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Features September 1, 2025

Definitely A Classic!

Go out and hammer your provincial rivals and win the Labour Classic in emphatic fashion?

Check!

Erik Brooks had the Red & White’s first punt return touchdown of the season, scampering for 86-yards as the Stamps beat the visiting Elks 28-7 in front of 27,764 fans at McMahon Stadium on a beautiful and sunny Monday.

Calgary improved to a perfect 6-0 against West Division rivals and kept up their chase of the league-leading Roughriders (9-2) as they improved to 8-3 on the campaign.

The defence was stellar in the victory, sacking Edmonton pivot Cody Fajardo four times, rushing and roughing him up on countless occasions, and holding the Elks – who came in riding a three-game win streak – to just seven points; four in the first half and three in the second.

Dedrick Mills had a standout day, too, rushing for 106 yards, his second this season topping the century mark.

 

STAT PACK 

Vernon Adams Jr. – 13-for23, 162 yards, 1 TD

Dedrick Mills – 17 carries, 109 yards

Jacob Roberts – 10 tackles, 1 sack

 

The day started off with a flyover of two CF-18s as part of Military Appreciation Day, members of the Canadian Armed Forces also escorting out the starting Stampeders’ lineup.

Calgary got on the board on their second possession, with Adams Jr. finding Dominque Rhymes on a 22-yard strike with 5:32 to go in the first quarter. It was Rhymes 100th CFL game.

On the preceding play, Rhymes had caught a pass on the other side of the endzone as he was tackled out of bounds hauling it in.

The TD punctuated a nine-play, 79-yard drive that was kept alive with a hard run by Quincy Vaughn in under centre on a third-and-two.

 

Stamps defensive lineman Charles Wiley came up huge when he met Elks running back  Justin Rankin behind the line of scrimmage and stuffed him, forcing a 31-yard field-goal by the Elks’ Vincent Blanchard to get the visitors on the board as the quarter expired.

Mills ran for 31 yards on three straight runs (scampers of seven, 10 and 14 yards) to start Calgary’s next drive, Rene Parades eventually nailing a 33-yard field goal to restore the seven-point lead.

Godfrey Onyeka recovered a botched snap by the Elks that bounced around just 21 yards from paydirt, snuffing out an Edmonton drive.

Mills ran it on the next play, the ball coming loss after a 13-yard gain with the Elks picking it up, causing the officials to review and rule the Stampeders back was down by contact.

Edmonton got the ball with 1:34 left in the half and aided by a 15-yard major penalty to Calgary’s Jacob Roberts for roughing the passer, Fajardo took two shots in the endzone that were both incomplete, leading to a 32-yard field-goal attempt by Blanchard that went wide right.

With 14 ticks left, the Elks were flagged for pass interference on Rhymes and a short four-yard run from Mills gave Parades a 49-yard boot he nailed as time expired for a 13-4 lead at halftime.

The Elks received to start the second and were forced to punt, but Wiley was flagged for contact with Edmonton punter Jake Julien, giving Edmonton a do-over and they were eventually able to get three points off a long 52-yard field-goal by Blanchard.

Folarin Orimolade later sacked Fajardo forcing the Elks to punt from their own 22-yard line. Brooks hauled it in and then started to gallop, cutting back cross-field as he took it to the house to bring the McMahon faithful to their feet with 5:46 left in the third quarter.

 

 

Adams Jr. led the Red & White on a long surgical drive in the fourth quarter, stacking up 11 plays on a 90-yard march, with Vaughn punching in a one-yard TD run, followed by a two-point conversion run from Mills on a lovely spin move. He had three rushes for 11 yards on the drive.

 

NEXT UP

The Stamps hit the field at Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday for the Labour Day Rematch against the Elks (5 p.m. TSN). They return to the McMahon turf on Sept. 19 to the host the B.C. Lions at 7:30 p.m. CLICK FOR TICKETS