The B.C. Lions (3-1) hosted the Edmonton Elks (0-4) on Thursday night from B.C. Place. Since their Week 1 loss, the B.C. Lions have won two straight games against their Western rivals. On the other side, the Edmonton Elks were just looking for their first win of the season. The game was close and came down to the final minutes to determine a winner.
First Quarter:
In the first quarter, Edmonton punter Jake Julien punted the ball 64 yards into the endzone where returner Terry Williams conceded the single point. It was 1-0 Edmonton with 12:12 left.
B.C.’s offense got going in their second series of the game. Quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. led the team down to the Elks’ 40-yard line. Kicker Sean Whyte attempted a 47-yard field goal but long-snapper Riley Pickett high-snapped the ball to holder Sean Flintoft fumbling the ball before falling on it for a 15-yard loss.
The Elks took advantage of the turnover when kicker Boris Bede made a 39-yard field goal for a 4-0 lead with 6:27 left of the first quarter. Late in the first quarter, B.C. kicker Sean Whyte kicked a 24-yard field goal and the score was now 4-3 Edmonton with 1:35 left.
Edmonton went two-and-out late in the first quarter and on the final play, punter Jake Julien punted the ball 60 yards to Terry Williams. He returned it for 13 yards before getting tackled on their 29-yard line. The Elks led the Lions 4-3 at the end of the first quarter.
Edmonton quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson completed 3 of 5 passes for 28 yards, and one carry for 8 yards, while B.C. Lions quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. completed 7 of 11 passes for 72 yards.
Second Quarter:
In the second quarter, B.C. Lions quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. led the team on a six-play drive for 81 yards concluding with Adams Jr. throwing a 5-yard touchdown pass to William Stanback for a 10-4 lead with 11:34 left. It was the first touchdown of the game.
Later in the second quarter, B.C.’s secondary suffered a loss when defensive back Josh Woods injured his groin with 10:30 left and did not play the rest of the game. With 8:38 left of the second quarter, Edmonton quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Kurleigh Gittens Jr. to take an 11-10 lead with 8:14 left.
Late in the second quarter, Edmonton punter Jake Julien punted the ball 55 yards into the endzone where B.C. returner Terry Williams conceded a single point. The score was now 12-10 with 1:19 left. On the last play of the second quarter, B.C. Lions kicker Sean Whyte made a 29-yard field goal to take a 13-12 lead at halftime.
The half featured a lot of two-and-outs. In addition, Edmonton head coach Chris Jones yelled at Aubrey Miller Jr. after a punt return when Miller Jr. made an undisciplined move against a B.C. player which cost them a penalty. Miller Jr. came off the field and walked by Jones who gave him an earful. There were clearly disciplinary issues on Edmonton’s sideline.
First Half Stats:
B.C. had 208 yards on offense (193 yards passing, 30 yards rushing, 15 yards lost). Quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. completed 14 of 22 passes (64%) for 193 yards, one touchdown, and one carry for five yards. Running back William Stanback had six carries for 20 yards, two catches for 20 yards, and one touchdown.
Wide receiver Ayden Eberhardt made four catches for 57 yards, and Alexander Hollins made three catches for 48 yards. The defense made one sack.
Edmonton had 161 yards on offense (111 yards passing, 55 yards rushing, 8 yards lost). Quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson completed 7 of 12 passes (58.3%) for 111 yards, one touchdown, and one carry for eight yards.
Running back Kevin Brown had five carries for 33 yards. Wide receiver Dillon Mitchell made two catches for 55 yards while Kurleigh Gittens Jr. made two catches for 20 yards and one touchdown. Edmonton’s defense had one tackle for loss.
Third Quarter:
In the third quarter, it was all defense. There were no points scored. With 10:41 left, Edmonton quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson attempted to throw the ball to Dillon Mitchell but B.C. defensive back Ciante Evans jumped the route and intercepted it for a three-yard gain.
Dillon Mitchell should’ve been more aware of where Evans was at. He stood there waiting for Thompson to throw the ball to him instead of running toward him to make the catch. He was not the only receiver to do that in this game which frustrated both quarterbacks. In addition, both continued to shoot themselves in the foot with penalties.
On the last play of the third quarter, B.C. quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. threw a 17-yard pass to Justin McInnis before he was tackled on the Elks’ 46-yard line to end the quarter. The score remained 13-12 Lions.
Fourth Quarter:
In the fourth quarter, B.C. moved the ball up to the Elks’ 10-yard line. Then, B.C. fullback David Mackie was aiming to score a touchdown but Edmonton defensive back Kai Gray stripped the ball away from his arm and Loucheiz Purifoy swatted the ball out of bounds at their 4-yard line and it was Edmonton’s ball.
On Edmonton’s drive, they were assisted with two B.C. penalties for 30 yards. They moved the ball up to the Lions’ one-yard line where backup quarterback Dakota Prukop scored the touchdown using the quarterback sneak.
The Elks attempted a two-point conversion but did not get it as Thompson’s pass was intercepted by Ciante Evans and he nearly took it for two points but was tackled. Edmonton led 18-13 with 7:08 left of the game. The drive went 8 plays for 106 yards.
On B.C.’s next drive, quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. threw three straight passes for 28 yards. Four plays later, Adams Jr. attempted to throw a deep pass to Ayden Eberhardt but the pass was incomplete. Head Coach Rick Campbell challenged the play for defensive pass interference and won. The ball was placed on the Elks’ five-yard line. Two plays later, B.C. fullback David Mackie scored a one-yard touchdown up the middle and they successfully converted a two-point conversion for a 21-18 lead with 2:24 left in the game.
All Edmonton had to do with 2:16 left was to chew up the clock and kick a field goal not letting B.C.’s offense back out on the field and send the game to overtime. They did not do that as kicker Boris Bede made a 52-yard field goal and the game was tied 21-21 with 1:11 left on the clock.
B.C. marched down the field to the Elks’ 35-yard line with two seconds left. B.C. kicker Sean Whyte kicked the game-winning 42-yard field goal and the Lions defeated the Edmonton Elks by the final score of 23-21. The Lions move to 3-1 on the season while the Elks remain winless at 0-4.
Final Stats:
The B.C. Lions had 408 yards on offense (331 yards passing, 92 yards rushing, 15 yards lost). Quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. completed 27 of 38 passes (71%) for 331 yards, one touchdown, and six carries for 33 yards. Running back William Stanback had 11 carries for 42 yards, four catches for 41 yards, and one touchdown.
Wide receiver Ayden Eberhardt made six catches for 78 yards, while Jevon Cottoy made five catches for 68 yards, and Alexander Hollins made four catches for 55 yards. Kicker Sean Whyte made three field goals with a long of 42 yards. B.C.’s defense made 32 tackles, seven tackles on special teams, two interceptions, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery. The Lions were penalized six times for 75 yards.
Edmonton had 337 yards on offense (247 yards passing, 98 yards rushing, 8 yards lost). Quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson completed 19 of 30 passes (63%) for 247 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions, and three carries for 29 yards.
Running back Kevin Brown had six carries for 48 yards and made two catches for 16 yards. Wide receiver Dillon Mitchell made four catches for 81 yards, while Kurleigh Gittens Jr. made five catches for 56 yards and one touchdown.
Kicker Boris Bede made two field goals with a long of 52 yards. Edmonton’s defense made 47 tackles, six tackles on special teams, 15 tackles for loss, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery. The Elks were penalized nine times for 92 yards.
Final Thoughts:
For the CFL, we cannot have games start at 10 pm on the East Coast. I get it, its 7 pm their time but the league is trying to reach a worldwide audience and the East Coast is very important for viewership numbers. If the league is going to schedule these types of games, let’s get the games started at 8 pm so everyone can watch it.
Edmonton plays just good enough to lose. This game marked Edmonton’s third straight three-point loss. Much of the team has given up on coach Chris Jones and you can tell by the player’s body language and ignoring any advice the coach gives them. There are some good players in Edmonton but they are just not finding ways to finish the games. For the Elks, the bye week is a great time to hit the reset button.
The B.C. Lions keep finding ways to win games even in nailbiters. They fought hard and did not give up. However, I am concerned about the injury stats of Josh Woods, who went down with a groin injury. He is a major part of that secondary and if he is going to miss time that’s a blow and other teams will try to exploit that.
I really liked how Ayden Eberhardt played in this game. He was moving around the field and getting open for Adams Jr. to throw the ball to him. It’s nice to see guys take advantage of playing opportunities and I’m sure the coach is designing plays for Adams Jr. to throw more passes to Eberhardt’s way.
Next weekend, the Edmonton Elks are on a bye week. For the B.C. Lions, they will visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats next Sunday at 7 pm on TSN and CBS Sports Network. Subscribe to Fubo to watch all of the 2024 CFL Season. Purchase CFL tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
