CALGARY — Eugene Lewis let his coaches know that he was ready to make an impact on Saturday.
The wide receiver did just that as he caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tre Ford with 1:09 remaining in the game to lead the Edmonton Elks to a 23-18 win over the Calgary Stampeders at McMahon Stadium.
“I always ask for opportunities,” said Lewis, who also had a rushing touchdown in the second quarter. “I feel as though when I get the opportunities, I just help my team the best way I possibly can.
“There’s many ways where I can change the momentum of the game. All I’m trying to do is help my team get a win and play for the name on my back and the team.”
Edmonton coach Jarious Jackson said Lewis did a great job of finding a way to get himself open for Ford to scramble and find him in the end zone for the game-winning score.
“Gino ended up popping open and we were able to get the touchdown,” Jackson said. “He was probably the third read on that play at the end that he ended up scoring. It just so happened that the field got cut off from (Ford) so he was able to step up and find Gino.”
Backup quarterback Dakota Prukop also ran for a touchdown for the Elks (6-11). Boris Bede kicked a pair of singles for Edmonton, while punter Jake Julien also had one.
Ford completed 23-of-29 passes for 208 yards to go with one touchdown and two interceptions.
Edmonton has defeated Calgary (4-11-1) all three times the provincial rivals played each other this season. The last time the Elks accomplished that feat was in 2002.
“We’re all focused on the small victories right now,” Jackson said. “It’s a big victory, but it’s small in the sense that we’d rather be in the playoffs, but hey, we’ll take running Alberta this year.”
The Stamps built up a 5-0 lead in the first quarter thanks to a safety and a field goal by Rene Paredes before surrendering 17 straight points to the Elks.
“It was tough,” said Calgary quarterback Matt Shiltz, who completed 18-or-33 passes for 215 yards to go with one touchdown and one interception. “I think we started off hot as a team in the first quarter. We kind of had a lull there in the second and the third.
"I was proud of the way we fought back in the fourth, but too many ups and downs I think through the middle portion of the game. We didn’t get the win and that’s the most important thing.”
Jalen Philpot then caught a touchdown pass from Shiltz, while backup QB Tommy Stevens ran for a TD to put the Stamps up 18-17 with 4:54 to play.
The Stamps had a chance to win as the game clock time expired after Lewis restored the Elks' lead, but Shiltz’s five-yard pass to Reggie Begelton in the end zone was incomplete.
“I just feel like that’s our whole year,” said Calgary coach Dave Dickenson. “I don’t think the fight’s ever left us. We keep fighting and we finally do feel like, ‘OK … we’re going to win the game.’ And we don’t win the game.
“We can’t stop them and we can’t make the plays at the end and take dumb penalties.”
After the Stamps couldn’t get anything going on their first drive, Cody Grace booted a 56-yard punt that went out of bounds at the Edmonton five-yard line to pin the Elks deep in their own territory.
Ford dropped back in his own end zone to pass and was promptly sacked by Bailey Devine-Scott for a safety to give Calgary an early 2-0 lead. It was the first sack of Devine-Scott's three-year CFL career.
Paredes then kicked a 21-yard field goal at 4:35 to extend Calgary’s lead to 5-0.
After failing to score in the opening 15 minutes, the Elks responded with 16 points in the second quarter.
Lewis ran for a 15-yard touchdown at 5:15 to cap off an eight-play, 83-yard drive before Bede added a single by booting the ensuing kickoff through the end zone.
After Ford marched the Elks downfield into Calgary territory, Prukop finished off the 10-play, 80-yard drive by plunging one yard across the goal line at 12:38. Bede then added a 97-yard single to put the Elks up 16-5.
Julien accounted for the lone point of the third quarter with a 65-yard punt single.
Shiltz engineered an impressive 12-play, 80-yard drive early in the fourth quarter that he capped off by tossing a three-yard touchdown pass to Philpot at 7:04.
Calgary’s two-point convert attempt failed after Edmonton’s Shawn Oakman picked off a pass by Shiltz that was intended for Begelton.
The Stamps got the ball right back after defensive lineman Clarence Hicks got his hands on a pass by Ford to knock it up in the air before he was able to haul it in before falling to the turf at the Edmonton 29-yard line.
Three plays later, Stevens ran for a four-yard touchdown and the Stamps took an 18-17 lead after Paredes made the convert.
After Lewis scored the game-winning touchdown, the Elks bid for a two-point convert failed when Calgary’s Demerio Houston picked off a pass by Ford.
UP NEXT
Elks: Bye week, then host the Toronto Argonauts (9-7) on Friday, Oct. 25.
Stampeders: Visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (6-10) on Friday, Oct. 18.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2024.
Laurence Heinen, The Canadian Press