© 2025 Edmonton Elks. All rights reserved.
CALGARY – It’s official, Alberta is Green and Gold.
The Elks completed the season sweep against the rival Stampeders, courtesy of a 23-18 win at McMahon Stadium on Saturday afternoon. It’s the first time in 22 years that Edmonton has swept the three game series in the Battle of Alberta.
“That’s what I told the guys,” Interim Head Coach Jarious Jackson said after the win. “I said we’re all focused on the small victories right now. It’s a big victory, but it’s small from a sense of we’d rather be in the playoffs. But hey, we’ll take running Alberta this year.”
Like any good BoA, the game came down to the wire with the Elks defence holding strong on the final play to secure the victory. Calgary found themselves in prime territory to steal the victory, with the ball at the Edmonton five-yard line with two seconds to play, folowing a ticky-tacky pass interference call on Kai Gray. However, Jason Shivers defence was able to force a late incompletion on a pass to Reggie Begelton put the game to rest.
The Green and Gold’s defence came out with one of their better efforts of the season, sacking Calgary quarterback Matthew Shiltz five times, intercepting him once, while only allowing 215 yards through the air. The middle of the Elks D featured the standout performers, with rookie LB Nick Anderson and veteran LB Nyles Morgan both eclipsing the 100 tackle mark on the season. The duo makes Edmonton only the second team in CFL history to have two players surpass the century mark in tackles in the same season, matching the 2022 Saskatchewan Roughriders (Larry Dean, Darnell Sankey).
Anderson’s 101 tackles now place his ninth on the Double E’s all-time single season tackle ranking, and he becomes just the fifth player to record 100 tackles in Green and Gold history.
On offence for Edmonton, it was a mix of their league-leading run game and Tre Ford’s early efficiency that did the trick for the Elks.
Ford completed his first 14 passes of the game to help accelerate the Elks to a 16-5 halftime lead, but didn’t see the same level of success in the second half. The Canadian pivot finished the game completing nearly 80 per cent of his passes for 208 yards and a touchdown.
“He got the win. That’s what we got him here to do,” Geno Lewis said about his quarterback. “He went in there, he did enough that he had to do. Everybody has the ups and downs and stuff like that, but he did enough to get this win today.
“It’s hard to win in this league, and anytime you can get one, you got to appreciate it.”
When a tipped pass at the line of scrimmage led to an interception, which gave the Stampeders a Tommy Stevens four-yard sneak to take the lead, it was the ground game that got the Elks back in the drivers seat. Rookie running back Justin Rankin continued his dominant run- as the team’s lead back, ripping off 140 rushing yards on only 10 carries. The 26-year-old now leads the team with 717 rushes on 86 carries, for an incredible 8.3 yards per carry.
Jackson on the Stampeders comeback in the second half and the late PI call:
“Hats off to Matt Shiltz. I think he’s an awesome quarterback, to be honest. I’ve always watched him from afar, even his Hamilton days and he’s finally getting an opportunity as well today. I thought he had an awesome drive. It came down to that third down play. They were in a four-by-one formation, went one-on-one with our boundary corner Kai (Gray). I thought it was hand fighting. It is what it is. They called PI. I was able to challenge it and I was able to give coach Shivers an opportunity to get his call together, get the defence a rest, and if we could have got it, the ball is ours and the game’s over.”
Lewis on scoring on a jet sweep, and recording his seventh straight game with a receiving touchdown:
“Yeah, I always ask for opportunities. You know what I mean? I just feel as though when I get the opportunities, I just help my team the best way I possibly can. There are many ways where I could change the momentum of the game and things like that. That’s all I’m trying to do is help my team get a win.”