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 the Calgary defence piled up four sacks and kept its northern rivals out of the end zone all afternoon.
With the defeat, the Elks snapped their three-game winning streak. 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 in the West Division basement 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 Dominique Rhymes deep in the end zone. A flag flew on the play, and Rhymes held off on celebrating.
Once the officials clarified the infraction — illegal contact on Edmonton — Quick Six, the touchdown horse, took off on a victory lap around the field at McMahon Stadium.
The visiting Elks answered on the final play of the first quarter with a 31-year-old field goal by Vincent Blanchard to narrow the Calgary lead to 7-3.
Rene Parades connected on two field goals in the second quarter — the second coming from 49 yards with no time showing on the clock.
That field goal came just 14 seconds after Blanchard missed a 32-yard attempt, leaving Edmonton to settle for a single point.
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.
From there, the vaunted Calgary defence took over — shutting down 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 give Calgary a commanding 28-7 lead.
Late in the game, 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.
The annual Labour Day rematch is scheduled for Saturday at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium.
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