Harris throws four TD passes as he leads Elks to win over Stamps
CALGARY — Trevor Harris was well aware that he had never been on the winning end of a decision against the Calgary Stampeders.
After leading his Edmonton Elks to a 32-20 win over the Stampeders in front of 31,039 fans at McMahon Stadium on Monday, the veteran CFL quarterback can finally stop hearing about how he had gone 0-9-2 against Calgary in 11 previous regular-season games with the Toronto Argonauts, Ottawa Redblacks and Edmonton. He was also on the losing end of the 106th Grey Cup in Edmonton on Nov. 25, 2018 when his Redblacks lost 27-16 to the Stamps.
“There’s been people that have mentioned that to me,” said Harris, who threw four touchdown passes to four different receivers.
“I guess to get the proverbial monkey off your back feels good, but at the end of the day, CFL football is hard to win games no matter what and any time you’re playing Calgary it’s going to be a tough out. I’m just glad got the win today as a team.” Ernest Edwards, Jalen Tolliver, James Wilder Jr., and Mike Jones hauled in TD passes from Harris as Edmonton (2-2) ended its eight-game losing streak (from 2012-19) in the Labour Day Classic between Alberta’s two CFL clubs.
Sean Whyte also had a field goal, while Hugh O’Neill kicked a single for the Elks, who hadn’t played since a 21-16 win over B.C. on Aug. 19.
The Elks were scheduled to play in Toronto on Aug. 26 but that game was postponed after the West Division club had COVID-19 issues.
“Everything’s about us as a team,” said Harris, who completed 31-of-41 passes for
398 yards against the Stamps.
“I don’t know if we made a statement, but I know what we’re capable of and I know we’re finally starting to scratch the surface. I think we’ve gotten better every week. We’ve faced a lot of adversity and obviously with everything that kind of went down with the Toronto game being postponed, we’ve come out stronger and we came out better.”
Ka’Deem Carey had a rushing score for the Stampeders (1-4), while quarterback Jake Maier threw a TD pass to Markeith Ambles. “We just weren’t connecting on offence – dropping passes, taking penalties, not staying on the field,” said Kamar Jorden, who led all receivers with 123 yards as he caught 9-of-12 passes thrown his way. “Those are the little things we expect to get through. We definitely have to find a way to improve our offence, get some confidence and getting some swagger behind us.”
Rene Paredes kicked a pair of field goals for the Stamps, who will travel to Edmonton to face the Elks in the Labour Day rematch on Saturday night at Commonwealth Stadium.
“That was a tough one to have a lot of optimism from,” said Calgary coach Dave Dickenson. “We’re just trying to win a game. I think we can do that. I think we can get on that bus, head north and put ourselves in another position to win a game. It’s going to require a lot of digging deep, though – a little extra work and as coaches we’ve got to try to figure out what our guys are good at and we’ve got to start putting them in that position because right now what we’re doing and calling isn’t working.”
The Stamps opened the scoring when Paredes booted a 35-yard field goal at 3:45 of the first quarter. The Elks took a 7-3 lead at 7:38 when Edwards hauled in a 45-yard TD pass from Harris to cap off an eightplay, 75-yard drive.
The visitors had a chance to build on their lead a short time later, but Whyte missed a 48-yard field goal wide to the left. After being assessed a five-yard penalty for procedure to put them back on their own 20-yard line, the Elks proceeded to march down the field 80 yards in four plays. Harris capped off the impressive drive at 9:35 of the second quarter when he tossed a six-yard TD pass to Toliver to put Edmonton up 14-3.
Bob Wetenhall Sr., the American businessman who took over the Montreal Alouettes in 1997 and transformed the club into one of the CFL’s model franchises, has died.
Both the Alouettes and CFL confirmed Wetenhall’s death, which occurred Friday. Neither provided details regarding the cause of death or Wetenhall’s age (he was believed to be 85 or 86).
“Bob Wetenhall’s ownership of the Montreal Alouettes was a labour of love,” CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie said.