After a back and forth first three quarters, the Edmonton Elks pull away in the fourth quarter to beat the Calgary Stampeders 32-20 Monday afternoon.
The story of the game was the performance of Elks quarterback Trevor Harris who blasted Calgary’s defense for 398 yards and four touchdowns. Edmonton as a team was just 20 yards shy of 500 total yards of offense as they made plenty of big plays on Labor Day. Running back James Wilder should get plenty of credit as well rushing for 65 yards and averaged 5.4 yards per carry.
Many people were interested to see how Edmonton would respond after the long break from their last game back on August 19th. Covid couldn’t hold back the team from making big plays on offense and their defense forcing three two and outs for Calgary. The total team efforts put the team back to .500 football and back in the playoff picture.
Calgary is off to one of its slowest starts to a season in recent memory. Rookie quarterback Jake Maier had another solid performance throwing for a third straight 300-yard game and didn’t turn the ball over. One issue the team had was the playcalling and the lack of running plays. The Stampeders ran the ball ten total times the whole game and had Maier throw the ball 46 times.
Calgary’s major issue was in the secondary. Their defense allowed five pass plays of 20 or more yards with two of them being touchdowns including the game-clinching 52-yard score to pull the game away. The defense has been up and down for the most part, but the Stampeders was hit hard through the air that resulted in a tough loss.
What’s Next
Edmonton Elks
It was a must-win situation for Edmonton as they were able to claw their way from the bottom of the west to position themselves back in the playoff hunt. The 18-day break and Covid outbreak gave the team a boost in their performance against Calgary. Their offense found its rhythm and gave the CFL a reason to call them one of the top offenses in the league.
The Battle of Alberta will have its second chapter on Saturday as they will take on Calgary once again with this game being in Edmonton. It will be a two-game home stretch for the Elks as they will face Winnipeg the next Saturday after this week as they hope to ride the momentum of their offense.
Calgary Stampeders
With the shorter season for all CFL teams, it’s getting close to desperation time for Calgary as they fell to a 1-4 record. Despite a heavy home stretch for Calgary, they’ve only managed to win one of four home games. Calgary will have their focus on having revenge on Edmonton on Saturday to try to save their season from falling into a deeper hole.
Maier has been one of the bright spots to the team and one of the biggest surprised of the season. The team was able to full Bo Levi Mitchell from the injured list which only raises more questions about the quarterback position heading into week six. Calgary will have to decide on whether to bring back the veteran quarterback or the red-hot rookie quarterback.
Boxscore
