B.C. Lions linebacker Ben Hladik (46) tackles Edmonton Elks wide receiver Vincent Forbes-Mombleau (82) during the first half of a CFL football game, in Vancouver, on Saturday, June 17, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns
VANCOUVER – The B.C. Lions talked before Saturday’s matchup against the Edmonton Elks about the need for their offence to continue its high flying ways, but that didn’t match up with half of their performance.
The Lions blitzed the Elks 22-0 in front of 33,103 fans at the home opener at B.C. Place to remain undefeated.
The Lions’ offence sputtered throughout the first half as quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. repeatedly threw in to low success opportunities, finishing the game 25 for 35 with one touchdown and one interception.
“The whole offence came together at halftime. We knew we had to make adjustments,” Adams said. “We made those adjustments and came out in the second half a little bit better. We want to start a little faster.”
Adams said the offence was thrown off at times by the aggressiveness of the Elks’ defence as well as their defensive schemes.
It took until the dying moments of the third quarter for the Lions’ offence to record its first and only touchdown of the game with Dominique Rhymes hauling a pass in, adding to kicker Sean Whyte’s four previous field goals.
The Lions chose several times to turn to Whyte instead of trying on third and one situations, which head coach Rick Campbell defended.
“I thought points were at a premium,” he said. “I thought if we could get ahead of them, we could put them in a bind. As the game went on, you could see points were like gold.”
Rhymes left shortly afterwards and did not return for the Lions for the rest of the game.
It was the first time since Aug. 15, 1976 that the Elks have been blanked by a CFL opponent.
It was also the first since Aug. 23, 1977 that the Lions have done it to an opponent, which was the Toronto Argonauts.
“Any time you don’t score points in the CFL game, it’s certainly concerning,” said Elks head coach Chris Jones, with his team now winless in two regular-season outings.
He added that the fact his team couldn’t stay on the field offensively or generate offence concerned him the most.
“It’s as good a character group as I’ve been around now,” Jones said about keeping his team’s spirits up. “What we’ve got to do is we’ve got to take advantage of those opportunities in the first half.”
Although the offence struggled at points, the Lions’ defence consistently hassled Elks quarterback Taylor Cornelius who finished the game 13 for 22 with 92 yards.
The Elks’ offence finished the game with a total of 149 yards.
“It was tough. To game plan all week and feel like you had something successful to go against their defence and, you know how good they are, to come out to where we didn’t play, it was terrible,” said Cornelius.
Penalties slowed the pace of the game, with the Lions recording nine for 80 yards while the Elks had eight for 65 yards.
“We need to cut out some of those penalties,” said Campbell, adding that the penalties occurred on punt returns were “particularly frustrating.”
The Lions’ margin of victory in the last five games over the Elks is now 201 to 53.
UP NEXT
The B.C. Lions travel to Winnipeg on Thursday for a battle with the Blue Bombers. Both teams are 2-0.
The Edmonton Elks host the Toronto Argonauts next Sunday, trying to break their CFL-record home losing streak in the process.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 17, 2023.
