Elks fans have spoken! The Save-on-Foods Play of the Year votes have been tallied and the best of the best from the 2023 season have been decided. The biggest hits, the most spectacular touchdowns, and the savviest interceptions were all up for deliberation and here are the winners as chosen by you!
Touchdown of the year:
Tre Ford/Gavin Cobb – Week 18 at Toronto
The ability to make something out of nothing is a skill not many QB’s have, but Tre Ford has it in spades. The Canadian product put those spectacular, off-platform abilities on full display in the Elks week 18 matchup against the Toronto Argonauts. In the dying seconds of the first half — with the Elks inside the redzone — a well-timed Argonauts blitz forced Ford out of the pocket and running towards the wrong endzone.
Ford weaved and navigated his way around two of the CFL’s best defenders in Shawn Oakman and Wynton McManis, before unleashing a strike 40-yards down field to a waiting Gavin Cobb in the endzone. The touchdown was the first of Cobb’s CFL career – capping off the best pro performance of his career. The Manitoba Bisons’ product finished the game with four catches for 79 yards and the sensational score.
Ford’s trickery featured on the highest percentage of Elks fan ballots, garnering a vote on 71 per cent of submissions.
Sack of the year:
Nyles Morgan – Week 6 vs. Hamilton
While the Elks defensive line showed off their ability to get after the quarterback in 2023 – especially Jake Ceresna and A.C. Leonard who racked up 12 sack each – it was the centerpiece of the EE defence that won the vote for sack of the year. Nyles Morgan has continued to prove himself to be a force in the Green and Gold, registering the fourth most tackles in the CFL with 107 while adding four sacks and an interception in 2023.
It was his take down of Ti-Cats QB Matthew Shiltz in Week 6 that was most memorable. The Chicago native blitzed through the Hamilton O-line and delivered a suplex tackle on the Ti-Cats QB that WWE star and former Elks D-lineman Roman Reigns would be proud of.
Morgan’s tackle saw him feature on 51 per cent of Elks fans ballots to lead the way in voting.
View all the winners by clicking here or the image above.
Hit of the year:
Jake Ceresna – Week 13 at Calgary
A Chris Jones defence has two criteria – play fast and play physical. Not many players embody those attributes better than the CFL’s second-leading sack getter Jake Ceresna. The 6-foot-5 defensive lineman showed his explosiveness on the biggest stage of them all in Week 13’s Labour Day Classic in Calgary. Ceresna set the edge before catching Stampeders running back Kadeem Carey with the crushing hit behind the line of scrimmage.
The tackle was one of a career-high 48 for the fifth-year CFL veteran and 2022 CFL All-Star. Ceresna’s pop on the Stamps RB topped the Elks hit of the year voting, appearing on 63 per cent of ballots.
Interception of the year:
Kai Gray – Week 16 vs. BC
The final winner of the Save-on-Foods play of the year was up-and-coming rookie cornerback Kai Grey. The 6-foot-1 corner showed off his instincts in the Elks Week 16 matchup at home against the BC Lions. A bobbled snap forced star quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. to make a quick decision and Grey made him pay — jumping in front of the pass intended for Alex Hollins and taking it all the way to the endzone for a defensive touchdown. Grey’s grab was his second pick of the season, but his 56-yard return to the house helped garner a vote on 46 per cent of fan ballots.