When quarterback Taylor Cornelius connected with Derel Walker on a four-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter of the Edmonton Elks’ 30-12 road win over the Ottawa RedBlacks at TD Place Stadium on Friday, it wasn’t just the cap of an impressive 15-play drive that effectively put the game out of reach. It was a play nearly three years in the making that lifted a massive weight from the shoulders of Walker.
The touchdown was Walker’s first since Sept. 20, 2019, ending a stretch of 21 consecutive regular season games without a major score from the all-star receiver, who had been accustomed to finding the endzone, with 32 touchdowns in his first 61 career games.
“It was an amazing feeling,” the 31-year-old veteran said during a post-game interview on 630 CHED, radio flagship of the Elks. “I’m just happy I was able to get in the endzone for the team and put up a very valuable touchdown at that point in the game. It’s been a while, but we’ve been keeping the ball rolling and trying to figure it out week by week, and tonight was the night, and I’m just thankful.”
The PERFECT second half continues 😱
This time it's @Dee_Sky_Walker 💸#CFLGameday | @GoElks pic.twitter.com/yCjnbLyau2
— CFL (@CFL) August 20, 2022
Walker is in the second season of his second stint with the Green and Gold, who he originally played for from 2015 to 2018 before spending the 2019 season with the Toronto Argonauts. The first touchdown of 2022 for Walker was also the first TD he has caught from Cornelius, who completed three passes to Walker in Ottawa.
“He’s been working his butt off to try and get in that endzone,” Cornelius said during a post-game appearance on CHED. “I was happy we could get that done tonight.”
This is just the second CFL season for Cornelius, who on Friday was making his fifth start of the season and 13th of his career with the Elks. Walker and the 26-year-old quarterback and Walker are focused on building chemistry.
“It’s getting better week by week, he’s getting more comfortable back there and he’s been playing very well, so I’m just happy I could make that catch for him and put our team in a good position,” said Walker, who was targeted a team-high times in Edmonton’s victory over the RedBlacks, including a couple big-yardage pass attempts that Cornelius narrowly missed completing.
“When we get them connected there’s going to be a lot of teams that are in trouble, but I’m just happy that we took the shots tonight and we didn’t come up with the big plays but next week could be totally opposite, so I’m just looking forward,” said Walker. “This weekend we’re going to get back to it and get to work and figure it out for next week.”