Shawn Bane Jr. reeled in three touchdown passes as the Saskatchewan Roughriders came from behind to spoil Edmonton’s Canadian Football League home opener, defeating the Elks 29-21 on Saturday.
Hergy Mayala had two touchdowns for the Elks who found themselves in the far too familiar position of accepting a loss at home.
“When you are up two touchdowns in the fourth quarter at home and basically penalize yourself and turn the ball over and allow someone to beat you here at home, it’s tough,” Elks head coach Chris Jones said. “We’ve got to do a better job of running the football and being effective running the football. We weren’t able to establish the run today.”
The Elks started the scoring on their first possession with a 17-yard field goal from Boris Bede. After starting the second quarter with a punt single, the Elks bookended the scoring with a touchdown coming with just over a minute to play.
Quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson, who spent a season in the United States Football League after guiding the Toronto Argos to the 2022 Grey Cup championship, hit Mayala for a 22-yard passing strike in the end zone to put Edmonton up 11-7.
The Roughriders caught a big break less than a minute later as Elks running back Kevin Brown fumbled the ball at his own 16, recovered by Jameer Thurman.
That gaffe would eventually lead to a one-yard TD plunge by A.J. Ouellette and a 22-21 Saskatchewan lead.
“I am trying my best to take it all in,” said Corey Mace, following his first regular-season game as a head coach in the CFL, coming off serving as an assistant with the Toronto Argos.
“I am extremely proud of the guys. To see when they are put in situations like this that they will find a way to stick together to get things done. I am very pleased with how they went out there and finished the deal.”
“I put a lot of it on my shoulders,” Bethel-Thompson said after the game. “I wasn’t in the rhythm early. We’ve got to be better. It’s the CFL, right? It comes down to three or four plays and they made the plays and we didn’t — they came out on top.”
The game was moved up three hours to avoid conflict with Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final, with the Edmonton Oilers taking on the Florida Panthers.
Saskatchewan missed the playoffs last season with a 6-12 record, while the Elks finished in a tie for last in the league with Ottawa at 4-14.
The Elks are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Edmonton football franchise and had a big gala on Friday night that featured a bevy of former players, including a legendary list of former quarterbacks such as Warren Moon, Tom Wilkinson, Damon Allen, Tracy Ham, Matt Dunigan, Ricky Ray and Mike Reilly.
Longtime former equipment manager Dwayne Mandrusiak was added to the EE’s Builders Wall during the contest.
The Elks host the Montreal Alouettes on Friday, while the Roughriders remain on the road with a game in Hamilton next Sunday.
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