Kevin Udahl/CFL.ca
CALGARY – The Battle of Alberta always delivers, and it’s no shock that the game took place during Thanksgiving Weekend presented by Purolator action, as the Edmonton Elks swept the season series with a nail-biter win over the Calgary Stampeders.
Eugene Lewis set a franchise record of consecutive games with a receiving touchdown, while Justin Rankin carried the run game with another game over 100 yards as he was crucial for the Elks offence.
Here are CFL.ca’s three key stats from the Elks’ win over the Stampeders in Week 19.
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140 – JUSTIN RANKIN RUSHING YARDS
While Lewis might be the name that many think of when they recall this game as he found the end zone twice, getting downfield would not have been possible if not for Edmonton’s workhorse Rankin, who tallied 140 yards on 10 carries in the game.
While he may have averaged a first down and then some with his stat line, it was massive gains of 20, 27 and 38 yards that were crucial in Edmonton keeping drives alive, with Rankin tallying 63 yards on Edmonton’s final touchdown drive that sealed them the season series sweep.
5 – SACKS ON MATT SHILTZ
Edmonton’s offence and defence worked in tandem on Saturday despite a feisty Stampeders team making sure the Elks were never too comfortable, but when Edmonton needed a momentum swing most, the defensive corps was able to find a way to Matt Shiltz on five separate occasions to stop Calgary from getting back down the field.
Twice in the third quarter a sack on Shiltz led directly to the Stampeders having to punt, and four different Elks players recorded a sack as Derrick Moncrief tallied two while Nick Anderson, Elliott Brown and Daniel Joseph all had one sack each.
399 – BORIS BEDE KICKOFF YARDS
While the Battle of Alberta was not a battle of field goals, Boris Bede still made his mark on the game, not only with two successful extra point kicks but also as he averaged 79.8 yards per kickoff against the Stampeders.
Two of Bede’s kicks resulted in rouges for the Elks as he kicked for 97 yards and 100 yards, tallying Edmonton’s only point of the third quarter and capping off a 17-0 run from the Elks that gave them a 12-point lead until the fourth quarter.
