The Edmonton Elks amassed 265 rushing yards en route to defeating the Saskatchewan Roughriders 36-27 at Mosaic Stadium on Friday night.
Kevin Brown led the way with 175 rushing yards, including a 35-yard touchdown.
Canadian-born Elks quarterback Tre Ford rushed for 70 yards and one major in addition to throwing for 173 yards and a TD before 25,304 CFL patrons.
Edmonton improved its record to 4-10. The Elks are 4-2 since Ford took over as the starting quarterback.
Saskatchewan (6-7) got three touchdown passes from Jake Dolegala. He has thrown for three scores in two of his four starts this season.
The Roughriders opened the scoring at 6:41 of the first quarter when Brett Lauther kicked a 26-yard field goal. The three-pointer was set up by Mario Alford’s 39-yard punt return.
An interception by C.J. Reavis in Edmonton territory led to a 14-yard touchdown pass from Dolegala to Shawn Bane Jr. Lauther’s convert put the Roughriders ahead 10-0 at 13:40 of the first quarter.
Edmonton answered with an 11-yard TD pass from Taylor Cornelius to A.C. Leonard in a second-and-short situation. Dean Faithfull added the convert at 1:33 of the second frame.
Lauther’s 29-yard field goal, at 6:39 of the second quarter, increased Saskatchewan’s lead to 13-7.
Faithfull’s 16-yard field goal at 12:59 of the second frame made it 13-10.
After Faithfull’s 40-yarder created a 13-13 tie at 3:14 of the third quarter, the Roughriders moved 70 yards in six plays — the last of which was a 26-yard TD pass from Dolegala to Tevin Jones. Lauther’s convert gave Saskatchewan a 20-13 advantage at 6:15 of the third quarter.
Edmonton quickly countered with Brown’s 35-yard TD run. Faithfull’s convert tied the game at 10:25 of the third quarter.
The Roughriders roared back with a seven-play, 74-yard march that culminated in a 12-yard TD pass from Dolegala to Bane Jr. The key play was a 57-yard completion from short-yardage quarterback Antonio Pipkin to Jamal Morrow on second-and-one. Lauther’s convert restored the Roughriders’ seven-point lead late in the third quarter.
Then it was Edmonton’s turn. Ford’s 30-yard TD pass to Eugene Lewis and Faithfull’s convert made it 27-27 early in the fourth quarter.
Edmonton went up 34-27 at 9:25 of the final frame when Faithfull converted Ford’s 10-yard TD run.
With two minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Roughriders assumed possession on their four-yard line. On first down, Dolegala was sacked by Jake Ceresna for a safety touch to give Edmonton a run of 16 consecutive points.
Next up for the Green and White is a Sept. 22 road game against the Ottawa REDBLACKS.
