The Calgary Stampeders continued their impressive comeback season Monday with a 28-7 victory over the Edmonton Elks in the Labour Day Classic.
Quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. threw a touchdown pass to Dominque Rhymes. Tailback Dedrick Mills quietly rushed for 106 yards on 17 carries. The diminutive Erik Brooks scored the first return touchdown of his CFL career.
And on defence, the Stampeders piled up four sacks and kept their northern rivals out of the end zone all afternoon.
“This defence is tough to kill — we don’t give up many touchdowns,” said Calgary defensive end Folarin Orimolade. “If we continue to do that — and continue to go penalty-free — we’ll go far.”
The Elks had their three-game winning streak halted and they remain in the West Division basement with a record of 4-7.
With the win, the Stampeders (8-3) maintain second place in the West Division, just two points back of the first-place Saskatchewan Roughriders (9-2).
Not bad for a Calgary team that finished last year with the worst record in the CFL (5-12-1) — after 18 consecutive seasons of reaching the playoffs.
One of those losses came in the Labour Day Classic, a 35-20 loss to the Elks that head coach/general manager Dave Dickenson labelled as “embarrassing.”
What a difference a year makes. On Monday, the Stampeders gave the crowd of 27,764 reason to party on a hot summer afternoon in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains.
The Stampeders opened the scoring at 5:52 of the first quarter with a 22-yard strike to veteran Rhymes deep in the end zone. Once the officials announced a penalty on the play — illegal contact on Edmonton — Quick Six, the touchdown horse, took off on a victory lap around the field at McMahon Stadium.
Vincent Blanchard split the uprights twice for Edmonton, missing one from 32 yards. Rene Paredes kicked two field goals for Calgary.
Midway through the third quarter, Brooks fielded an Edmonton punt, ran to his right, cut to his left and roared 86 yards down the field through a sea of white jerseys to give Calgary a commanding 20-7 lead.
‘I feel like it’s a privilege,” Brooks said. “Not everyone on the team gets the opportunity to have the ball in their hands and make things happen.”
From there, the vaunted Calgary defence made things happen — shutting down Elks’ quarterback Cody Fajardo and clogging the running lanes for tailback Justin Rankin.
It got so bad that the Elks went two-and-out on four straight possessions in the second half.
Quarterback Quincy Vaughn plunged for a one-yard touchdown at 4:49 of the fourth quarter. Mills added a two-point convert to round out the scoring.
Against a stingy Edmonton defence, Adams Jr. put up mediocre numbers — by his lofty standards — with 13-of-23 pass completions for 162 yards.
“It’s a weird feeling for me,” Adams Jr. said. ‘We got the win. It’s good. But I feel like I let my team down.
“I just want to get better for these guys. They work too hard. We all work too hard for me to play like that. Just thank you to my defence, having my back as always.”
The passing numbers didn’t matter on the scoreboard for the Stampeders, who are now 6-0 against West Division opponents.
“We’re OK with the grind,” Dickenson said. “We knew it was going to be hot. The guys just kept grinding and just kept working. It wasn’t perfect by any means.”
With only 1:26 on the clock, Calgary linebacker Jacob Roberts stripped the ball from Fajardo just as the veteran quarterback cocked his arm back to throw at the Calgary 10.
It was that kind of day for the Elks, who have yet to beat a Western opponent this season.
“I got hit on the backside of my arm,” said Fajardo, who completed 21-of-33 passes for 255 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. “It will probably just be a bruise. We’ll see how I wake up tomorrow.
“But I never feel good after games, and I don’t anticipate feeling good after this one.”
UP NEXT
The annual Labour Day rematch is scheduled for Saturday at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium.