The Edmonton Elks (12-4) visited Hamilton Stadium on Friday night against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (5-12) in the second and final meeting of the season.
In the first quarter, both offenses got off to slow starts. Late in the first quarter, Edmonton had the ball on the 24-yard line. Cody Fajardo and ShunDerrick Powell led the offense to the six-yard line. Kicker Vincent Blanchard made a 13-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead with 1:22 left.
Hamilton had the ball on the 40-yard line. Quarterback Harrison Frost threw two passes for 11 yards before he was sacked by Malik Carney on second down. The Tiger-Cats punted the ball to Edmonton to end the first quarter. Edmonton’s offense had 126 yards, 7 first downs, and 3 for 6 on second downs, while Hamilton’s offense only had 21 yards, one first down, and 1 for 4 on second downs.
In the second quarter, both offenses continued to struggle. On the other side, Edmonton defensive end Malik Carney sacked Harrison Frost three times. Late in the second quarter, Edmonton kicker Vincent Blanchard made a 26-yard field goal for a 6-0 lead with 2:17 left. With under a minute left, Hamilton’s defense forced a two-and-out.
On third down, Edmonton punter Jake Julien punted the ball 48 yards to Isaiah Wooden Sr. Edmonton linebacker Joel Dublanko caused a fumble by punching the ball out, and it was recovered by Ben Hladik at the 48-yard line.
Edmonton’s offense went two-and-out again. Kicker Vincent Blanchard attempted a 47-yard field goal. His field goal was blocked. The ball went into the endzone, where Isaiah Wooden Sr. was tackled for a single point. The Elks led the Tiger-Cats 7-0 at halftime.
Edmonton’s offense had 193 yards, 9 first downs, and 3 for 12 on second downs. Quarterback Cody Fajardo went 11 of 17 for 159 yards, and four carries for 21 yards. Running back ShunDerrick Powell had four carries for 20 yards. Wide receiver Austin Mack made four catches for 88 yards, and Joshua Cephus made one catch for 26 yards.
Hamilton’s offense had 45 yards, 3 first downs, and 3 for 10 on second downs. Quarterback Harrison Frost went 5 of 11 for 30 yards, and three carries for 26 yards. Running back Larry Rountree III had four carries for 10 yards. Wide receiver Kurleigh Gittens Jr. made two catches for 20 yards, and Kiondre Smith made one catch for six yards.
In the third quarter, Hamilton’s offense put together its best drive. Harrison Frost began the drive by throwing three passes for 41 yards to the 46-yard line. It was part of a 12-play drive for 94 yards before kicker Marc Liegghio made a 19-yard field goal. The Tiger-Cats trailed the Elks 7-3 with 3:02 left. Both teams would go two-and-out to close out the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Edmonton had the ball on the 54-yard line. Three plays into the drive, Cody Fajardo threw an 18-yard pass to Austin Mack to the 44-yard line. Fajardo threw two more passes for 42 yards to the one-yard line. Two plays later, Fajardo scored the touchdown for a 14-3 lead with 9:56 left on a nine-play drive for 56 yards.
Hamilton had the ball on the 34-yard line. Running back Larry Rountree III caught a short pass from Harrison Frost for 43 yards to the 33-yard line. Then, Frost threw a four-yard pass to Jaelen Gill to the 29-yard line. Kicker Marc Liegghio made a 36-yard field goal. The Tiger-Cats trailed the Elks 14-6 with 8:04 left.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Hamilton went two-and-out. On third down, they tried a trick play when punter Nik Constantinou’s pass intended for Tyler Ternowski was intercepted by Zach Mathis for a 48-yard pick-six touchdown for a 21-6 with 3:52 left in the game.
On the kickoff, Hamilton returner Isaiah Wooden Sr. split a couple of Edmonton players to score an 88-yard touchdown. The Tiger-Cats went for a two-point conversion, but Frost’s pass was incomplete to Kiondre Smith. The Tiger-Cats trailed the Elks 21-12 with 3:29 left.
Late in the game, Edmonton’s defense stopped Hamilton on third down. Edmonton running back ShunDerrick Powell put the game away when he had four carries for 26 yards, including a five-yard touchdown. Vincent Blanchard missed the extra point wide left, and the Elks beat the Tiger-Cats 27-12. With the win, the Elks clinched a home playoff game and swept the season series.
Edmonton’s offense had 324 yards (229 passing yards, 110 rushing yards, 15 yards lost), 17 first downs, 10 of 23 on second downs, 2 for 4 in the redzone, and the team was penalized six times for 47 yards. Quarterback Cody Fajardo completed 16 of 25 passes (64%) for 229 yards, nine carries for 40 yards, and one rushing touchdown. Running back ShunDerrick Powell had nine carries for 49 yards and one rushing touchdown.
Wide receiver Austin Mack made five catches for 106 yards, and Joe Robustelli made two catches for 47 yards. The defense made 38 tackles, two tackles for loss, five sacks, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, one interception, and one touchdown. Joel Dublanko led the team with seven tackles, and Malik Carney led the team with four sacks and a forced fumble.
Hamilton’s offense had 242 yards (221 passing yards, 52 rushing yards, 31 yards lost), 13 first downs, 8 for 22 on second downs, 0 for 1 in the redzone, and the team was penalized six times for 57 yards. Quarterback Harrison Frost completed 21 of 36 passes (58.3%) for 221 yards, and three carries for 26 yards. Running back Larry Rountree III had nine carries for 26 yards, and three catches for 48 yards.
Wide receiver Kenny Lawler made three catches for 57 yards, and Kurleigh Gittens Jr. made five catches for 47 yards. The defense made 41 tackles, two tackles for loss, and three sacks.
Next Friday, the Edmonton Elks host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at 9:30 pm on TSN and CFL+, while the Hamilton Tiger-Cats are on a bye week.
