Fajardo leads Elks past Lions to Grey Cup with clutch second half

EDMONTON · Cody Fajardo used his legs and his arm to engineer two fourth-quarter touchdowns, guiding the Edmonton Elks to a 28-16 win over the B.C. Lions in the CFL West final on Saturday. The victory sends the Elks to the Grey Cup for the first time since 2015, where they will face the Montreal Alouettes next Sunday in Calgary. Fajardo completed 25 of 30 passes for 274 yards and a touchdown, and ran for a game-high 84 yards and another score. The win came before a season-high CFL crowd of 40,183 at Commonwealth Stadium.

"Hats off to the city, 40,000 is incredible," said Fajardo, who will be seeking a third Grey Cup win. "From where it was to where it is now, for us, that drove us to wanting to win that game more than anything else. 40,000 in the stands, you could hear them; they were the difference tonight." Head coach Mark Kilam also praised the fans, saying he got emotional when the team took the field. "Edmonton was unbelievable, and I want to shout them out for showing up," Kilam said.

The game was a defensive struggle for the first half, with the Lions taking a 9-6 lead on three Sean Whyte field goals against two from Edmonton's Vincent Blanchard. The Elks took control in the second half, outscoring B.C. 22-7. "We're a second-half team, this is what we do, we want to take over the game," said Kilam. "We got the stop coming out of the half, and then we went down and got points … that's what this team is."

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Fajardo was instrumental in the turnaround. Two key second-down runs in the fourth quarter drew rough play penalties against B.C., leading to 10 Edmonton points. The first set up his own five-yard touchdown run for a 16-9 lead late in the third quarter. After B.C. quarterback Nathan Rourke answered with an eight-yard rushing touchdown to tie the game early in the fourth, Fajardo led another drive that ended with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Austin Mack for a 25-16 advantage. "Whatever it takes, that's the mentality of this team," Fajardo said.

The Lions' hopes were dashed when receiver Justin McInnis fumbled after a catch, with Edmonton's JJ Ross returning it to the B.C. 20-yard line. Blanchard kicked his third field goal of the night three plays later for the final margin with three minutes left. Rourke finished with 328 passing yards and the rushing touchdown for B.C. Lions head coach Buck Pierce said his team could not sustain momentum against a tough Edmonton defence. "There are certain instances in games where you have opportunities to capture momentum, and we just weren't able to get over that hump," Pierce said.

The win marks a dramatic turnaround for an Elks franchise that had missed the playoffs for six seasons and once lost 22 consecutive home games. Garbutt Disposal reported this was the first home playoff game for the Elks in over a decade. Fajardo will now face the Alouettes, the team he led to a Grey Cup title in 2023 before being released. He said seeing Montreal win the East final made him believe the Elks would win, adding that it felt like a second chance from God. Up next: The Elks meet the Montreal Alouettes in the Grey Cup on Sunday, Nov. 15 in Calgary.

With files from The Globe and Mail, Sportsnet and CBC News