Elks beat Stamps to win second straight Battle of Alberta

EDMONTON — The Edmonton Elks are on the move in the West Division standings with a 37-16 win over the Calgary Stampeders on Saturday.

Quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson threw three touchdown passes, two to receiver Eugene Lewis, as the Elks (5-8) took fourth place from the Stamps (4-8) after back-to-back wins against their division rivals.

The defence put together yet another impressive outing by forcing five interceptions, totalling nine in the two wins over Calgary. Linebacker Nick Anderson and defensive backs Loucheiz Purifoy, Devodric Bynum (twice) and Kai Gray closed out the count for the home team.

Receivers Hergy Mayala and Tevin Jones, alongside running back Justin Rankin, also scored to help Edmonton capture their fifth win in the last six games. Pivot Tre Ford took over for an injured Bethel-Thompson to close out the game for the Elks.

Stampeders’ quarterback Logan Bonner, who was starting in place of Jake Maier, struggled with turnovers all game, throwing five interceptions with no touchdowns.

Defensive lineman Mike Rose scored the only major of the game for the visitors on a pick six as Calgary dropped their fourth straight game.

The Elks opened things up with a 72-yard punt by Jake Julien to put a single on the board.

Calgary also added points on their first offensive drive. Bonner found a streaking Reggie Begelton for a big gain and Dedrick Mills picked up 11 more yards with a gritty run through the middle. Those two plays set up the Stamps in Edmonton territory, but the offence stalled at the 25-yard line and Rene Paredes came in to make a 32-yard field goal.

Julien added another point with a punt halfway through the first quarter to cut the visitors’ lead to 3-2.

The Stampeders were driving down the field for what looked like another score, but Purifoy had other plans, jumping an end zone pass from Bonner to stop Calgary from adding to their lead.

Kevin Brown got the Elks going early in the second quarter and Bethel-Thompson finished the job with a long pass to Mayala, who caught it and outran Calgary’s defence for the score. The pivot also found Lewis for the two-point conversion and a 10-3 lead.

Jalen Philpot made an acrobatic catch for the Stamps on their next possession to get the offence across midfield and give them a chance to score. A second-and-11 pass from Bonner fell incomplete and Paredes cut the lead to 10-6 with a little over 10 minutes left in the game.

Jarious Jackson’s squad continued to find ways to score in the first half. Brown and Javon Leake moved the chains for the Elks on their following drive to move into Calgary territory. Edmonton then displayed its creativity on offence by calling an end-around run to Jones for the touchdown.

The Elks got another chance to score in the second quarter when a pass from Bonner was deflected at the line of scrimmage and landed in the hands of linebacker Nick Anderson who brought it back to Calgary’s 45-yard line. Bethel-Thompson then completed a couple of first-down passes to Mayala and Kurleigh Gittens Jr. Double E drove all the way to Calgary’s 13-yard line, but with not enough time on the clock they had to settle for another field goal by Bede to go into halftime leading 23-6.

The second half started with Edmonton’s defence catching another interception, this time with Gray down the right sideline. It was the third pick of the game for the Elks and the seventh in two games against the Stamps.

Paredes converted his third field goal of the game with 3:35 left in the third quarter to cut the lead to 23-9.

Bethel-Thompson and the Elks answered with another long scoring march. The pivot showcased his chemistry with Lewis by connecting on three straight passes, including a 19-yard major that made it 30-9 with the point after.

Anderson came down with his second interception of the game on the next possession to bring out his offence once more. Bethel-Thompson and Lewis immediately went to work with a 46-yard connection, making it first-and-10 from Calgary’s 14-yard line. What looked like another easy score for the Elks turned into points for the Stamps when Rose jumped a pass from Bethel-Thompson and ran all the way to the other end zone for the first Red and White touchdown of the game.

Bethel-Thompson had to leave the game with an injury on the interception play and gave way to Ford for the rest of the game.

Elks’ defensive lineman Noah Curtis added his sixth sack of the season in the fourth quarter.

Rankin scored a late major to close out the score for the Elks.

Bynum registered Edmonton’s fourth and fifth interception of the game for the home team to close out the count.

Calgary now returns home to host the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday, Sep. 14 in Week 15 at McMahon Stadium. The Elks meanwhile have a bye week before hosting the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Saturday, Sep. 21 in Week 16.