EDMONTON – The Elks are charging and the only focus right now is on keeping the momentum going.
To do so, the Green and Gold have traveled to Toronto to take on a dangerous Argonauts team on Saturday at 1:00 pm MT at BMO Field. Despite the 4-8 record, Toronto has been about as tough an out as there is in the CFL this season.
Former Elks QB Nick Arbuckle has been on fire with six straight 300+ yard passing games, and a 14-2 touchdown to interception ratio over that stretch. The Argos have both scored, and allowed the most points in the CFL, so expect a shoot out on Saturday.
“We’ve got a tough challenge ahead of us going against a hot Toronto team who’s won their last two games and scored damn near 90 points in their last two games,” quarterback Cody Fajardo said. “We’ve got our hands full, but we’re going to ride our momentum into this one and that’s a big win. We can’t rest on our laurels. We’re in the fight, but we have no room for error. We can’t give away any games at this point.”
“We’ve got to continue to cross off the teams that we’re playing that are ahead of us and then after a couple weeks on the bye week, maybe we’ll look up at the standings and see where we’re at.”
Where the Elks have succeeded as of late is in their next man up mentality. The team’s six-game injured list reads like the All-CFL awards with talented players like Jake Ceresna, Nyles Morgan, Steven Dunbar Jr, Robbie Smith, and Nick Anderson littering the list.
In their stead, players like Jordan Williams – who registered six pressures against the Stampeders last week while fresh off the waiver wire – have stepped up. Noah Taylor has emerged this season as a solid pass rushing threat with a team-high four sacks. Joel Dublanko is looking like every bit of the first-overall pick he was expected to be with 43 defensive tackles in his last six games (five starts).
“It’s football and that’s every team you could go down the line,” defensive coordinator JC Sherritt said. “There are big time players missing, but Kilam brought up a great point. Whether you like it or not, when somebody goes down, that’s somebody’s opportunity. And I think our guys are taking advantage of their opportunities and they’ve got another one this week.”
Edmonton will see a bit of a boost on Saturday with the return of 2024 CFL Most Outstanding Rookie Nick Anderson. The 25-year-old had missed the previous six games with an abdominal injury but is slated to start in the middle of the Elks defence versus Toronto.
“There’s no question he’s one of the top linebackers in the league,” Sherritt said. “He’s a guy who brings a physical presence and a playmaking presence to us.”
Anderson will be one of the anchors in a defence that will have its hands full against Toronto. As mentioned, the Argonauts have been lighting up scoreboards to the tune of 30.3 points per game and have scored at least 25 points in nine of their last 10 games.
Arbuckle is the leading passer in Canadian Football this season, with 3,828 yards in 12 games (5,742 yard pace) and is second in the league in touchdown passes with 23. With so much on the line, the Elks know that the Argonauts are not a team to overlook.
“They’re a talented team in all centers around their quarterback. He’s a great quarterback. He was the Grey Cup MVP last year and you don’t just get that from being average,” Anderson said. “Their head coach is one of the great offensive minds in his league, so it’s definitely going to be a challenge.”
“When we played them here, it was a dog fight to the last drive. We respect all our opponents, but we just dial in on our execution week in and week out, and I think we’re going to be successful.”