REGINA – A spirited rally came up just short for the Edmonton Elks, who lost to the Saskatchewan Roughriders by a score of 21-18 at Mosaic Stadium on Friday night.
Trailing 21-4 entering the fourth quarter, the Elks scored a pair of touchdowns to pull within three points, but ran out of time on a last-minute drive to tie the game.
“I thought the guys had a good fight,” Elks quarterback Cody Fajardo said. “That’s a great football team over there, and hopefully if we can take one thing out of this game, it’s that we can hang with any team in this league, but we’ve got to find ways to win games but we’re in a little bit of a desperation mode.”
Making his first start of the season, Fajardo threw for 346 yards on 26 of 33 passing, including touchdown completions to Kaion Julien-Grant and Steven Dunbar Jr.
“I think his stat line was decent, but the only stat that matters is wins and losses,” said Elks coach Mark Kilam, whose team drops to 1-5. “I don’t think the gap is as far as the record indicates, but if we want to have a chance against a good team at their place, we have to play better football.”
Dunbar Jr. was Edmonton’s top pass-catcher, hauling in five balls for 82 yards, while Julien-Grant totalled 69 receiving yards. Fajardo led the Elks with 20 rushing yards.
The teams were nearly even across the board, in net offence (332-307 in favour of the Riders), offensive plays (51 to 50), and time of possession (30:04 to 29:56). Penalties proved a costly difference, as the Elks were flagged 11 times for 133 yards while the Riders took just 6 infractions for 53 yards.
Saskatchewan quarterback Trevor Harris completed 25 of 33 yard passes for 268 yards and two touchdowns. The Riders got a huge boost from their defence, which sacked Fajardo eight times.
The Elks led 4-1 after the first quarter, which saw the teams trade singles before Vincent Blanchard hit a 15 yard field goal to put Edmonton in front.
Edmonton made a huge stand midway through the second quarter, stopping the Riders on third-and-goal from the two when Elks defensive back JJ Ross tackled Saskatchewan’s Tommy Stevens just short of the goalline.
The Riders would take the lead, going ahead 8-4 with just 1:48 remaining in the first half after Samuel Emilus scored on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Harris. Riders kicker Brett Lauther then booted a 51-yard field goal just prior to halftime to send Saskatchewan into the locker room with an 11-4 advantage.
Saskatchewan extended its lead to 21-4 through third quarters, as Keyshawn Johnson caught an eight-yard touchdown pass from Harris before Lauther hit a 46-yard field goal.
This angle of Kaion Julien-Grant’s touchdown >>>
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Edmonton found the endzone just 69 seconds into the fourth quarter, when Fajardo and Julien-Grant linked up on a 57-yard passing play for a touchdown. The Elks would then cut Saskatchewan’s lead to three, 21-18, with 1:56 remaining thanks to a 13-yard touchdown pass from Fajardo to Dunbar Jr.
The Green and Gold got the ball back with 24 seconds left, but the game ended with Saskatchewan sacking Fajardo at the EE’s 18-yard line.
The Elks return to action on Aug. 2 when they host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Play Alberta Field at Commonwealth Stadium. Game time is 1 p.m. Tickets are available now.
THEY SAID
Cody Fajardo on the play of Edmonton’s offensive line:
“I thought our offensive line played absolutely amazing tonight. There’s a couple plays that was on me. Some RPO stuff where I pulled the ball and it’s a run or pass option but I held onto the ball too long, so a lot of those sacks are on me, so I’m going to take that and be better for those guys.”
Fajardo on returning to Mosaic Stadium, where he played with the Riders from 2019 to 2022:
“I knew I was going to get some boos, but I did some Fajardo jerseys in the stands, so that made me feel good … it was fun to get my first start against those guys, that’s a good football team, but I’ve got to be better for this team if we want to win games.”
Mark Kilam on motivating the Elks moving forward:
“They’re motivated. That group’s together in there. It’s not a bad locker room, those guys are together. They’re motivated.”