The second half of the CFL season begins for the Edmonton Elks on Friday night in our nation’s capital with the first of back-to-back meetings with the Ottawa Redblacks.
The Elks have lost three straight games to sit in last place in the Western Division with a 2-7 record, after a 34-32 loss last week at home to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
It’s a loss that puts the Elks in a large hole as far as their playoff hopes are concerned. Penalties proved to be a big issue for the Elks in the game as the team was flagged 13 times for 140 yards.
Head coach Chris Jones said penalties and poor decision making at key times lost the game for the Elks. Jones said as coaches, the challenge is to keep the mood positive while making corrections.
“We have to keep them smiling and keep them directed and compartmentalized,” Jones said. “We’ve got to make better decisions when we’re on the football field. We can’t take the post-snap penalties and unfortunately, we got caught up in that trap with Saskatchewan.”
The Elks enjoyed their best rushing performance of the season last week, recording 156 yards. Eighty-six of those yards came from quarterback Taylor Cornelius who scored two rushing touchdowns. Cornelius recorded the most rushing yards by an Edmonton quarterback since Mike Reilly’s 106 yards back on Sept. 26, 2014.
Since coming off the six-game injured list because of a shoulder injury, defensive tackle Jake Ceresna has recorded seven defensive tackles, three quarterback sacks and one forced fumble. Ceresna’s three sacks lead the Elks in only three games played this season.
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The Elks will be without arguably their best offensive lineman for Friday’s game as centre David Beard has been placed on the one-game injured list with an illness. Mark Korte will start at centre for the Elks with Tomas Jack-Kurdyla being inserted into the lineup at right guard.
The Elks will dress receiver Dillon Mitchell to handle kick and punt returns. Mitchell set a school record for receiving yards during his junior year at Oregon in 2018, recording 1,184 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Linebackers Deon Lacey and Nate Evans, along with defensive back Mike Dubiusson and defensive lineman Jachai Polite, have been added to the roster on special teams.
Defensive lineman Keisean Lucier-South (ankle), receiver Rapheal Leonard and linebacker Jordan Reaves have been placed on the one-game injured list. Defensive back Malik Sonnier moves from the active roster to the practice roster.
The following are the projected offensive and defensive starters for the Elks:
Offence
Quarterback: Taylor Cornelius
Running back: Maleek Irons (Fullback: Tanner Green)
Offensive line: Tony Washington, David Foucault, Mark Korte, Tomas Jack-Kurdyla, Martez Ivey
Receivers: Derel Walker, Kenny Lawler, Emmaneul Arceneaux, Dillon Mitchell, Chris Osei-Kusi
Defence
Defensive line: Thomas Cositgan, Makana Henry, Jake Ceresna, Matt Thomas
Linebackers: Adam Konar, Nyles Morgan, Enock Makanzo
Defensive backs: Duron Carter, Ed Gainey, Scott Hutter, Treston Decoud, Nafees Lyon
You can hear live coverage of Friday’s game between the Elks and Redblacks on 630 CHED starting with Countdown to Kickoff with Brenden Escott at 4 p.m. The opening kickoff from TD Place in Ottawa will be at 5:30 p.m. with Morley Scott and Dave Campbell with analysis by former Edmonton Football Team offensive lineman and two-time Grey Cup champion Blake Dermott.