Stamps finish regular season with win over Elks
The Calgary Stampeders closed out their regular season with a win over the Edmonton Elks on Friday night at Commonwealth Stadium in the ToonieBet Rivalry Game, claiming a 20-10 victory in Week 21 action.
With the victory, the Stamps, who had already clinched a playoff berth, now have a chance to finish second in the West Division, pending the results of Saturday’s matchups.
Quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. led the way for Calgary, completing 17 of 24 passes for 285 yards, no touchdowns or interceptions. Receiver Erik Brooks led the Stamps with five catches for 136 yards.
Kicker René Paredes was a perfect four-of-four on field goals and backup pivot Quincy Vaughn added a major on the ground.
Elks’ pivot Cody Fajardo threw for 272 yards and a major in the final game of the season for the Elks, while receiver Jalon Calhoun added four catches for 68 yards and a touchdown.
RELATED
» Depth Charts: CGY | EDM
» Game Tracker: Stampeders at Elks by the numbers
The game started with a methodical and efficient eight-play, 78-yard drive by the Stampeders. Mills got the visitors on the move with a pair of runs before Adams Jr. earned a pair of first downs through the air on connections with Brooks and Tevin Jones. The latter moved the ball all the way to the one-yard line, and Vaughn finished the drive with a quarterback sneak to put Calgary ahead 7-0.
Edmonton was on its way to responding with a promising march of its own, but a third-and-one run by Justin Rankin was stopped dead in its tracks by Calgary’s defence, turning the ball over on downs back to Adams Jr. and the offence.
The Stamps blocked a field goal attempt by Edmonton late in the first quarter to once again regain possession after a promising drive by the home team.
The offence leveraged the special teams play into three points. Adams Jr.’s unit marched all the way to Edmonton’s one-yard line, but two straight stops by the Green and Gold forced Dave Dickenson to send in René Paredes for his first field goal of the night.
Paredes added a 44-yard field goal with 7:12 left in the second quarter to stretch the lead to 13-0.
A long pass from Fajardo to OJ Hiliare on the next possession got the Elks on the move, and they came inches away from adding six points to the board. That’s because when Rankin was this close to breaking the plane of goal on the ensuing run, defensive back Bailey Devine-Scott punched the ball loose, and it was recovered by Dolani Robinson, resulting in a touchback for the visitors.
The Stamps used that momentum and added another field goal, extending the lead to 16-0 with less than a minute left in the first half.
A late second-quarter attempt by Fajardo was picked off by Jaydon Grant with an acrobatic interception, keeping the score 16-0 going into halftime.
The Elks opened the second half with a productive possession led by Fajardo and the offence that resulted in a field goal by Vincent Blanchard.
Calgary responded with a field-goal drive of its own, highlighted by a long catch-and-run by Brooks that made it first-and-goal. Edmonton was able to force third down, and the Stamps elected to send in Paredes to make it 19-3 with 8:55 to go in the third quarter.
Edmonton’s second drive of the third quarter was even more successful. Fajardo and the offence got rolling with a 23-yard scramble by the pivot, followed by a couple of connections with Calhoun, including a nine-yard lob that found the receiver wide open in the end zone.
Later in the quarter, Adams Jr. found Jones for another big catch-and-run for the Stamps, moving the ball across midfield and positioning the Red and White in scoring territory. They were unable to capitalize on it, however, as Edmonton’s defence kept them from advancing further.
The Stamps added a single on a punt halfway through the fourth quarter.
A blocked punt set up Calgary with first-and-goal, but Edmonton’s defence raised the wall and stopped Adams Jr. and the offence on three straight plays to force a turnover on downs.
