Riders hand Elks first win of the season

Saskatchewan Roughriders receiver Ajou Ajou (80) catches the football for a touchdown as Edmonton Elks defensive back Devodric Bynum (16) defends during the second half of CFL football action in Regina, on Saturday, August 3, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Heywood Yu

The Edmonton Elks finally found the win column after a 42-31 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Mosaic Stadium Saturday night.

Elks quarterback Tre Ford got his first start of the 2024 season and walked away with the team’s first victory of the 2024 season after throwing for 252 yards and two touchdowns.

“He was on it. But to be honest with you the passing game wasn’t something that I found was extremely frustrating. I thought our tackling was not good at all. I thought we just didn’t look like ourselves tonight,” said head coach, Corey Mace following the loss.

This marks the second game in a row the Riders have lost and the team has now won just one game of their last four.

“It’s just not us. That’s not who we show up and be every day. It’s just frustrating but just like we always do, we’re going to bounce back and put in the work,” said quarterback, Shea Patterson.

Patterson did throw for over 300 yards and one touchdown in the loss and the game also began on a positive note with a 101 yard kickoff return touchdown from Mario Alford.

“It was great to get in there, it’s been a long time overdue,” said Alford.

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However, the Elks knew the threat Alford posed as a returner and kept the ball away from him the rest of the night.

“After the game the coach said, ‘No way I was kicking the ball back to you’, so you have to respect that,” Alford said when asked if he takes that as a compliment.

After that though the Riders offence and defence began to fall behind against the Elks as Edmonton took a 20-15 lead at the half.

The Riders came into the game with the best rushing defence amongst the league, allowing just a record setting pace of 48 yards per game. But that all changed against the Elks as the team rushed for 276 yards Saturday night.

Elks running back, Javon Leak, rushed for 169 yards alone, including an impressive three touchdowns.

“I think maybe [we need to be] more detailed focused on the expectations we’re looking for. Being around the league for as long as I have, he’s a talented back. I would even venture to say that’s the best game he’s had since being in this league. Certainly in our time here, that was our worst rush defence,” Mace explained.

“It didn’t look like us. Mentally we could’ve been a lot better. The calls from myself, you know I could’ve put them in some compromising positions and I have to do a better job getting these guys prepared to play.”

Defensive lineman Micah Johnson’s opinion on the loss differed greatly.

“Man that is not on coach Mace, that’s not on the staff. That’s on the players. We were prepared. We felt like we were prepared coming into the game,” he responded. “We have to look in the mirror and in my opinion we let the staff down today in a lot of ways.”

The team does not have much time to dwell on the loss as they have a short week heading into a Thursday night matchup on the road against the Ottawa RedBlacks.

“Last year I don’t think anybody would talk [after a loss]. We would kind of go about our business but Mace just came in and said ‘We’re on a short week and it’s pro football you have to bring you’re A-Game every day, not just every game. In the meeting rooms and on the field.’ So we’re just looking forward to coming into work and putting our best foot forward,” said Patterson.

“I think guys know that’s not who we are. When you look at the first few games we played, we know we can win. Coach Mace is going to make us work. I know we’ll come ready to work. That’s a good thing [about a short week] we come in, clear the tape and move on to Ottawa,” added Alford.

The good news is the loss still leaves the Riders tied for first place in the West Division with a 5-3 record.

“It’s one of those things, it’s a long season obviously. We want to be a front running team, but we have to learn how to finish and we want to finish the rest of the season off strong,” Johnson told reporters.

"We have to execute better that’s the biggest thing."