EDMONTON – Three wins in a row would sound pretty good, wouldn’t it?
The Edmonton Elks head to Hamilton on Saturday night for a 5:00 p.m. MT kickoff against the Tiger-Cats. The Green and Gold are riding high off a two-game winning streak, but they’re still hungry for more.
The wins have eased some of the unrest around a team that had been oh so close this season, with six of their seven losses all coming within a single score. Following back-to-back games toppling the best teams win the West Division, there is a renewed optimism towards a playoff push.
“Yeah, it is,” Head Coach Jarious Jackson said when asked if coaching a team on a winning streak is easier. “But, you just want to make sure that we don’t start smelling ourselves. We understand that we beat two of the top teams in the west, but there’s still a lot of work to be done and still a lot of football left to be played.”
“We’re in a great position right now, but let’s keep our heads down and keep grinding and taking one step at a time.”
The next step is at Tim Hortons field in Hamilton where the Elks will look for a little revenge on a Tiger-Cats team that showed up big in Commonwealth back on July 28. At the time, it was Green and Gold nemesis Bo Levi Mitchell who led the charge, passing for 316 yards and a career-high five touchdowns in the 44-28 barnburner.
This time around will be different. With the Tiger-Cats dropping to 2-7 on the season courtesy of consecutive losses to Montreal, they’ve looked towards youth in backup QB Taylor Powell. The 25-year-old Eastern Michigan grad is entering his second season in the CFL and looked excellent in relief of Mitchell last week. Powell completed 30 of 38 passes for 319 yards and two touchdowns in the Aug. 10 contest against the Als.
The Elks head coach hopes the spark that Powell brings the Tabbies offence is dissimilar to the one Tre Ford brought to Edmonton.
“I hope that’s not the case for them. I hope it’s the opposite,” Jackson said with a laugh after Wednesday’s practice. “But that’s neither here nor there. We’re going to prepare for Powell as if we were preparing for both. Doesn’t matter who’s in at quarterback, they’re going to be well coach with (Scott) Milanovich. I know how I played for him, so I know they’re going to be prepared. We’ve got to go out and play our best football in order to get this one.”
Speaking of Ford, his status for Saturday is at the forefront of Elks fans minds. The 26-year-old has dazzled since his ascension to the starting role under centre, but Ford missed the latter half of last week’s 33-16 win over B.C. with a rib injury. In his stead, McLeod Bethel-Thompson took the reigns and commanded the offence efficiently like he had early in the Elks season. The veteran completed 14 of 18 passes for 171 yards and a touchdown in just over a half of action – including a 13 play, 97-yard touchdown drive to put the dagger in the Lions.
A little insurance and the first career @CFL touchdown for Justin Rankin!#GoElks pic.twitter.com/BL149cwWQW
— Edmonton Elks (@GoElks) August 12, 2024
Bethel-Thompson was listed as the starter on Friday’s depth chart and looks likely to bear the load of the Elks passing game in Hamilton. Having a veteran quarterback who has helped lead the Double E’s offence to a level of success is about as comforting a fall back plan a head coach can have.
“I feel very happy and confident in his performance. I’m sure it gave him a vote of confidence as well to get out there and help lead the guys,” Jackson said about his quarterback. “He played the majority of the game, if you’re looking at the number of snaps that we took and the number of snaps that he played in. He was a big help and contributed and did his part for us to get the W.”