TORONTO – The Edmonton Elks lost a heart-breaker to the defending Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts, falling 31-30 in CFL Week 15 action at BMO Field on Saturday.

Argos kicker Lirim Hajrullahu made a 48-yard field goal on the final play of game, lifting the home team to victory after trailing for much of the game. Edmonton led after each of the first three quarters, and was poised to win after Vincent Blanchard made his third field goal of the game to put the Green and Gold ahead by two points with just over a minute to play.

Elks quarterback Cody Fajardo completed 25 of 28 passes for 229 yards, eclipsing 20,000 career passing yards during the first quarter, and completed touchdown passes to Kaion Julien-Grant and Justin Rankin. Cole Snyder added a rushing touchdown for the EE.

Defensive end Jonathan Kongbo had two sacks for the Elks, who came up with four interceptions, more than doubling their season total. Tyrell Ford, Kordell Jackson, Kenny Logan Jr. and JJ Ross each had a pick, as Edmonton recorded its most interceptions in a game since last September. All but three of Edmonton’s thirty points were scored off turnovers.

“I felt like after some of those interceptions, some of those takeaways, (touchdowns) would have been better than (field goals),” Elks coach Mark Kilam said in a post-game interview on 880 CHED. “They just kept hanging around, it was one of those games where you felt like it was going to come down to the end; they made one more play than we did at the end.”

Julien-Grant led the Elks with 61 yards receiving, while OJ Hiliare hauled in a team-high six receptions. Rankin was Edmonton’s top rusher, gaining 27 yards on the ground.

Edmonton opened the scoring in the first quarter, going ahead 7-0 after Fajardo connected with Justin Rankin for a four-yard touchdown. The Elks pushed their lead to 14-0 in the second quarter, as Fajardo found Kaion Julien-Grant on an 18-yard touchdown pass. Toronto got on the board on the final play of the half, with Hajrullahu hitting a field goal from 53 yards to make the score 14-3 at the break.

JUSTIN RANKIN BRINGS IT HOME!

The Elks get the lead in the 1st!#CFLGameday
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— CFL (@CFL) September 13, 2025

The Argos drove 78 yards to the endzone on the opening play of the second half, scoring when Jake Arbuckle passed 18 yards to Jake Herslow for a touchdown. Toronto added a two-point conversion to cut the EE’s lead to 14-11.

After a two-and-out for Edmonton on the ensuing possession, the Argos had all the momentum. With his team needed a huge play, Ford picked off Arbuckle at the Toronto 50-yard line. Moments later, the Elks then turned that turnover into points when Snyder scored on a QB sneak from the one-yard line, and Edmonton would take a 21-11 lead. The teams then traded field goals before the end of the third quarter, making the score 24-14 in favour of Edmonton entering the final 15 minutes.

Toronto cut Edmonton’s lead to 24-21 after Arbuckle and Herslow hooked up for another touchdown. Logan intercepted Arbuckle, ultimately leading to a 16-yard field goal from Blanchard to put the EE in front 27-21 with 5:42 left in the game.

With 3:03 remaining, the Argos took their first lead of game, 28-27, after Andrew Chatfield scooped up a fumble by Fajardo and ran the ball 10 yards into the endzone. The Elks responded, marching 40 yards into field goal range where Blanchard split the uprights from 31 yards to restore the Green and Gold’s lead at 30-28 with 74 seconds remaining. But the Argos had just enough time to get the ball into range for Hajrullah’s walk-off field goal.

Edmonton is now 5-8 on the season. The Elks will look to stay in the playoff race when they return to action on Sept. 20 with a visit to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Edmonton’s next home game comes Sept. 27 at 5 p.m. against the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Play Alberta Field at Commonwealth Stadium. Tickets are available now.

THEY SAID

Kongbo on what the Elks can take away from this game:

“It’s just finish. We were winning that game all game long, so it’s just about when the fourth quarter comes, making those key essential plays: eliminating penalties and eliminating little mistakes that we made down the stretch.”

Fajardo on moving forward after the loss:

“This one’s gonna hurt but it’s not the end of the season by any means. We still have clawed ourselves back into a position, but we’re going against the No. 1 team in the East and No. 1 team in the West in back-to-back games, so it’s not getting any easier for us, and when you feel like you’ve fumbled a game away like that, it just really puts you behind the eight-ball. This team has worked with some tough feelings and on some tough losses, I have no doubt that we’re gonna bounce back, just the next 24 hours are gonna suck, I’ll tell you that straight up, and we’re going to have to focus on getting better, coming out East another time, against a really good football team, but this one’s going to hurt and we feel like that one just slipped away.”