A first half full of mistakes was too much for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to overcome on Thursday night.
And for the first time since 2017, the Edmonton Elks are 3-o to begin the CFL season.
The Elks dropped the Bombers to 1-2 on the season with a 23-18 win in front of a full house at Princess Auto Stadium, the 16th straight sellout in Winnipeg.
The packed stadium watched the Bombers turn the ball over three times, miss two field goals, and allow more than 250 yards in the game’s first 30 minutes, falling behind 17-0 in the second quarter.
On the Elks opening drive, they marched the ball 100 yards down the field and opened the scoring on a Justin Rankin 5-yard touchdown run.
Rankin, the CFL’s leading rusher, had 106 yards on 15 carries.
The Bombers offence moved the ball inside the Elks 20 on the next drive, but Brady Oliveira coughed up the ball and the fumble was returned 93 yards by the Elks to the Bombers three-yard line. They would settle for a field goal to take a 10-0 lead after the first quarter.
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Another lengthy Elks drive early in the second quarter put them inside the Bombers 5, but they turned it over on downs, going for a touchdown on third down. But the Bombers gifted them the ball right back after a Dante Daniels fumble and this time the Elks would punch it in on Cole Snyder’s one-yard touchdown plunge.
The Bombers were able to get on the board seconds before halftime as Zach Collaros found Tim White for a 26-yard major with four seconds left, cutting the lead to 17-7.
And after a nightmare first half, the Bombers defence locked it down for most of the second half.
Bombers kicker Sergio Castillo provided all the points in the third quarter, recording a kickoff single and a 53-yard field goal to cut the Edmonton lead to 17-11 heading into the fourth.
And the Bombers took their first lead of the game with just over eight minutes to play, as Collaros hit Oliveira for a 14-yard touchdown pass.
But the Elks were finally able to find some offensive momentum, and with 53 seconds left, Cody Fajardo hit T.J. Luther for an eight-yard touchdown to give the Elks the lead for good.
On the injury front, Bombers receiver Ontaria Wilson left the game in the first quarter and did not return.
Bombers offensive lineman Patrick Neufeld was a late scratch due to a personal matter, and was replaced at right guard by Tyler Elsbury, while Tui Eli started at centre.
The Bombers will head back out on the road to play their next game on Sunday, July 5, where they will try to get revenge on a Hamilton Tiger-Cats team they lost to in Week 2.
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