Elks close to playoff spot after five-year drought

EDMONTON – Riding the high of a three-game win streak and first place in the CFL West Division, the Edmonton Elks are on the verge of going where the team hasn’t been in six years — the playoffs.

Edmonton is hosting the Calgary Stampeders on Saturday and if the Elks can sweep the two-game Labour Day series against their rivals then the Elks will improve to 10-3 and clinch a post-season berth.

“What a great opportunity for us,” said quarterback Cody Fajardo. “Here at home in front of our fans, an opportunity to clinch a playoff spot, which this organization talked about all off-season.”

It’s an scenario few of the current Elks have experienced as the team suffered through five losing seasons.

“The past years I haven’t had that, so to know that if we go out and execute at a high level, do what we have to do to win, we can punch that playoff ticket,” said linebacker Nick Anderson. “It’s going to be a true blessing once it comes.”

Last season, the Elks got off to a slow start before finishing strong the second half of the schedule. That finish, suggested running back Justin Rankin, came once the team figured out just who they were.

“We were still trying to figure out who guys were, trying to build a bond, relationships, figure out the coaches, how the players act, things like that,” Rankin said of 2025. “We’re building a foundation and that’s what we did.

“The biggest hurdle that we needed to figure out was just how to win, and with the foundation that we built, I think we came in this year and really just kept putting bricks on top of bricks. That’s kind of where we are now, that we know how to win. We have the team that we want to be, and we all believe in that. We all trusted each other. And I think it shows. ”

From Day 1 this year the energy in the dressing room and on the field had been different, said Rankin. Players “are truly believing in each other and really trusting in one another to do their job and not trying to do too much.”

The Elks have given up a CFL-low 307 points and head coach Mark Kilam said that has been instrumental in putting Edmonton atop the division.

“They’ve been the backbone of our team all year,” Kilam said Friday after the team’s final walk-through. “We know we have the type of defence that can hold us in games if it takes us a bit longer to get going in other phases. They’ve been a strength of ours all year.”

The defence kept the Elks in the game, down 18-7 at halftime, 25-14 after three quarters until the offence erupted for 24 points in the final 15 minutes for a 38-28 win.

“We’re a defence that makes adjustments. We’re a defence that makes corrections, plays fast and physical,” he said. “Regardless of what happens we don’t bat an eye; we just continue to play. Management has done a good job of bringing in players ready, willing and able to contribute whenever their number is called.”

If the Elks succeed in earning a playoff spot Saturday, team president and CEO Chris Morris said it will be a “really, really strong accomplishment for everybody in the organization. Something everyone can look at and say all that work, all the hours, everything we’ve done … we can give this back to the community.”