A fourth-quarter comeback by the Calgary Stampeders spared them embarrassment from the Elks on Labour Day..A field goal by Elks’ kicker Dean Faithfull made it 31-20 with 5:29 left before Stamps quarterback Jake Maier led his team on two touchdown drives. A four-yard TD run by running back Dedrick Mills made the score 35-31 with 20 seconds left in the game..The Elks dropped to 2-8, while the Stamps rose to 4-8..“It was a big team effort,” Maier told TSN’s Claire Hanna after the game..“There was no quit. I think sometimes our frustration just comes from the things that we can control that we don’t do well. You saw that a little bit in the first half, but we just started communicating better. And we just said, ‘We have to cut this loose and let this go, we can’t keep shooting ourselves in the foot.’ We have to be there for each other, and we did it at the end.”.The Stamps opened the scoring with a 15-yard field goal from Rene Paredes, followed by a 65-yard punt single from Cody Grace..Canadian quarterback Tre Ford responded for the Elks with a long drive that included a 40-yard run by Ford to the Stamps’ two-yard line. Backup quarterback Taylor Cornelius ran the ball in to put the Elks up 7-4..Stamp Tommylee Lewis responded with a long kickoff return all the way to the Elks’ 34-yard line. Paredes tied the game at 7 with a 24-yard kick partway through the second quarter..Edmonton got a single on their next drive. They stopped the Calgary response with a Marcus Lewis interception. A Dean Faithfull field goal put the Elks up 11-7..The Elks had another 72-yard drive just before halftime. Ford connected with Eugene Lewis and Dillon Mitchell twice. On a trick play, Ford threw it back to Kyran Moore, who passed to an open Dunbar for the major. The Elks led 18-7 with 30 seconds remaining..Calgary moved quickly to get Paredes in position for a 48-yard field goal to make the halftime score 18-10..Edmonton opened the second half with five rushes for 41 yards to move across midfield. Emmanuel Arceneaux caught a pass, but two incompletions brought Faithfull in for a 39-yard field goal..Down 21-11, the Stampeders made a long drive of their own. Maier threw to Markeith Ambles and Luther Hakunavanhu to advance to Edmonton’s half of the field. Two rushes by Ka’Deem Carey got the ball to the Elks’ six-yard line before a penalty negated a touchdown. Paredes kicked a 32-yard field goal, leaving him four-for-four on the day..Next, Ford had a 33-yard run during a successful eight-play 79-yard drive, wrapped up with a TD pass to Dunbar..In the fourth quarter, Maier converted a third-and-four without a huddle, throwing a five-yard pass to Markeith Ambles. Maier capped off the drive with a five-yard run to paydirt, shrinking Edmonton’s lead to 28-20 with 9:47 left..Faithfull made the game 31-20 with a 46-yard field goal, but the Stampeders charged back. Two pass interference penalties got the ball to the one-yard line. A sneak by backup quarterback Tommy Stevens capped the drive. A Hakunavanhu reception made the two-point conversion successful, making the score 31-28 with 2:50 remaining..The Elks went two-and-out, giving Maier a final chance for a game-winning drive. Receiver Reggie Begelton made receptions of 14 and 25 yards along the way. He found Ambles for a 19-yard reception at the four-yard line before Mills ran the ball to victory..Maier said his team found their rhythm in the fourth quarter..“Whenever you get momentum in this league and you start playing with pace, those windows start to get a little bit bigger, slows down the pass rush a little bit,” Maier explained..“Then we just executed when we had to. We had some big third down plays, big catch by Markeith (Ambles) in traffic, that was the big difference on that drive.”.Edmonton will host Calgary on Sept. 9. Both teams are chasing the 6-5 Roughriders for third place in the West..Toronto beat Hamilton just prior to the Alberta showdown, winning 41-28. On Sunday, the Roughriders beat the Bombers in Regina 32-30 in overtime.
