The Saskatchewan Roughriders defeated the Edmonton Elks Saturday afternoon 29-24 to secure a home playoff play. The Roughriders will host the Calgary Stampeders in the Western Semifinals game in a couple of weeks.
Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Cody Fajardo went 23/32 for 245-yards, three touchdowns, one interception, and five carries for 22-yards. Fajardo’s touchdowns happened in the first half and fourth quarter.
In the first quarter, Cody Fajardo threw a dart in between two Elks’ players to Kian Schaffer-Baker for a touchdown that put them up 7-0 with 6:45 left. On the second play of the second quarter, Fajardo found Duke Williams off the play-action for a 14-yard touchdown to give them a 14-7 lead with 14:33 left. Duke Williams led the receivers with eight catches for 146-yards and one touchdown.
Then, in the fourth quarter trailing by one point, Fajardo, on a play-action, threw to Alexandre Dupuis for a four-yard touchdown. The Roughriders went for a two-point conversion and failed for a 26-21 lead with 6:28 left.
Running back, William led the rushers with 14 carries for 59-yards, kicker Brett Lauther went 2/2 with his longest field goal for 28-yards. The defense recorded three sacks and one interception.
For the Elks, quarterback Taylor Cornelius went 20/30 for 224-yards, three touchdowns, one interception, and two carries for eleven yards. His touchdowns happened in the first half and third quarter.
In the first quarter, Cornelius threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Tolliver from the pocket, which put the Elks up 7-0 with 8:14 left. Then, in the second quarter, Cornelius scrambled out of the pocket to the right side before throwing a five-yard touchdown to Tanner Green.
In the third quarter, Cornelius connected to Tolliver for the second time on a four-yard touchdown pass, giving them a 21-20 lead with 1:11 left. Wide receiver Jalen Tolliver led the receivers with five catches for 98-yards and two touchdowns.
Running back, Walter Fletcher carried the ball 20 times for 88-yards, kicker Sean Whyte made one field goal for 38-yards, and the defense recorded two sacks, one interception, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery.
Next week, the Elks will play two games in four days to wrap up the season. The Elks’ first game is on Tuesday, November 16th, against the Toronto Argonauts at 7:30 pm on ESPN+. Then, on Friday, November 19th, they visit the BC Lions at 10:30 pm on ESPN+.
Meanwhile, the Saskatchewan Roughriders will wrap up the season on the road against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Saturday, November 20th, at 4 pm on ESPN+.
