CFL FRIDAY: THE REST – STAMPEDERS, ALOUETTES, ARGOS WIN
EDMONTON – Running back Dedrick Mills had two rushing touchdowns as his Calgary Stampeders improved to 2-0 in CFL pre-season play Friday night with a convincing 37-7 victory over the Edmonton Elks.
Calgary was also solid in their first pre-season encounter last week, defeating the B.C. Lions 41-6.
Despite those two lopsided wins, Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson still feels his CFL team is very much a work in progress.
“I think we’ve got a lot of improving to do. I don’t really feel like the score’s indicative of what’s going to happen next week at all,” he said. “I think you’re going to start seeing real close games again and having to win in the fourth quarter. We’re going to try to focus on winning those last three minutes of every game and if we do that I think we’ll get quite a few wins.”
The Elks dropped to 1-1 in exhibition action.
“Well, it wasn’t very good,” said Elks head coach and general manager Chris Jones. “They had too much ability to run the football, we had no ability to run the football, which is very disappointing because we want to be a physical football team and, certainly, we were not on either side of the line of scrimmage tonight, offensively or defensively.
“Special teams, it was about as bad as I’ve ever seen. We get a punt blocked, we drop a snap, I mean, just thing after thing. And I just talked to the coaches, this is indicative of us.
“We’ve got to do a better job of bringing our A-game and when we step into this building, our effort level’s got to be way higher than that. I don’t care if it’s a pre-season game or not.”
The Stampeders launch the regular season next Thursday when they host Montreal. The Elks are in Vancouver to face the B.C. Lions next Saturday.
FOOT NOTES: Elks QB Nick Arbuckle didn’t dress for the game after being injured in last week’s exhibition win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, where he was 10-for-11 passing. … Calgary rested many of its top players, including quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, receivers Reggie Begelton and Kamar Jorden, OL Sean McEwen and linebackers Jameer Thurman and Cameron Judge. … It was Stand With Ukraine night in Edmonton, with $15 tickets and net proceeds going to the Canada-Ukraine Foundation.
—
MONTREAL — Montreal Alouettes’ fourth-string quarterback Davis Alexander was tasked with the final drive to pull off a comeback pre-season victory on Friday.
The 23-year-old drove his team down the field with 71 seconds remaining to a 27-26 come-from-behind win over the Ottawa Redblacks to wrap up their CFL pre-season Alexander threw a 53-yard pass to Fabian Guerra, getting the Als in the red zone. Rhythm-Jean Giraud eventually rushed for two yards to the end zone to score the game-winning touchdown.
“That kid just keeps pulling it out. He’s a cool customer,” said head coach Khari Jones about Alexander. “He’s fun to watch and he’s in there in those big moments and he made some big plays so it was pretty cool for a young guy like that to be able to do that.”
The Alouettes escaped with the win at Percival Molson Stadium. However, the underlying tone remained that Jones used all four of his quarterbacks yet none of them threw a touchdown pass.
Vernon Adams Jr. made a return to the gridiron after suffering a shoulder injury on Oct. 11, 2021. Adams threw for 69 yards, scored one touchdown and was replaced in the second quarter.
Trevor Harris threw for 61 yards, one interception and exited the game in the third quarter. Dominique Davis threw for 39 yards and left in the fourth quarter. Alexander ended the game with the winning drive, throwing for 137 yards.
Jones did not want to confirm who his starting quarterback would be going forward. Instead, he said: “I pretty much know who it is but I will not say who it is.”
Caleb Evans had the start at quarterback for the Redblacks. Evans threw for 65 yards and an interception in two quarters. David Moore finished the game, throwing for 64 yards.
—
GUELPH, Ont. – Boris Bede’s 33-yard field goal on the final play earned the Toronto Argonauts a comeback 18-17 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the final exhibition game for both teams Friday night.
Bede’s boot into a stiff wind was redemption as he missed from 52 yards out with 1:38 to play.
Jamie Newman’s 34-yard TD pass to Anthony Johnson put Hamilton ahead 16-15 at 12:12 of the third. It was set up by Michael Witherspoon’s interception but the two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful.
Chad Kelly staked Toronto to a 15-10 advantage with a six-yard TD strike to Isaiah Wright at 8:06. Kelly’s pass for the two-point convert was incomplete before a solid gathering at Alumni Stadium although no final attendance was announced.
Joel Whitford’s 56-yard single at 9:15 boosted Hamilton’s advantage to 17-15.
Neither team has the luxury of time for lengthy evaluation. CFL clubs must make final roster cuts by 10 p.m. ET on Saturday night.
(The Canadian Press/Photo: Edmonton Elks)
