Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ Demerio Houston tackles Edmonton Elks’ Dillon Mitchell during the first half in Edmonton. The Blue Bombers won 38-29 on Aug. 10, 2023.JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Press
The backup plan was more than sufficient for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Thursday.
Backup quarterback Dru Brown threw four touchdowns and 307 yards in a relief appearance as the Blue Bombers erased a 22-0 deficit to defeat the hapless Edmonton Elks 38-29.
Winnipeg improved to 7-2 and took over sole possession of first place in the West Division, but lost quarterback Zach Collaros to an injury in the process.
“It was the hand we were dealt and all you can do is chip away, like we did,” said Brown. “Luckily these guys have been in worse situations before and have come back and I could kind of lean on them. Guys were making plays all over the place tonight.”
Winnipeg head coach Mike O’Shea was impressed with Brown’s ability to step in for Collaros, who was described as being out with an upper-body injury.
“He has been with us long enough to know what he needs to do and executed the offence very well,” said O’Shea. “That would be Dru’s expectation for himself and nothing less and it is our expectation of him too.”
Edmonton’s extended its home losing streak to 22 games, the longest in North American professional sports history. Major League Baseball’s St. Louis Browns, who lost 20 straight in 1953 before becoming the Baltimore Orioles the following season, previously held the record.
The Elks have not won at home since Oct. 12, 2019.
Edmonton (0-9) has also lost 13 games straight overall, tying a franchise record set in 1963-64.
“We have two penalties and zero turnovers in the first half, and then we turn around and have eight penalties and two turnovers in the second half and give them momentum,” said Elks head coach and general manager Chris Jones. “We couldn’t regain momentum because we were too busy trying to give the game away in the second half.”
The Elks lost despite a new-look offence that started the game well. Kevin Brown found a seam and blazed 65 yards for a touchdown on their first play of the game. Edmonton added a single point as the ensuing kickoff went through the end zone.
Elks Canadian quarterback Tre Ford, a University of Waterloo grad making his first start of the season, kept that momentum going with a long drive late in the opening quarter, evading a tackle and carrying it eight yards himself for the touchdown with two minutes left in the first quarter to put Edmonton up 15-0.
Loucheiz Purifoy picked off a Collaros pass a little over three minutes into the second quarter and ran it into the end zone for a 23-yard pick six. Collaros was rattled on the play after being hit up high and Brown came in to take his place as the Bombers’ QB.
Brown got Winnipeg on the board with four minutes to play in the first half, completing a long drive by finding Dalton Schoen for a 23-yard passing TD.
Sergio Castillo nailed a 52-yard field goal in the final minute to close the score to 22-10 at the half.
After the Elks fumbled the ball away on the Winnipeg 22-yard line, the Bombers continued their comeback with another competent drive engineered by Brown, capped off by an 18-yard TD toss to Nic Demski.
Edmonton responded quickly with a couple minutes remaining in the third quarter as Ford made a short pass to Kyran Moore who sprinted 70 yards for the touchdown to make it 29-17.
The Elks got themselves in a fair bit of penalty trouble on Winnipeg’s ensuing possession, leading to a one-yard touchdown plunge by Blue Bombers third-string QB Dakota Prukop.
Winnipeg took its first lead of the game early in the fourth. Ford was picked off by Evan Holm, which set up a beautiful 32-yard one-arm catch in the end zone by Kenny Lawler on a pass from Brown to put the visitors up by two points.
The Bombers added to their lead as Brown calmly tossed it over the blitz to Brady Oliveira for a 17-yard TD with four minutes to play.
“Edmonton came out and punched us in the mouth for the first quarter and a bit, that was not an easy win. There is a large core of guys in our dressing room that have been down before and have fought back,” O’Shea said. “There are a lot of reasons to be positive.”
Notes
The last game for both teams was against the B.C. Lions, with markedly different results. Before their bye week, the Elks were stunningly shutout for a second time by B.C. this season when they lost 27-0 to the Lions. Meanwhile the Blue Bombers defeated B.C. 50-14 last week … After their loss to the Lions, the Elks elevated Jarious Jackson from QB coach to offensive co-ordinator, replacing Stephen McAdoo, who has been reassigned to help with the defence.
Up next
Both teams are on the road next week as the Elks head to Hamilton next Thursday and the Blue Bombers are in Calgary to face the Stampeders next Friday.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps have loaned midfielder Jay Herdman to Cavalry FC of the Canadian Premier League and rewarded two Whitecaps FC 2 players with MLS contracts.
Midfielder Jeevan Badwal signed as a homegrown player through 2027, with options for 2028 and 2029, while forward Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau signed an MLS contract through 2025, with club options for 2026 and 2027.
Both have been playing for the Whitecaps’ MLS Next Pro team along with the 20-year-old Herdman, the son of Toronto FC coach John Herdman.
The moves were made before Friday’s MLS and CPL roster freeze.
Born in New Zealand while his father was working for the New Zealand Football Federation, Jay Herdman was also part of the New Zealand soccer team at the Paris Olympics with three appearances including two starts. Herdman’s loan deal runs through the end of the CPL season.
“Jay is an important signing for us, who will provide another attacking option for the run-in,” Cavalry coach and GM Tommy Wheeldon Jr. said in a statement. “He’s a player that we’ve been tracking since we played against Whitecaps in pre-season and he has very good quality, with terrific energy and the ability to contribute to goals.
“With the recent injury to Mael Henry, Jay’s positional profile and age helps us with on-field options and minutes that count towards the league’s required 2,000 U-21 domestic minutes during the regular season.”
Badwal, an 18-year-old from suburban Surrey, is the 26th academy player to sign an MLS contract with the Whitecaps.
“Having joined our academy in 2019, Jeevan continues to progress through our club and takes every challenge in stride,” Whitecaps FC sporting director Axel Schuster said in a statement. “He is comfortable on the ball, positionally sound, and does the simple things very well. We are excited for Jeevan to make the next step in his young career.”
Badwal has made 19 appearances with Whitecaps 2 this season, scoring two goals and adding three assists. A Canadian youth international, he started all three matches for Canada at the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup
Badwal made his first-team debut off the bench in the first leg of the Canadian Championship semifinal against Pacific FC.
Chateau was originally selected 74th overall by the Whitecaps in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft after spending two years at St. John’s University.
The 22-year-old from Ottawa signed an MLS NEXT Pro contract with Whitecaps FC 2 in March. He leads Whitecaps FC 2 in goal-scoring this season with eight goals across 21 appearances (including eight starts).
“Nicolas leads MLS NEXT Pro in shots on target, has a very strong work rate and willpower. We are looking forward to seeing his growth as he builds on his young professional career,” said Schuster.
Chateau made his first-team debut as a second-half substitute at CF Montreal on July 6.
Herdman, who joined the Whitecaps academy as a 13-year-old, has made 19 appearances for Whitecaps FC 2 in 2024, scoring six goals and adding three assists. He made his MLS debut in April as a second-half substitute in a 2-0 victory at the Seattle Sounders.
Internationally, Herdman has represented New Zealand 29 times across the U-19, U-20, and U-23 sides. He was part of New Zealand’s squad at the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup, starting three matches at the tournament and scoring against Uzbekistan.
The Whitecaps host San Jose on Saturday while Cavalry entertains Atletico Ottawa on Sunday.
—
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024
:format(jpeg)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tgam/KNDHQYFICZOKHLJFDDMDR33DNQ.JPG){kind=link}