EDMONTON – Walk it off Jake Julien.
The 2024 Elks season ended in the most Canadian Football way possible, with a walk-off rouge courtesy of the Edmonton punter and a 31-30 overtime win over the Toronto Argonauts.
“Man, that’s at the top for me,” interim Head coach Jarious Jackson said about the wild CFL endings he’s seen. “That’s one of the craziest finishes I’ve seen. I’ve seen the back and forth kicks and you know, somebody’s got to bring it out of the endzone and take a knee or what have you, but to actually finish on a rouge it’s got a rank in the top two for me.”
Jackson had a bevy of options when choosing to finish out the game. His offence was humming, recording a season-high 581 yards of offence with an impressive 260 yards on the ground clinching the CFL’s rushing title. However, with the game on the line and a third down on the Toronto 34-yard line, the Elks head coach chose the record setting foot of Julien who set achieved a new CFL benchmark in punting average of 54.0 yards. The mark smashes the old record of 50.6 set by long-time NFL/CFL punter John Ryan.
Elks QB Tre Ford put his best foot forward in the final game of the season, connecting on 16 of 25 passes for a season high 325 yards and three touchdown passes. The Canadian pivot was electric on the ground as well, rushing for 81 yards on just six carries. Ford was clutch when the game counted, helping lead the charge with the Elks down 20-9 entering the fourth quarter of the contest.
“We struggled all year in situations like this to come back and win games that were less than 10 points,” Jackson said. “I told him coming out of halftime, ‘hey man, this is an opportunity for you to go shine.'”
“We we’re still going to run the ball. We’re not going to abandon the run, but at the same time when we have the opportunity to make plays in the pass game, or you get an opportunity to go scramble, go be you man. Go be great. And that’s what he did tonight.”
It was with less than a minute left in the game that the Elks brought the drama. In two plays Edmonton chewed up 90 yards of turf to take the lead, courtesy of an incredible sideline catch by Geno Lewis and the first CFL touchdown of Zach Mathis’s career.
“We saw something earlier in the first quarter when I was in and we saw (the defensive back) kind of drop Geno on the go ball and we knew that we could get an opportunity,” Ford said. “I got out there and I kind of put my eyes to the flat and got the corner to stop a little bit and was able to get Geno over the top.”
“The one to Zach, I don’t know what happened to DB. He started stumbling, so I knew we had that one too.”
THEY SAID
Tre Ford on his scrambling ability:
“It just kind of happens, right? Like, natural instinct takes over when you see green grass. I just tried to make most of the opportunity was able to get. I think it was 80 yards rushing or something like that, which is crucial. Helps them with the change. And I think we had almost 600 yards of total offense.
Ford on the bonds in a locker room forged over the course of a season:
“I’ve made some really good connections with the guys in the locker room and everything like that. Like, football is one thing, but there is life outside of football and I’ve really connected with a lot of guys on the team. So it kind of sucks that everybody’s got to split up and go back home and everything, but. Yeah. So it’s sweet that we were able to come out here and win and end on a high note, but it just sucks. I’m definitely going to miss some of the guys.
Eugene Lewis on eclipsing the 1,000 yard plateau for a third time in his career and recording a touchdown in eight straight games:
“I was so grateful. I was 18 yards away from the thousand yards, so I kind of was like super comfortable. I knew I was going to get that. The touchdown thing, that was what I thought was going to be a little funny, because Toronto already made the playoffs. I thought they might try to do some like crazy stuff on defense to not let me get it, but they went man-to-man and I had the opportunity to do what I usually do, and I’m just grateful that I helped my team win.”
Lewis on rookie wide receiver Zach Mathis:
“The way I see a player like that, you have got to give him an opportunity. He’s a mismatch when it comes to safeties and corners and halves, just because of his height. He can catch, and he’s fast, and he’s savvy. I think he has so much potential and I think if he just keeps grinding, keeps staying consistent, lets the game slow down as he keeps grinding, he’s going to have a hell of a career.”