Peyton Logan and the Calgary Stampeders appear to be the real deal this season.
Logan scored two touchdowns, including one on a 122-yard missed field goal return, as Calgary humbled the Edmonton Elks 49-6 on a soggy Thursday night to remain unbeaten.
“We just want to play good football, and once again we did,” said Calgary head coach Dave Dickenson. “We had some turnovers, we want to tighten those things up, but I think we’re balanced.
“We have a good running back, good running game, not just Ka’Deem (Carey), I think we have playmakers on all sides of the football. If we can do that, we’ll stay explosive.”
Carey finished the game with 104 rushing yards on 12 carries as Calgary (4-0) improved to 19-2 coming off the bye week since 2008. Starter Bo Levi Mitchell was 17–of-22 passing for 279 yards and two TDs while Malik Henry had six catches for 150 yards and a touchdown.
“It was a long night,” said Dickenson of a game extended by an hour-long storm delay. “I think our guys were focused and I did feel like we should be the fresher team.
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“We had a bye and they had a road trip, and even though they had a big win, playing a physical game. Our goal was to try to speed up the pace a little bit. I thought after the rain delay we had good focus.”
Edmonton (1-4) hasn’t won at Commonwealth Stadium since it beat the B.C. Lions on Oct. 12, 2019.
READ MORE: Edmonton Elks host Calgary Stampeders, look for back-to-back wins
“Unfortunately, we had some very untimely injuries to some very key people early,” said Elks head coach Chris Jones. “We had four six-game injuries that happened and there was a lot of patchwork that we had to do there in the first half.
“Too many errors in the second half. We’ve got to learn to take care of the football, we’ve got to do a better job of stopping the run and we’ve got to play better solid special teams. It was just a lot of different big, big plays that made a difference in the game.”
Calgary opened the scoring with a 29-yard Rene Paredes field goal on its first drive. The Elks responded with a 38-yard field goal from Sergio Castillo.
In the second quarter, Edmonton conceded a safety and Paredes kicked a 17-yard field goal to give Calgary an 8-3 lead.
The Stampeders recorded the game’s first touchdown with just under four minutes to play in the opening half when Mitchell passed to Henry. The receiver shook off a defender and sprinted 89 yards for the score as Calgary missed the two-point convert.
Calgary had another huge play to start the second half as Logan took the missed field goal attempt back for the touchdown.
The game was then delayed for more than an hour due to lightning, followed by a deluge of rain.
It wasn’t long after play resumed that Logan had his second TD of the contest, this on a 21-yard run.
Calgary made it 35-3 with two minutes to play in the third when Mitchell hit Luther Hakunavanhu on a 28-yard TD strike.
The Stampeders’ defence got into the act when Cameron Judge returned a fumble 63 yards for the touchdown.
Castillo. kicked a 42-yard field goal with six minutes left to double Edmonton’s scoring output.
Calgary closed out the game with a one-yard TD run by backup Tommy Stevens.
The Elks travel to Montreal to face the Alouettes next Thursday. The Stampeders head to Winnipeg to take on the Blue Bombers next Friday.
Thursday’s game was the second meeting of the season between the two Alberta rivals. Calgary won the first game 30-23 on June 25, despite Edmonton holding a lead for most of the contest.
Tre Ford became the first Canadian quarterback to start for Edmonton at home since Frank Cosentino in 1968, also against the Stampeders. Unfortunately, Ford left the game with what appeared to be a shoulder injury in the first quarter.
Among the notables out with injuries for the Elks were starting running back James Wilder Jr and defensive lineman Jake Ceresna. Former all-star cornerback Tre Roberson was back in Calgary’s lineup after missing its last contest with a shoulder injury.
Meanwhile, first-round draft pick Jalen Philpot made his first CFL start for Calgary as Richard Sindani sat out with a hamstring injury.
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