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Move over Mama, the B.C. Lions Said Knock You Out on Saturday.
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The Edmonton Elks put the ‘LL’ in Cool J, as they suffered their second L in a row to start the season, falling 22-0 in front of more than 30,000 at BC Place Stadium, with the legendary rapper performing prior to the kickoff of the Lions’ home-opener.
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“It certainly wasn’t pretty offensively,” head coach and general manager Chris Jones said on the 630 CHED post-game broadcast. “I mean, when you don’t score points, it doesn’t take a genius to figure that out.
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“So, we’ve certainly got our things there, but we had our opportunities on the other two phases to put us in better position at halftime. If you went in (tied), it was anybody’s ballgame.”
But they didn’t. And it wasn’t.
The Lions looked far from pretty, but they didn’t have to be when the Elks offence might as well have been invisible.
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B.C. begins 2-0 for the second season in a row, as the Elks returned to the scene of the crime where they were outright embarrassed twice a year ago, losing both by a combined score of 105-29.
While their defence kept them from adding a third ring to that circus in three straight trips, Elks fans aren’t exactly tearing the paper bag off their head after their offence failed to even move the ball into field-goal range this time, let alone find the end zone.
High-priced free-agent receiver Eugene Lewis had just one catch for nine yards and Taylor Cornelius completed 13 of 22 passes for 92 yards as an ineffective Elks offence mustered just 140 yards, compared to 419 by the home side.
“Those drives that we marched down the field and were being successful, it was just a penalty or a turnover or a missed opportunity, and then we’re right on the fringe of being able to kick a field goal or even move the ball in and go score a touchdown on a lot of those drives, especially early,” said Cornelius, who has fallen to 4-18 as the Elks starter. “To end the way it did was just unfortunate and it can’t happen.
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“I wish I knew exactly what it was but I think it’s never one thing, right? At the same time, when something happens, we’ve got to be able to overcome those obstacles and adversities in a game and I think that’s what we’re lacking right now.”
Cornelius’s counterpart in orange, Vernon Adams Jr., completed 25 of 35 for 312 yards, an interception and a touchdown, while Taquan Mizzell had 22 touches for 116 yards of offence in the victory.
Things started out rather shaky for the Elks, who had a fumble overturned by automatic review on third-and-one by short-yardage quarterback Kai Locksley, fresh off of getting stymied three times on the one yard-line while attempting to score the go-ahead touchdown late in a 17-13 loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
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The Elks punted on third-and-36, only to allow a 44-yard return by Terry Williams to set the Lions up in Edmonton territory.in the final minute of a scoreless first quarter.
Sean Whyte made it 1-0 2:05 into the second quarter with a 16-yard field goal after rookie Ayden Eberhardt — inserted into the lineup in place of injured Lucky Whitehead — dropped a pass on the goal-line.
Instead of bringing out the big guns in response, the Elks ended up shooting themselves in the foot. And not just once.
Midway through the second quarter, Elks cornerback Ed Gainey intercepted a deep pass intended for Justin McInnis on the midfield line, returning it 35 yards before fumbling it right back to the Lions, compliments of a Jevon Cottoy force-out. Adding injury to insult, Gainey left the field and spent the rest of the game on the sideline in a sling.
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“It doesn’t look good, looks like a shoulder,” Jones said. “It could be a very bad injury.”
After the Lions punted that gimme away, Elks running back Kevin Brown came up with their only offensive outburst of the game, bouncing to the outside for a 25-yard gain on the ground, only to follow up on the next snap by fumbling the ball right back to David Menard, which was forced by fellow Lions defensive lineman Nathan Cherry.
This one, Whyte turned into a 48-yard field goal to double the lead in the final two minutes of the half, before hitting another from 45 yards out to take a 9-0 advantage into the break.
He opened the third quarter with another one, this one from 51 yards away that rung off the right post and in for a 12-0 lead.
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That proved to be his range, however, as Whyte finally missed, wide right, on his fifth attempt, which came from 52 yards out.
Edmonton, meanwhile, continued to respond with punts, which numbered eight before the Sean Whyte Show finally got a co-star on the scoreboard with 30 seconds left in the third quarter.
Dominique Rhymes came up with a jump ball at the back corner of the end zone over rookie cornerback Kai Gray for a five-yard touchdown reception and a 19-0 lead.
Whyte made it five-for-six with a 42-yarder that made it 22-0, before focusing their fight on running down the final 5:48 off the clock.
E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge
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https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiemh0dHBzOi8vZWRtb250b25zdW4uY29tL3Nwb3J0cy9mb290YmFsbC9jZmwvZWRtb250b24tZWxrcy9lZG1vbnRvbi1lbGtzLXNodXQtb3V0LWJ5LWItYy1saW9ucy10by1mYWxsLXRvLTAtMi1vbi10aGUtc2Vhc29u0gEA?oc=5
2023-06-18 02:18:47Z
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