Three missed field goals by the Tiger-Cats helped hand the Edmonton Elks win their first game of the season in a rain-delayed game in Hamilton Aug. 18..Elks quarterback and Niagara Falls native, Tre Ford, threw two touchdown passes to former Ti-Cat,Stephen Dunbar Jr., to secure his second career victory. The Elks defence carried their weight by sacking Hamilton’s hapless rookie quarterback, Taylor Powell, seven times..Ford was 13-of-18 passing for 174 yards and also ran seven times for 60 yards. Teammate Kevin Brown rushed for 89 yards on 16 carries..Ford threw to Dunbar for a 29-yard TD at 13:48 of the first to open the scoring, capping a 10-play, 80-yard drive that included two third-down gambles..Ti-Cat James Butler ran two yards early in the second quarter to make the score 7-6, but Marc Liegghio missed the convert. His ensuing kickoff went just 35 yards..Elks QB Taylor Cornelius fooled Hamilton on what looked to be a run on second-and-one, and hit defensive lineman AC Leonard for a 45-yard completion. Cornelius ran from the one-yard-line at 4:14 of the second to extend Edmonton’s lead to 14-6. .Ford threw nine yards to Dunbar for a touchdown at 7:54 of the second, to pull the Elks to 21-6..As the half wound down, Hamilton drove from its 20-yard line to the Edmonton 12. The Ticats had two time outs and nine seconds left, but decided to kick a field goal, prompting boos from their fans. Legghio missed his other three field goal attempts..At halftime, Hamilton added retired receiver Darren Flutie to its Wall of Honour. Flutie, 56, played 86 games during five seasons with Hamilton. He caught 405 catches for 5,796 yards and 26 TDs with the Ticats, and was part of Hamilton’s last Grey Cup win in 1999. A rain delay of more than 90 minutes thinned out the crowd..Hamilton’s Tyreik McAllister returned a punt 56 yards for a TD at 6:52 of the third quarter, only to have it called back on a holding penalty. Instead, the drive ended with Liegghio missing a 43-yard field goal try. In the fourth quarter, he missed a 33-yard attempt and the single made the score 21-10. .Elks kicker Dean Faithful made an 18-yard field goal at 6:08 of the fourth quarter to give Edmonton 24 points..The Ticats lost before 20,192 fans at Tim Hortons Field, as their home record slipped to 1-4. Powell completed 20 of 26 passes for 217 yards. James Butler carried the ball 14 times for 115 yards and a touchdown, while wide receiver Tim White led with nine receptions for 101 yards..The 1-9 Elks sit at the bottom of the West, while Hamilton is worst in the East at 3-6..The 2003 Ticats are the last team to have lost their first nine games in a season and started 0-12. The short-lived Shreveport Pirates hold the CFL record for the longest losing streak to start a season, dropping their first 14 games in 1994..The Elks win stopped their losing streak at 13 games, having previously won in Regina Sep. 16, 2022. The only other time Edmonton lost 13 straight games was between Sep 21, 1963 and Aug 28, 1964..Edmonton’s home losing streak that began Oct 12, 2019 remains intact at 22 games. They host Ottawa Aug. 27.
