touchdown pass to Dillon Michell but kicker Dean Faithfull missed the extra point. It was now 23-19 Calgary with 9:04 left of the fourth quarter.
Edmonton’s defense buckled down to force a two-and-out. Quarterback Tre Ford completed two passes for 30 yards. Next, Tre Ford took off for a gain of ten yards, followed by a roughing the passer penalty on Calgary that gave them 15 more yards reaching the Stampeders’ 25-yard line. The drive would lead to a 40-yard field goal by Dean Faithfull which made it 23-22 with 4:58 left of the fourth quarter.
Late in the fourth quarter, Edmonton had one more shot with 35 seconds left to spare. Tre Ford completed an 11-yard pass to Eugene Lewis. Two plays later, he tried to throw a deep pass to Dillon Mitchell but the pass was incomplete. However, a defensive pass interference penalty on Calgary gave them a fresh set of downs with 19 seconds left.
Then, Ford threw a 15-yard pass to Eugene Lewis before being tackled on the Stampeders’ 35-yard line. Dean Faithfull was the Elks’s last hope of winning the game. He kicked the game-winning 42-yard field goal and the Elks defeated the Stampeders by the final score of 25-23.
Edmonton has now won three games in the last four weeks. The Elks took advantage of Calgary’s mistakes to squeak out a victory. Edmonton had 387 yards on offense. Quarterback Tre Ford completed 14 of 22 passes (63.6%) for 173 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions, and eight carries for 82 yards.
Running back Kevin Brown had 15 carries for 143 yards, and one touchdown, and wide receiver Eugene Lewis led the receivers with five catches for 89 yards. Edmonton’s defense had 49 tackles.
Calgary’s play-calling has to be in question. They did well in the first half and abandoned the playbook in the second half. Calgary had a 16-point lead going into the fourth quarter and blew it. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, Calgary needs to clean out the front office and coaching staff if they ever want to get back to a Grey Cup.
Calgary had 335 yards on offense. Quarterback Jake Maier completed 21 of 29 passes (72.4%) for 210 yards, two touchdowns, and two carries for 16 yards. Running back Ka’Deem Carey had 14 carries for 77 yards, and Marken Michel led the receivers with five catches for 62 yards. Calgary’s defense had 35 tackles, two sacks, two interceptions, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery.
Next Friday, the Edmonton Elks visit the Saskatchewan Roughriders at 9:30 pm on CFL+, while the Calgary Stampeders are on a bye week. Subscribe to Fubo to watch all of the 2023 CFL Season. Purchase CFL tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
