Kevin Sousa/CFL.ca
EDMONTON — If Tre Ford‘s body language didn’t say it enough on the field on Saturday night, he made sure to say the words himself after the game.
As his teammates celebrated a wild comeback win over the Calgary Stampeders, the Edmonton Elks’ quarterback ran through his through process when he threw two costly interceptions in the third quarter.
“I felt like a terrible person letting my team down early on,” Ford told TSN’s Ryan Rishaug, moments after kicker Dean Faithfull had put a 42-yard field goal through the uprights to give the Elks a 25-23 comeback win over their provincial rivals.
Ford shook off the pair of turnovers and the 23 unanswered points that the Stampeders scored through the first three quarters of their Labour Day rematch game. The Stamps had bottled up the incredibly shifty and athletic pivot up until that point, almost daring him to pass the ball and sending all of the heat they could muster at him whenever he threatened to tuck the ball under his arm and run.
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As the third quarter shifted into the fourth, things finally started to click for the 25-year-old. The former Hec Creighton winner accepted the defence’s dare and started slinging the ball around. Backup QB Taylor Cornelius finished off a drive from short yardage to open up the fourth quarter, then Ford finished off a four-play, 78-yard drive with a 32-yard touchdown toss to Dillon Mitchell. A pair of Faithfull field goals, from 40 yards and then the 42-yard walk off effort sealed the deal, giving the Elks their second consecutive win at home, inching the team away from its far-too-long stretch of at-home futility.
“Those were definitely tough interceptions to throw,” Ford said. “Obviously, I’d like to not throw them, but there was some things on the play that happened. Not on the same page, a little bit of a miscommunication, but I mean, two interceptions, and a win? I’ll take it.”
Ford finished the night with 14-22 passing for 173 yards and a touchdown with the two interceptions. He rushed eight times for 82 yards and a touchdown. Combined with running back Kevin Brown‘s monstrous 143-yard night, the duo had 205 ground yards against the Stamps.
After splitting the OK Tire Labour Day Weekend game and rematch with the Stamps, the Elks sit a game behind them in the standings and have picked up their first win against a West Division opponent this season. While they still sit in fifth place in the West, as winners of three of their last four games, the Elks are making things interesting as they size up their final five games on the regular season schedule.
