MONTREAL – Early in the fourth quarter, the Edmonton Elks trailed 31-18. Chris Jones’ team relied on quarterback Taylor Cornelius, who had yet to start this season.
Kai Locksley ran for two yards to get the Elks (2-4) back in the game, but Edmonton missed the two-point conversion.
That didn’t dampen the struggling Elks. Lockley added a second TD strike. Finally, Cornelius pulled off a 32-31 comeback win over the Montreal Alouettes at Percival Molson Stadium on Thursday.
“When we got (the first touchdown), we went for two to try to go ahead and hit it. It didn’t go very well for us,” Elks coach Chris Jones said. “Then we scored again. I knew if we kicked the first and if we kicked the second then we would be a point ahead and then I was hoping we could get more time.
“We ended up getting the ball back, scoring and running the ball to nil and we were able to get off the field.”
Cornelius spent five weeks watching games on the sideline, pushed down the depth chart by Nick Arbuckle and Tre Ford. With Arbuckle traded to the Ottawa Redblacks and Ford on the disabled list for several weeks, Cornelius had to step up and didn’t miss an opportunity to throw the game-winning touchdown pass.
The 26-year-old found Kenny Lawler with a 10-yard touchdown pass and the Elks clinched the win.
“It was everything you want in a game you know, to have the ball in your hands on a play like that,” Cornelius said. “And Kenny doing his job, it takes everybody. I’m not the only one who made this game. Everybody made it happen and then he came up with a great grab there in the end zone.”
The Elks took advantage of two big pass interference calls by Alouettes quarterback Wesley Sutton. In total, the Alouettes (1-4) racked up 193 penalty yards during the game.
“It’s a tough one to take,” Montreal head coach and GM Danny Macioscia said. “We’re up by 19, we pull a running play to get the ball back and we have an opportunity to score again and we’re onside and there’s a turnover on the same play. At that point, we were unable to take this game back.
“We have to know how to finish. When you’re up 19, you have to find a way to close the game.”
Locksley rushed for two touchdowns. Cornelius threw for 225 yards, one interception and clinched the win with his only touchdown pass.
Alouettes quarterback Trevor Harris threw for 241 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Dominique Davis rushed for two touchdowns.
With both wins this season on the road, Jones and the Elks know the next step is to win a game at Commonwealth Stadium.
“Hell, it’s been a long time since we’ve won a home game, so as an organization it’s huge,” Jones said. “You have to win home games and we didn’t play well. So not only did we lose the games, but we didn’t play well at home.”
Sherman Bady ran a five-yarder for Edmonton’s first touchdown, but Castillo missed the conversion, giving the Elks an early 6-0 lead.
David Cote kicked a 19-yard field goal to cut Montreal’s deficit to three by the end of the first quarter.
The Alouettes scored three straight touchdowns in the second quarter.
Harris found Tyson Philpott with a 12-yard pass for his first CFL touchdown. He then threw a 33-yard pass to Eugene Lewis for his first TD of the season.
Marc-Antoine Dequa had his second career interception and was stopped at the one-yard line. Dominique Davis made a one-yard QB run, extending Montreal’s lead to 24-6.
Castillo made back-to-back field goals late in the second quarter to make it 24-12 at halftime.
Davis added a second TD sneak on a one-yard run in the third quarter, putting Montreal up 31-12.
Locksley got the Elks back in the game with a two-yard touchdown run to open the fourth quarter, but Edmonton failed on the two-point conversion.
Locksley rushed for his second touchdown of the game with 10:55 left on the clock to make it 31-25 for Montreal.
After a pass interference call on Sutton’s 50-yarder, his second of the fourth quarter, the Elks reached the red zone. Cornelius found Kenny Lawler with a 10-yard touchdown pass to clinch the win.
The Alouettes announced during the game that the team has acquired the CFL rights to offensive lineman Laurent Duvernay-Tardif from the Calgary Stampeders. In return, Calgary received two conditional draft picks, a second-round pick and a trade of a first-round pick in the event Duvernay-Tardif continues his career in Montreal.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 14, 2022.
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