Elks beat Lions 28-16 in comeback season, advance to Grey Cup

EDMONTON — Cody Fajardo used his legs and his arms to engineer two fourth-quarter touchdowns to guide the Edmonton Elks to a 28-16 win over the B.C. Lions in the West Division final on Saturday.

With 40,183 noisy fans at Commonwealth Stadium — the CFL’s largest crowd of the year — two key Fajardo second-down runs of 11 and 14 yards ended with rough play penalties against B.C. The Elks capitalized both times with Fajardo scoring on a five-yard run and later hitting Austin Mack with a 23-yard touchdown strike for a 25-16 margin.

Justin McInnis fumbled after a pass reception and Edmonton’s JJ Ross returned it to the B.C. 20. Three plays later Vincent Blanchard’s third field goal of the night gave Edmonton a 28-16 lead with three minutes left.

The Elks will meet the Montreal Alouettes in the Grey Cup in Calgary next Sunday. Montreal earned its spot earlier Saturday with a hard-fought 33-23 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

The first time either team started a drive in the opponent’s side of midfield came midway through the third quarter. Montrell Washington returned a punt 35 yards to the B.C. 54 but two straight penalties promptly moved the Elks back to their own 49. Fajardo then ran for 15 yards and a rough play penalty put the Elks on the B.C. 18-yard line. A 13-yard pass to Mack set up Fajardo’s run for the game’s first major and a 16-9 lead.

The Lions instantly responded. Four straight successful passes, including a 33-yarder to James Butler, left the lions second and two on the Edmonton eight. Quarterback Nathan Rourke broke loose over the left side and pushed his way into the end zone 37 seconds into the fourth quarter.

Another Fajardo run, this one for 15 yards, and a second rough play penalty set up Blanchard’s 46-yard field to put Edmonton back ahead 19-16 at 3:15.

Both offences struggled through the first 30 minutes that ended with B.C. up 9-6 on the strength of three Sean Whyte field goals. Blanchard kicked a pair of field goals for Edmonton.

The Elks opened the game with a 10-play, 42-yard drive that ended with Blanchard’s first field goal, from 21 yards. A 48-yard boot by Blanchard at 11:36 made it 6-0 but Edmonton’s next four possessions ended with punts.

The Lions got three second-quarter field goals from Whyte of 13, 29 and 42 yards. The visitors had only one sustained drive, seven plays for 52 yards. But Rourke began to find some cracks in Edmonton’s No. 1 ranked defence with lengthy passes to set up Whyte’s kicks.

NOTES

Edmonton staged the greatest year-over-year turnaround in franchise history, going from last in the West Division in 2025 to first place in 2026.

The last time Edmonton and B.C. met in the playoffs was the 2011 West Final. B.C. won that game. Edmonton held a 9-4 edge in post-season meetings with B.C., including a 3-1 edge at home in West Finals against the Lions.

UP NEXT

The Elks will play the Montreal Alouettes in the Grey Cup in Calgary on Sunday, Nov. 15.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2026.

John Korobanik, The Canadian Press