Taylor Shire
Regina Leader-Post
It was a heavyweight battle with two teams going back and forth on Thursday night at Mosaic Stadium until the Edmonton Elks delivered one final gut punch to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in what was one of the most emotionally draining weeks the CFL club has been through.
After learning of the death of linebacker Jayden Dalke, and the subsequent news that he was driving the wrong way on a highway before crashing into another vehicle driven by Bhishma Rajyaguru, the Roughriders had to navigate the passing of a teammate while preparing for a football game in what was a battle for top spot in the West division.
Following a touching video tribute to both men who died Saturday near Lumsden, the Roughriders and Elks put on quite the show that allowed us to at least try and escape thoughts of real-life tragedy for a few hours.
Here are the top takeaways from Edmonton’s 36-34 walk-off win:
1- After the emotional week following the highway collision that claimed the life of Dalke and Rajyaguru, a sentimental pre-game video tribute and moment of silence honoured both men. What more can be said about how terrible of a tragedy all of this has been? My condolences once again go out to the families and friends of the two men.
2- The Roughriders, who had “JD” stickers on their helmets, also honoured Dalke during the game in the first quarter as they intentionally put 11 players on the field for their first punting situation, known as a “missing man formation,” leaving Dalke’s position empty before taking a time-count violation penalty, which was declined by Edmonton. Head coach Corey Mace said linebacker Nick Wiebe, a close friend of Dalke’s who is having to take over for him on the field, came to him with the idea earlier in the week.
3- While the game featured two of the top running backs in the game in Edmonton’s Justin Rankin and Saskatchewan’s A.J. Ouellette, Thursday’s game was all about the quarterbacks with Trevor Harris and Cody Fajardo putting on a show through the air. Fajardo hadn’t had a 400-yard game since 2019 when he was with Saskatchewan, but he ended the night with 510 yards and four touchdowns while Harris, no stranger to 400-yard games, threw for 386 yards and four touchdowns himself. Fajardo, who had yet to win at Mosaic Stadium against his former team until Thursday night, has had many impressive CFL performances but that one has to be near the top of the list, although it didn’t end with a corndog at the Queen City Ex.
4- While Saskatchewan’s defence held Rankin to just 39 yards on 12 carries, Fajardo said postgame the threat of Rankin running allowed him to take some shots behind Saskatchewan’s secondary. The quarterbacks get the love but credit to the receivers as well. Edmonton’s Austin Mack (173 yards, two touchdowns) and TJ Luther (157 yards) both had nights to remember while Saskatchewan had a strong performance from their top trio of Kian Schaffer-Baker (185 yards), KeeSean Johnson (88 yards) and Samuel Emilus (84 yards), who all caught touchdown passes. Some of the Roughriders, including halfback Rolan Milligan Jr. and head coach Corey Mace, said there were mental busts on their part which shouldn’t happen. With the talent on the roster, I don’t think Saskatchewan has a problem in the secondary but they’ll need to be better next week in the rematch against Edmonton next Saturday.
5- It was a game that really could have gone either way, but the Roughriders should have had another touchdown on the board late in the fourth quarter. Harris hit Emilus in the end zone — which would have put Saskatchewan up 38-33 and maybe paid one final tribute to Dalke, who wore No. 38 — but a questionable, maybe outright bad, offensive pass interference call on Emilus nullified the touchdown. Harris was then sacked on the next play before Alex Hale missed a 47-yard field goal. A rough sequence events for the Green and White.
6- Not only did Saskatchewan have a chance to take the lead on Emilus’ touchdown that was called back, but they had another chance to put a touchdown on the board on the next, and ultimately final offensive drive of the game. Harris, who talked about the missed opportunity postgame, had a wide-open Johnny Johnson III in the end zone but he underthrew the rookie receiver. The Riders settled for a short field goal but a touchdown there adds four more points to Saskatchewan’s score and completely changes the dynamic of the rest of the game. Instead, Fajardo has the ball in his hands with 1:46 to go, down by one and not five.
7- After the game Fajardo, who hit a crossbar on Thursday in a play eerily similar to a play in the 2019 West final when he was with Saskatchewan, said he was thinking about the 2019 Labour Day Classic when the Elks began their final drive with 1:46 left in the game. With the Roughriders in 2019, Fajardo went 87 yards on 10 plays before Lauther hit a 26-yard walk-off field goal before a sprint to Pil Country. With 1:46 left starting from his own eight-yard line, Fajardo drove 52 yards on nine plays on Thursday before Blanchard hit a 57-yard walk-off kick. In a game like that, you could almost bet whoever had the ball in their hands last was going to win.
8- OK, not this again. When do the Roughriders bring in a new kicker? Or do they stick with Hale? He didn’t necessarily lose them the game, and Mace said as much postgame, but you want to roll out your field goal unit with confidence, like Edmonton did in the final seconds with Vincent Blanchard, who nailed a 57-yarder as time expired for the win. He would have connected from 67 yards with how strong the kick was. Brett Lauther is 20-for-20 this year with Ottawa.
9- After the game, an emotionally fatigued and dejected Harris spoke to media before Mace, equally as dejected, followed. It felt like a loss bigger than a Week 8 loss. But with how the game ended, on a gut-punch field goal after a game filled with momentum swings on the heels of one of the hardest weeks a football team will ever have to go through, you can’t blame them. Mace even noted that a couple days off before they return to practice will give the team “spend some time together and breathe a little bit.”
10- While Edmonton’s offensive line had to navigate some injuries this week, Saskatchewan’s defensive line had a decent performance on Thursday. James Vaughters picked up his fifth sack of the season and is just one away from tying a career high, while Mike Rose earned another to give him three on the year. (Linebacker Antoine Brooks Jr. was also credited with a sack while lying on his back.) Devin Adams, a rotational player, made an impressive third-down stop in the fourth quarter, which should have led to a touchdown for Saskatchewan but only ended up in a field goal. They still miss defensive end Malik Carney, who had the lone sack for Edmonton, but they’re getting by. And now we’re going to get the chance to see these two teams go at it again next week. I’m all for it.
