HAMILTON – The Elks are going streaking.
Edmonton went into Hamilton and thrashed the Hamilton Tiger-Cats with a 47-22 score victory on Saturday night. After a couple weeks where the Elks offence — which came into the contest averaging a CFL second-best 27.4 offensive points per game — was the story, it was the defence and special teams turn to go to work.
The Green and Gold forced four turnovers in the game, which set the table for up a rushing offence that has really found it’s stride in recent weeks. Justin Rankin was a wrecking ball, rumbling for 108 yards on 17 carries and three scores on the evening as the Elks dominated the game physically for their third straight victory.
“Guys are starting to believe, right, they understand if they’re the more physical team on game day then a lot of times that helps us to win games. So, you know, three in a row. But we’re gonna keep our head down and keep taking it one week at a time.”
McLeod Bethel-Thompson was efficient in his return to the starting line up, with the pivot completing 15 of 23 passes for 234 yards and two touchdowns.
GAMEDAY ESSENTIALS
The Elks three-game road trip continues next week in Montreal, with a Sunday night matchup against the 9-1 Alouettes. It’s a challenge the team feels they are ready for after knocking off the top two teams in the West and dominating the Tiger-Cats.
“Teams are not going to want to play us down to stretch,” Bethel-Thompson said. “We know we got a good opponent this week going into their house, so it should be really fun.”
Javon Leake (@ny_king20) getting it done💪#GoElks #CFL pic.twitter.com/8eymtTKFWW
— Edmonton Elks (@GoElks) August 18, 2024
SENSATIONAL SECOND
The Elks rode the wind and momentum in the second quarter to put the game out of reach.
The Elks racked up three touchdowns in the quarter, outscoring the Tiger-Cats by a 25-3 margin. It was once again the run game that helped stack up the points with Javon Leake finding the end zone 1:49 into the quarter, capping off a 13-play drive with a three-yard scamper.
Rankin added his second of the game less than seven minutes later, before Bethel-Thompson capped off the majors with an 11-yard pass to Dillon Mitchell.
“We took the wind. That was our entire philosophy,” Jackson said about the success of the quarter. “Just like last week, we wanted to take the win. I understand that if they were to outscore us in the first quarter, then we get it because they’re with the wind. So our whole thinking was to have the wind in the second and the fourth quarter and if it’s a tight game, then it’s uphill for them to go down and try and kick a field goal to win.”
“During the second, we got the wind. It was all about us just trying to finish in the second half.”
Catch (Mayala) + run (Rankin) = TD#GoElks #CFL pic.twitter.com/yDeiWux3ar
— Edmonton Elks (@GoElks) August 18, 2024
THEY SAID
Jarious Jackson on the run game setting the table for the offence.
“Doesn’t matter who the quarterback is, the run game always helps any quarterback because then you’re not asking them to be a quarterback on first down.”
Jackson on Hergy Mayala’s sensational fourth quarter catch:
“That was such a great catch. The easier throw would have have been to Kurleigh’s run across the field, but Mac made the hard throw and he put it right over the DB’s head and in between two guys and Hergy made a great catch. I think that sparked us for the second half. Our third quarters have been pretty slow, but we were able to go out on the score some points and kind of stop their momentum.”
McLeod Bethel-Thompson on the biggest difference for the Elks in their three-game win streak:
“Offensively, you see the run game. That’s the biggest difference these last three games. When you get positive yards and big gains on first down, life is good and football is easy. So obviously you don’t want to come out and play the third quarter. We did tonight, but we played three or four quarters. Pretty awesome. And when you put up 47 points, how many teams in CFL have done that? So the great part is that we can get better and we’re going to continue to get better and we’re not going to rest on our laurels and be happy with this. We know we got a great opponent next week, but for right now we’re going to have a really fun flight.
Bethel-Thompson on the defence and special teams stepping up with turnovers:
“That’s football, right? That’s CFL football, too. The defense play lights out, the special teams was good throughout the night, and then the offense played three or four really great quarters. You’re not going to put up 47 points if your offense doesn’t have the ball.”