EDMONTON — The Edmonton Elks return home off their first win of the season to play host to the BC Lions as Week 10 comes to a close.
Edmonton will try to tame one of the West’s top teams for a second consecutive week after handing the Saskatchewan Roughriders a 42-31 loss in Week 9.
They’ll see a BC team eager to get back on the field after being shut out at the hands of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
It may only be one game, but the Elks were flying around the field with quarterback Tre Ford under centre. The Canadian pivot’s ability to extend drives has proven to be difficult to defend.
The extra time Ford can create allows his talented receivers to find open space. Seven different wideouts had multiple catches against the Riders, with Tevin Jones bursting onto the scene for 123 yards and two touchdowns.
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Garry Peters, along with T.J. Lee and Adrian Greene need to be aware of their coverage and keep an eye on Ford should he take off. Peters tops the Lions defensive backs with five pass knockdowns.
The legs of Ford aren’t the only ones the defence has to be worried about. Running back Javon Leake rushed for 169 yards and three touchdowns against one of the best run defences in the league and provides Jarious Jackson’s offence with a second threat on the ground.
Ford and Leake will see another physical front on Sunday night. Defensive lineman Sione Teuhema led the league with four tackles for a loss and linebacker Ben Hladik sat third with 49 defensive tackles heading into this week.
Watch live. BC Lions @ Edmonton Elks, Aug. 12, 01:00 CET (1 am, 7 pm Aug. 11 EDT)
While he expects the Lions to be prepared, Leake feels confident and ready to have another big performance.
“Me and the O-line, we’ve been a little frustrated the last couple weeks. We couldn’t get the run game going so just to have a game like that, I just know it takes the monkey off our back a little bit,” Leake told reporters of how their previous performance helped him find his groove.
“We have to just keep going off that momentum because we finally got the running game going, so let’s just keep it going from here.”
While the BC defence worries about shutting down Ford, the offence has its own concerns as they’ll be without starter Vernon Adams Jr. after he suffered an injury against the Blue Bombers.
With Adams Jr. on the sideline as the third string quarterback for this one, Jake Dolegala is thrust into the spotlight for a team with championship aspirations.
Fortunately for him and the Lions, it’s a role he’s familiar with. Dolegala filled in when Trevor Harris went down with an injury in Saskatchewan last year, throwing for 2,641 yards and 11 touchdowns.
This time around he’ll have two of the league’s best receivers in Justin McInnis and Alexander Hollins to lean on. As Dolegala gets comfortable in his surroundings, watch for McInnis and Hollins to see plenty of targets.
It’s going to take a complete team effort downfield to keep tabs on the Lions’ dynamic duo. Defensive backs Darrius Bratton, Kai Gray, Kordell Jackson and Loucheiz Purifoy have to band together to keep extended drives to a minimum and get their own offence back on the field.
Dolegala isn’t oblivious to the pressure that comes with starting this week but is trying to rely on his previous experience.
“You have to go about the actual mental side of it the same way and just be as ready as you can,” Dolegala told reporters. “The experience I got, starting nine games is big in this league and I just have to go out there and do my thing.”
More looks could also be going the way of William Stanback in the run game as he sat third in the league with 431 yards after last week and is capable of easing the pressure on his quarterback.
But the Elks front features the type of talent able to keep Stanback in check and has already done it once this year. In their Week 4 matchup, Stanback rushed for just 42 yards on 11 carries.
Elliott Brown and Noah Curtis provide physicality at the line of scrimmage but should Stanback find holes, he’ll be met by Nyles Morgan and Nick Anderson at linebacker. Morgan and Anderson enter the game with 103 combined defensive tackles.
Edmonton is feeling good about their new-look offence with Ford at the helm as they try to make it two wins in a row.
BC wants to shake off being held pointless and get back to their winning ways against a division rival.