Mitchell helps Tiger-Cats blitz winless Elks 44-28

EDMONTON — The Hamilton Tiger-Cats seem to be finally finding their footing.

Bo Levi Mitchell passed for 316 yards and five touchdowns, including two to wide receiver Tim White, as the Tiger-Cats won their second straight game, beating the hapless Edmonton Elks 44-28 on Sunday.

“It felt like the first time this year that we met on offense, defense and special teams and we played well on each end. Hopefully this is an example of what we can do when we bring all three phases,” Ticats head coach Scott Milanovich said.

“It just gave us confidence. That locker room feels a lot different than it did three weeks ago.

The Tiger-Cats improved to 2-5.

“It’s a long way to go, but I think we’ve taken another step toward becoming the football team we want to be,” Mitchell said. “The guys we have on this roster are special. I know we started 0-5, but we are a special team.

“We can do something dangerous because we have a lot of talent in that room. We’re young and we have to find our way and our identity, but now that he’s there, I think we understand who we are.”

The Elks are still winless on the year, falling to 0-7 and 0-2 under interim head coach Jarious Jackson, who replaced Chris Jones.

“In the second quarter we gave up a block, I think it was a one-point game at the time, and it just kind of fell out after that,” Jackson said. “We have to be better at handling adversity.”

Edmonton now has a depressing 2-28 record at home since October 26, 2019.

The Elks got on the board with the opening drive, getting a 26-yard field goal from Boris Bede.

Hamilton’s first possession was not as successful as Mitchell was intercepted by Elk Marcus Lewis at the Edmonton 49, eventually leading to a 47-yard field goal by Bede.

The Ticats answered with a 45-yard field goal by Marc Liegghio with three minutes left in the opening frame, and he added another 47-yarder to close the quarter and tie it 6-6.

Edmonton regained the lead on a pair of singles, with Hamilton then getting a leadoff single off a leadoff hit.

The Tiger-Cats finally stopped the scoring off dribbles when Kobe Jones blocked a field goal that was recovered by DQ Thomas with 2 1/2 minutes left in the first half. That led directly to a 12-yard touchdown pass from Mitchell to Jevoni Robinson.

Hamilton took the lead almost immediately after Jamal Peters picked off Elks quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson. That led to a monster 66-yard pass play from Mitchell to Luther Hakunavanhu for a touchdown with a minute to play in the second quarter and a 21-8 halftime lead.

The Ticats continued their offense to start the third, as Mitchell found White on the sideline for a major 12-yard pass.

The drubbing continued with three minutes left in the third as Mitchell went deep for a 59-yard touchdown pass to Kiondre Smith.

Hamilton made it 41-8 to start the fourth on a seven-yard touchdown pass to White.

To the delight of the Edmonton crowd, the Elks finally brought in backup QB Tre Ford and he engineered a long drive, culminating in a five-yard TD pass to Kurleigh Gittens Jr. The two-point conversion attempt failed .

Liegghio added a 35-yard field goal.

Ford’s second possession was just as successful, another long drive capped by a 20-yard touchdown pass to Gavin Cobb. The two-point pass to Eugene Lewis was good.

Edmonton’s Darrius Bratton recovered a fumble at the Hamilton 20, which led to another Ford TD pass, a 12-yarder to Lewis.

Ford finished with 121 yards passing and three TDs in less than a quarter of play, 85 yards from Bethel-Thompson.

“It was fun again,” said Ford, who hasn’t pitched in a single game this season under Jones as coach. “I haven’t played football for a long time. It was fun just going out there and playing well and trying to get with the guys on the fly.”

NOTES

The teams split their season series last year, each winning in the other’s home stadium.. Hamilton’s injuries included OL Dayton Black (Achilles), DB Stavros Katsantonis (foot), DL Luke Brubacher (hamstring) and WR Branden O’Leary -Orange ( hamstring) … Out for Edmonton were DL Sam Acheampong (knee), DB Scott Hunter (knee), LB Michael Brodrique (groin) and OL Hunter Steward (head) … Last home win for Edmonton vs. Hamilton it was Aug. 4, 2017 … Edmonton entered the game on a 10-game losing streak. All six of their previous losses this season have been one-possession games, including five straight losses by six points or fewer … Cats QB Mitchell is off to a great start. The 12 touchdown passes that came in the contest were already the most he’s thrown since 2019.

IT FOLLOWS

Tiger-Cats: Host the Montreal Alouettes (6-1) on Friday.

Elks: Visit the Saskatchewan Roughriders (5-2) on Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 28, 2024.

Shane Jones, Canadian Press