The Edmonton Elks are short favourites to beat the archrival Calgary Stampeders in their annual Labour Day rematch this weekend.
The Elks won the first half of the Battle of Alberta at McMahon Stadium on Monday by a score of 35-20 as McLeod Bethel-Thompson threw for a career-high 486 yards and three touchdowns. The team’s defence held the Stampeders to only 13 offensive points and 335 net yards, intercepting Jake Maier four times.
Edmonton has won four of its last five games and is now only four points out of first place in the West Division after starting the season 0-7.
Calgary head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson called his team’s performance on Labour Day “embarrassing.” The club was coming off a bye week and had 18 days to prepare for the annual rivalry game, which they’d won 10 of 11 times between 2012 and 2023. They hosted a season-high crowd of 28,437 for the contest.
The Stampeders now sit fourth in the West Division standings, though they’ve played one fewer game than their fellow teams. They also reached the bottom of the 3DownNation power rankings for the first time all season.
The Edmonton Elks (4-8) will host the Calgary Stampeders (4-7) on Saturday, Sept. 7 with kickoff slated for 7:00 p.m. EDT.
