CALGARY – Safe to say the Elks set the tone in the Battle of Alberta.
Edmonton recorded a season-high 586 yards of offence as they romped over the Calgary Stampeders by a 35-20 score on Monday night.
McLeod Bethel-Thompson set a new career high with 486 yards in the air — on 25 of 36 passing — while tossing three touchdowns in the record setting affair. The aerial assault helped lead the Elks to their fourth victory in their last five games, bringing the Green and Gold firmly back into the playoff picture.
“It’s good to see it all come together and see this group kind of go in the right directions,” Bethel-Thompson said. “To fight through when you don’t necessarily see the results, and you got to build a deeper belief in who you are and how you operate and move, and focus in on you and how you move when you’re down.”
After a first half that featured a lot of yards added to the scoreboard, but not many points, the Elks finally broke through with 2:38 remaining in the second quarter. Bethel-Thompson knifed his way through the Stampeders defence, completing 6 of 7 passes for 76 yards — capping of the drive with a quick out to Eugene Lewis for a touchdown and a 13-3 advantage. Once the offence got going, it didn’t stop — giving the Elks their first Labour Day win since 2021.
The Double E will now return to Commonwealth Stadium for their Family Game on Saturday night for the fan favourite Labour Day Rematch against the Stamps.
LD vibes are 🆙#GoElks pic.twitter.com/3kaFUUVyHB
— Edmonton Elks (@GoElks) September 3, 2024
GAMEDAY ESSENTIALS
WELCOME TO THE AIR SHOW
Safe to say the Elks have an embarrassment of riches at the wide receiver position.
Three different Elks wideouts recorded over 100-yards receiving on the night, with Kurleigh Gittens Jr collecting seven passes for 115 yards and Eugene Lewis hauling in six passes for 112 yards of his own.
However, the night belonged to Tevin Jones. The 31-year-old was sensational wracking up 208 yards and two touchdowns against the Stampeders secondary, and was just a single yards from a hat trick of scores. Jones recovered a fumble on a Lewis reception that he nearly took to the house, just getting tackled before breaking the plane. The play ended up as a 106-yard effort, without being a touchdown.
See you later!
Tevin Jones goes over 200 yards on the day for the @GoElks score!@oktire #LDWeekend#CFLGameDay
📺: @TSN_Sports 🇨🇦 & @CBSSportsNet 🇺🇸
📱: CFL+ pic.twitter.com/kpvXgbowuK— CFL (@CFL) September 3, 2024
Jones has been a bit of a revelation for the Elks receiving room. Monday’s dynamite performance was the third time in the last six games that the Memphis product had eclipsed the 100-yard mark.
“The ball just finds this guy. I’ve been saying this for weeks and weeks now since the Sask games when we first got him in the lineup,” Jackson said post game. “The ball just finds him and he finds the ball. Like Geno made a great catch for us, when we were backed up there on second and long, and Mac delivered the ball. Geno unfortunately ended up fumbling, but Tevin was right there to save the day for us. It might have been a turning point of the game because they were starting to rally a little bit.”
BALL HAWKS
Win the turnover battle and you usually win the game. That was definitely the case on Monday with Edmonton’s secondary picking off Calgary starter Jake Maier four times in the contest, leading to a 5-0 turnover margin.
It was a mixture of youth and experience who did the majority of the damage. Veteran safety Loucheiz Purifoy nabbed a pair of Maier passes, including one with 2:01 remaining to seal the contest for the Elks. Rookie corner back Devodric Bynum also notched a pair of picks on the night off of Maier, giving the 25-year-old speedster three interceptions on the season.
Second interception on the day for Devodric Bynum!@oktire #LDWeekend#CFLGameDay
📺: @TSN_Sports 🇨🇦 & @CBSSportsNet 🇺🇸
📱: CFL+ pic.twitter.com/NblPzjIY8m— CFL (@CFL) September 3, 2024
With the game on the line, the Elks defence held strong. The last four Calgary drives all ended in turnovers with three interceptions and a turnover on downs.
“Everybody stepped up and they were ball hawks today,” Jackson said. “We were able to rush the quarterback Maier a little bit with four man rush at times, maybe five. Anytime you can do that and still stand tall in the back end, that’s a huge day for us. There you go.”
“Guys were flying around today. It was exciting to see.”
THEY SAID
Head Coach Jarious Jackson on the Labour Day victory
“Well, some guys are old enough, but some guys are too young to understand how big of a win that was. It’s hard to come in and win down here in McMahon Stadium anytime, let alone Labour Day. Labour days, it’s that much harder. Especially with Dave and his crew coming off a bye week. They normally don’t lose in situations like this, so I’m just so proud of our guys and how hard they fought.”
Jackson on the performance of McLeod Bethel-Thompson
“So proud of that guy, man. People don’t know what goes on behind closed doors. We’re all human beings, but at the end of the day, sometimes you think football players are supernatural, right? But we’re human, too. The guy’s going through a lot of things in his life right now personally that I won’t speak about, but the effort that he came out and gave this team today, my hat goes off to him.”
McLeod Bethel-Thompson on the locker room celebration following the win
You know, this team has gone through a lot this year to start the way we did, to play a lot of winning football and not get the results. You got to celebrate the wins, and it’s important. And we’re building a tight locker room. We’re building a belief outside of the results. We’re building a trust in the process, and we should celebrate. There’s no better place in the world than a winning locker room. It’s a special space. It’s a brotherhood. It’s a bond. And we’re going to smile, we’re going to hug. We tell each other we love him.