Four words may describe this game the best: go home, you’re drunk. The Edmonton Elks found a way to make the fourth quarter interesting, got a bit of overtime, and punted a rouge to win 31-30 over the Toronto Argonauts.
Here are my thoughts on the regular-season finale.
Rouge for the win
I have been singing the praises of Jake Julien all season and it’s only fitting that he play a pivotal role in finishing the final game on a positive note.
After a rare miss by Lirim Hajrullahu held the Argos to no points in the first frame of overtime, all the Elks needed was a point to win. There was an attempt to run and a one shot pass for Geno Lewis that fell incomplete. Rookie Vincent Blanchard was on placekicking duty but interim head coach Jarious Jackson trotted out Julien to get the winning point. Kicking from the 43 yard line, he needed a 60 plus punt to ensure there was no return. He kicked it 66 yards and landed outside the reach of David Ungerer III to end the game.
“Didn’t want to put too much pressure on Blanchard in that situation,” Jackson said. “Felt like we got a few yards and tried to get another touchdown to Geno but wasn’t able to connect with him. I looked at Jake and said “Can you kick it out the back of the end zone?” He said “I got you”. I trust him. I believe in him. I see him kick it every day. It played into our favour.”
The Barrie, Ont. native finished the season with a CFL record averaging 54 yards per punt throughout 2024. That clears the record, set by Jon Ryan in 2005, by 3.4 yards. He tallied 283 more gross yards with 15 less attempts than he had last year. With only two seasons under his belt, his career average is two full yards over the current record of 47.7.
Punting is not often looked at when it comes to player awards but Jake should be the league’s Most Outstanding Special Teams Player. A record-setting season could find some eyes from down south looking to add a punter. Flipping the field is his specialty.
Crazy fourth quarter
For the better part of the first three quarters, it looked like the Elks players didn’t care to even be in the stadium, much less play the game. Explosion plays ran rampant on defence. There was little to no celebration after a turnover. Javon Leake created one big play for a touchdown but the point after attempt was missed. Leake turned in another 89-yard run in the third but it only amounted to three points. Down 20-9 into the last frame, most of the handful of fans in attendance had already packed up on what looked to be another lacklustre night.
The literal and figurative fireworks started with just over 14 minutes to play. Tre Ford had had some success in the first quarter but he turned it up for the final quarter of the season. A six-minute drive, including 49 yards rushing from the third-year pivot, ended with six points on a pass to Geno Lewis. The two-point convert missed, making the score 20-15.
After an Argos’ two-and-out, Ford hit Jerminic Smith for 71 yards to the Toronto 24-yard line. Another scramble for 14 yards by Ford, then Justin Rankin fought his way the remaining 10 yards for the major. This time the two-point conversion connected and the Elks took the lead.
It only took the Double Blue 1:18 to respond with Deonta McMahon’s second touchdown of the game. Edmonton turned the ball over on downs on the next series and most thought the game was done. There was only 1:28 left and Toronto had the ball at mid-field. For all the faults we can find in Edmonton’s defence this game, they got the two-and-out and gave the offence the ball back with 49 seconds left.
Ford was magic once again. A 50-yard pass to Lewis was followed by a 40-yard pass to rookie Zach Mathis, who got his first-ever CFL touchdown. Anyone who was left was mesmerized by the back and forth. All Edmonton had to do was stop the Argonauts with 25 seconds left. They didn’t quite manage that but they did enough.
With Toronto getting the field goal on the last play, the total was 31 points combined in the fourth. There were 1,069 combined offensive yards in the game. That is CFL football.
Geno shows why he is the Elks’ M.O.P.
Geno Lewis has had two prior 1,000-yard seasons in his career and he ended only 36 yards shy of 1,000 in the shortened 2021 season. With all of the struggles this year and the back-and-forth between quarterbacks, getting there this season may have been the toughest of them all. Entering the game on Friday only 18 yards away, Geno put up 88 yards on five catches to gain his third millennium season.
On top of that achievement, he caught a touchdown for an eighth straight game. It puts him only two games away from the record.
“I had to really sit back and think about it from my football career,” Lewis said. “It’s hard to get three touchdowns in three games in a row. That’s tough. To get eight? It’s amazing. They tell me now if I score in the first two games next year, I’d have the CFL record. So now it’s even bigger. I love that pressure though. I love being in those situations because I know myself. I know I am capable of breaking any record, it’s just about having the opportunity to do it.”
The big question in Edmonton is whether he will get the chance to break it with the Elks or with another team. I hope it is here.
Rookies on display
Canadian wide receiver Zach Mathis has had a bigger role in the last four weeks of this season. He has continued to grow playing in the R receiver position since he joined the club in Week 9 following the supplemental draft. Edmonton gave up their first-round pick in the 2025 CFL Draft to obtain him and I am now starting to see why.
The Tampa Bay native, who got his Canadian citizenship through parental birth, has slotted in where Hergy Mayala and Gavin Cobb were before their injuries. His first touchdown came on that last-minute drive and not only demonstrated him getting open but also utilizing his length in catching the ball. At six-foot-seven, he’s hard to miss on the field and his wingspan can corral a lot of catches in a wide radius. He caught an early ball from Jarret Doege that was clearly behind him. I also noticed excellent blocking on the long Jerminic Smith catch, opening up for an extra 15 yards on the gain.
“He stands like a tree trunk,” Geno said. “I look at him and (defensive tackle Shawn) Oakman and say, ‘You’re the same height.’ The way I see it, you have to give a player like that an opportunity. He’s a mismatch when it comes to safeties, corners and halfs because of his height. I think he has so much potential.”
Kicker Vincent Blanchard also got into his first CFL game. He was with the Elks in training camp but did not take a practice roster spot as one of the final cuts. The Laval product showed a big leg in the preseason, hitting a 47-yard field goal and just missing on a 57-yard attempt. It was pretty obvious he had not played as much this year as he averaged only 63 yards on kickoffs, hit a 19-yard field goal and went one-for-two on point-after attempts. There is potential there and this may have been more of a tryout for next year than anything else.
Defensive variability
Nick Anderson and Nyles Morgan led the way, again, in defensive tackles for the Green and Gold. They will end up tied with 111 defensive tackles each, good for first in the league in that category for 2024. That’s an amazing accomplishment, especially with one of them being a rookie. I know that Ontaria Wilson put up 1,000 yards receiving this year but when was the last time a rookie linebacker put up over 100 tackles in his first campaign? Most Outstanding Rookie will be a tight race between really good players.
With the good comes bad with this team. Elks-plosion plays have returned and there were seven given up in this game. The bend, don’t break strategy of the Jason Shivers defence really leans on the bend part some games. Kordell Jackson had a decent game with seven tackles and a forced fumble. Kai Grey had two very nice knockdowns. When you give up 418 yards through the air against a backup quarterback and mostly second-string receivers, the good plays don’t stand out as much.
Some of the blame needs to lie on the defensive line, which generated only one sack and gave Cameron Dukes and Nick Arbuckle more than enough time to work. More focus will be placed, once again, on the defence this offseason.
Into the offseason
An announcement to re-sign dynamic rookie Justin Rankin is only the first of many moves to come for Edmonton this offseason. The Ohio native led all rookie running backs with 765 yards in only 11 games played. That would be a good start for the 2025 roster.
The Elks finished with a 7-11 record. That’s 75 percent more wins than they have had at the end of the last two seasons. Jarious Jackson went 7-6 in his time as interim head coach and arguably should be considered 7-4, given that those first two games were very quick after the change and should be counted more as part of the Chris Jones era. Has he done enough to earn the removal of the interim tag? I don’t know but I think he was headed in the right direction.
The changes will continue as a new team president will be announced in the coming weeks. From there, the decision to keep interim GM Geroy Simon and Jackson will be made. Those all lead up to a giant question of who will be the quarterback for 2025. So much change on the horizon foreshadows an offseason of intrigue and much to discuss. Let the fun begin.
