Masoli masterful as Tiger-Cats earn crucial victory over Elks
Mitchell eclipses 30,000-yard passing mark to lead Stampeders past Redblacks
Jeremiah Masoli passed for 357 yards and three touchdowns as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats clawed back over the .500 mark on the season with a 39-23 victory over the Edmonton Elks on Friday.
It was the sixth straight loss overall for the Elks (2-8), who remained winless at home this season, the first time in the storied history of the franchise that they have had an 0-6 start at home.
Edmonton's playoff hopes are now hanging on by a thread.
WATCH | Masoli leads Ticats past Elks:
After the Elks started the game with a punt single, Hamilton came back with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Masoli to Steven Dunbar Jr. six minutes into the opening quarter.
Hamilton continued to move the ball at will and added a 27-yard passing major with three minutes to play in the first as Tim White had a terrific second effort tracking down and catching a ball that had originally bounced off his hands.
The Elks responded with a 34-yard Sean Whyte field goal to open the second, before Tiger-Cats kicker Taylor Bertolet booted a 43-yarder of his own.
With two minutes left in the first half, Masoli unleashed a long bomb for a 65-yard TD to Jaelon Acklin.
A bit of a melee ensued late in the second quarter, resulting in the ejections of Hamilton's Kameron Kelly for spitting at an opponent and Edmonton's Jonathan Rose for coming off the bench.
WATCH | Player tussle leads to ejections:
Bertolet added a 25-yard field goal to make it 27-4 at the half.
Whyte opened the third with a 26-yarder, with Hamilton getting a pair of singles on missed kicks in the third before Bertolet was good on a 47-yarder to start the fourth.
Edmonton finally got into the end zone seven minutes into the final frame on a one-yard keeper by backup QB Dakota Prukop, who also added a two-point convert.
With just over two minutes left Hamilton's Don Jackson weaved his way through the porous Elks defence for a 16-yard TD run.
Prukop pushed his way in for another one-yard touchdown in the final minute for Edmonton, which also got the two-point convert.
Both teams are back in action next Friday as the Tiger-Cats host the B.C. Lions, while the Elks are at home against Saskatchewan.
Stamps down Redblacks
KaDeem Carey had a rushing touchdown, Kamar Jorden had a receiving touchdown and Rene Paredes kicked four field goals in leading the Calgary Stampeders to a 26-13 over the Ottawa Redblacks on Friday night.
Parades kicked a 47-yard field goal with just over two minutes to play for the only scoring of the fourth quarter.
The Stampeders (6-6) have won four of their last five games while the Redblacks (2-10) are on their second five-game losing streak of the season.
The night was short lived for Redblacks running pack Brendan Gillanders.
The Ottawa native was playing in his 100th CFL game but suffered an ankle injury making a tackle on the opening kick-off of the game. He did not return.
Bo Levi Mitchell completed 22 of 29 passes for 242 yards for the Stampeders, surpassing the 30,000 career passing yards, while Carey had 103 yards rushing.
WATCH | Mitchell sets passing milestone while Stampeders defeat Redblacks:
Caleb Evans was 15-of-28 for 173 yards for the Redblacks.
The first half was tightly contested as the Stampeders went into the break with a 13-10 lead, but the clearly had the momentum on their side.
Ottawa opened the scoring at 5:23 on a 15-yard field goal from Lewis Ward, but those points were tremendously aided by a 50-yard catch-and-run from Evans to Nate Behar.
Parades tied the game 3-3 with a 43-yard field goal at 10:03, and then a 11-yard touchdown reception by Kenny Stafford was 18 seconds left in the first quarter gave the Redblacks a 10-3 lead after the conversion.
That was the end of the first-half good news for Ottawa as it got just two first downs in the second quarter, one via penalty, and was outscored 10-0.
Carey scored on a three-yard run at 2:25 and Parades kicked a 27-yard field goal at 10:18 for a 13-10 Calgary lead
The Stampeders carried that momentum into the third quarter, forcing the Redblacks to a two-and-out on the first drive before moving the ball 44 yards and finishing up with a 28-yard field goal from Parades at 4:28.
Ward got those three points back though with a 24-yard field goal with just over four minutes to play in the quarter.
The Stampeders closed out the quarter with a 15-yard pass from Jake Maier, who replaced Mitchell at quarterback for that play and three other short yardage plays, to Jorden and the Stampeders took a 23-13 lead into the fourth.
It was Maier's only pass of the game.
