Another week, another win for Edmonton's CFL Football Team, even if it was a bit ugly.
Friday Night Lights hit Alberta's Capital City as the Edmonton Elks seeked a rare win against the BC Lions for their second matchup of the year. Over 20,000 fans showed up and out at Commonwealth Stadium for the biggest game day of the year for the Green and Gold, Dog Days of Summer being the theme as fans brought their furry friends to the party in the seats.
TAILGATE TALK
CFL fans were aplenty in Lot B outside of Commonwealth Stadium, a great sign that generally indicates a spirited crowd. We fed many fans with Honey Garlic Sausages from our Tailgate Stall #182, a tradition we wouldn't miss despite some recent complications with Shotgun Sports Network HQ thanks to the wrath of Mother Nature. Speaking of which, Friday's Tailgate Party was a spicy one, temperatures climbing to +30C during the evening. Once the game started the people moved from Lot B to Section B and all around Commonwealth to see if the Elks could pull off the unthinkable.
GAME RECAP
3 THOUGHTS
1. The Elks Didn't even need rushing yards tonight but they helped when it mattered. RB Justin Rankin was extremely limited in this game, the scoreboard showing negative numbers at half-time.
2. Sacks showed up at the right times. 4 of them, to be exact. The timing of the sacks were crucial for the EE game flow as a much-needed sack came in the final minutes of play.
3. Betting on the D paid off. The defense was called upon to prevent a game-winning field goal for BC, their performance sealing the win for the Green and Gold.
THE POINT AFTER
The win wasn't pretty, and it certainly showed flaws in both offensive play and special teams, but a win is a win at the end of the day. The Elks are 5-1 and while the latest win could be attributed to the defensive prowess of this team, the other two phases did just enough to secure a victory.
QB Cody Fajardo threw 37 passes for 27 completions and 1 TD, averaging 7.6 yards per pass with no interceptions. He also topped the rushing leaderboard with 11 yards from 2 rushes. RB Justin Rankin was pushed back on his attempts, much like the first game against BC earlier this season. On 7 carries Rankin only secured 9 yards, but he did secure 46 yards from 6 catches on Friday. WR Joshua Cephus topped the recieving chart with 97 yards from 5 catches, his best performance of the season. WR TJ Luther scored the only passing touchdown with an additional 37 yards from 4 completed catches.
The defense balled out the Elks in this game with 4 interceptions, LB Kenny Logan Jr. topping the charts with 1 INT of his own on a stat line featuring 7 defensive tackles, 1 sack and 1 tackle for loss. DL Gavin Meyer, DB JJ Ross and DB Tyrell Ford also contributed to the interception count, and DL Malik Carney, DL Noah Taylor, and DL Tomari Fox each had a sack in this game.
The specialists didn't have the best night due to penalties and missed opportunities, but they did enough to contribute to Friday's victory at home. P Jake Julien punted 8 times for 395 yards, averaging 49.4 yards per punt with 1 punt landing within BC's 10 yard line. K Vincent Blanchard went 4 for 5 on field goals, his longest being a 38-yard boot. He also had 2 kickoffs for 156 yards, the longest being an 83-yard blast. RB Javon Leake didn't see much room or many holes during return duties in this one, averaging 11.6 yards on punt returns and 21 yards on kickoff returns.
THE FAN SIDE
Seeing 20,020 fans at Commonwealth Stadium was great to witness from Section X, the 4th Quarter bringing crowd noise that we might hear once a year in recent times. The victory will help bring even more fans to games this season, but for this weekend it just feels good to see this team be successful. The crowd was very spirited on Friday despite the heat with no help from the burning hot sun.
This win was ugly, and even though BC QB Nathan Rourke did go down early in the game the Elks still needed this win to maintain a positive record as injury woes settle in. The Elks lost another offensive lineman in Carter O'Donnell, one of their most experienced football players on the roster. The 6-game injury list is starting to get long for the Elks and missing 3 starting offensive linemen will almost certainly hurt the team as the Battle for First in the West starts next week in Regina. The "Next Man Up" mentality will need to be strong this week in practice and play.
NEXT UP: EDMONTON ELKS @ SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS JULY 23 2026 7PM MT
The Edmonton Elks will ride a 2-game winning streak into next week's road trip to Saskatchewan to visit the Roughriders who are fresh off a bye week, First in the West on the line for both teams in what will surely be an hard-fought battle for both teams. The EE will need to be disciplined and the offense will need to come alive next Friday at Mosiac Stadium as both teams try to stake a claim in the toughest division in the CFL. Will the Elks fend off the Riders? That's yet to be determined.
Buckle Up!