OTTAWA — The Edmonton Elks and the Ottawa REDBLACKS will kickoff Week 11 of league action from the nation’s capital on Friday night, as the cross-division opponents matchup for the first of back-to-back meetings.
Edmonton suffered a 34-23 defeat in a Week 10 battle against the Saskatchewan Roughriders that ran late into the fourth quarter.
Ottawa will enter the matchup with Edmonton coming off a bye week, and the last time the REDBLACKS saw action they were dealt a 17-3 home loss by the Calgary Stampeders.
Ahead of Friday’s game the Ottawa defensive unit will need to keep an eye on Elks quarterback Taylor Cornelius not only when putting the ball in the air, but also when when he is escaping the pocket and running the ball.
Cornelius threw for 209 yards and rushed for 86 yards and two touchdowns in his teams loss to the Riders. With the REDBLACKS allowing the second worst passing yards per game with 282 and a third worst rushing yards surrendering 102.3, it could make for a breakout performance for the Elks pivot.
Cornelius still has the playoffs on his mind and is looking to build off the positives from his performance in Week 10.
“I felt like we had a pretty balanced attack last week,” Cornelius told GoElks.com. “We’re still in playoff mode. We’re going to try and make a run at this thing. Wherever the record stands at the end of the season we want to know we did everything we could to put ourselves in the best situation.”
Kenny Lawler and Emmanuel Arceneaux were main targets yet again for the Elks pass attack in the game against the Riders. Lawler caught six passes for 105 yards and Arceneaux had 46 receiving yards, but it wasn’t just the stars who stepped up in the pass game. Chris Osei-Kusi and backup quarterback Kai Locksley combined for 47 receiving yards a week ago.
It’s been a run game by committee approach for the Elks without starter James Wilder Jr. Cornelius, Ante Milanovic-Litre, Maleek Irons and Locksley have contributed to the ground game in multiple ways. They’ll need all of them to chip in if they hope to depart the nation’s capital with a win.
Milanovic-Litre told team media he’s thankful for another week of football, and knows his team has a chance to compete with Ottawa for a win in Week 11.
“We get an opportunity to play football again this week, it’s a glorious position to be in,” Milanovic-Litre told GoElks.com. “The pressure is on for sure. We want the pressure, this is a great opportunity. We get to go into the nation’s capital and compete against a good football team. In football you rely on every link of the chain, it about continuing to refine every link. I like how we look.”
The Elks defence continued their strong play against the pass, holding Cody Fajardo to 11 completions for 130 yards, and lowering their average pass yards surrendered per game to 265.4, the fourth best mark in the league.
They may be facing a team with only one win, but the REDBLACKS have been efficient when it comes to the passing the football, averaging 278.3 yards a game, the fourth most league-wide. Edmonton defensive backs Nafees Lyon, who had an interception last week, Ed Gainey and Enock Makonzo will need to limit the time and space of the REDBLACKS receiving corps.
Caleb Evans started the game under centre in the team’s Week 9 loss, however Nick Arbuckle replace him in the third quarter of the game. Arbuckle completed 17 of his 23 attempts for 186 yards and two interceptions. Evans threw for 66 yards on 21 attempts with an interception.
Evans is slotted in as the starter on the REDBLACKS depth chart for Friday night, but with the success of Arbuckle, don’t be shocked if head coach Paul LaPolice again uses both pivots as needed.
Before Week 9, Evans had thrown 786 passing yards and four touchdowns on 67 completions, also rushing for four touchdowns in his first three games as the team’s starter. Evans also led the team to their first win of the season in a 23-13 Week 8 win over the Toronto Argonauts.
The REDBLACKS receivers are led by Jaelon Acklin and his 715 receiving yards. He’ll be supported by Nate Behar and Darvin Adams who have a combined 820 yards on the season. While Ryan Davis proved to be a valuable target against Calgary, catching seven passes for 35 yards.
With a strong group of receivers at his disposal Evans will have an excellent opportunity when passing as his team will face an Elks team that has just seven interceptions this season.
With starting running back William Powell our for Friday’s game, Devonte Williams is listed a the No.1 back on the depth chart, with Jackson Bennett listed at the second back.
Williams and Bennett have combined for 39 carries and 191 rushing yards this season and will look to take advantage of an Elks defence that has allowed a league worst 124 rushing yards per game.
Ultimately, the game may be won or lost at the line of scrimmage. The Elks have given up 29 sacks, while the REDBLACKS have recorded 20.
Ottawa Defensive end Lorenzo Mauldin IV leads the team with seven, while defensive lineman Davon Coleman has four to pair alongside 14 defensive tackles. Fellow defensive lineman Cleyon Laing sacked Bo Levi Mitchell for his first of the season two weeks ago.
In the secondary, it’ll be defensive backs Patrick Levels and Hakeem Bailey looking to make life difficult for Cornelius through the air.
Edmonton is in search of their third win of the season in the Week 11 opener. Ottawa last won in Week 8, their only win of the season, but can propel themselves back into the East Division race with a victory on Friday.
