{"id":792301,"date":"2026-07-10T07:14:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T07:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/792301\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T07:14:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T07:14:12","slug":"rankin-defence-lead-edmonton-past-ottawa-on-thursday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/792301\/","title":{"rendered":"Rankin, defence lead Edmonton past Ottawa on Thursday"},"content":{"rendered":"

EDMONTON \u2014 Justin Rankin found the end zone three times, Cody Fajardo<\/a> threw two touchdown passes and the Edmonton Elks\u2019 defence forced four interceptions in a 40-17 victory over the Ottawa REDBLACKS on Thursday night at Commonwealth Stadium.<\/p>\n

The win improves the Elks to 4-1 on the season, while the REDBLACKS remain in search of their first victory.<\/p>\n

Rankin opened the scoring with a 19-yard touchdown run on Edmonton\u2019s first possession before Vincent Blanchard added three field goals, including a 50-yarder as time expired in the second quarter to give the Elks a 16-7 lead at halftime.<\/p>\n

Ottawa\u2019s lone first-half touchdown came on a nine-play, 70-yard drive capped by Bryson Barnes<\/a>\u2018 one-yard rushing touchdown. Justin Hardy<\/a> helped move the chains with a pair of key receptions, but Edmonton seized momentum before the break when Tyrell Ford<\/a> intercepted Jake Maier<\/a>. On the ensuing drive, Brendan O\u2019Leary-Orange turned a short completion into a 90-yard catch-and-run to set up Blanchard\u2019s 15-yard field goal before the kicker added another from 50 yards after a short Ottawa punt.<\/p>\n

The REDBLACKS threatened to make it a game in the second half.<\/p>\n

Maier guided Ottawa within two points late in the third quarter, using both his arm and his legs before connecting with Ayden Eberhardt<\/a> for a 21-yard touchdown. Edmonton answered immediately, however, as Fajardo led an eight-play, 80-yard touchdown drive. Javon Leake<\/a> provided a spark with 32 rushing yards on four carries before Fajardo found Kaion-Julien Grant from four yards out to restore the two-score lead.<\/p>\n

After Brett Lauther<\/a>\u2018s 27-yard field goal once again brought Ottawa within one possession, Rankin delivered the decisive blow. The running back turned a short pass from Fajardo into a 33-yard touchdown after making the first defender miss with a sharp cut, then added a 31-yard rushing major later in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.<\/p>\n

Edmonton\u2019s defence punctuated the victory by forcing four interceptions. Kordell Jackson recorded two picks, while Ford and Chelen Garnes added one apiece to help preserve the Elks\u2019 fourth win of the season.<\/p>\n

Fajardo completed 19 of 24 passes for 340 yards and two touchdowns. On the other side, Maier went 26 of 39 for 293 yards with one touchdown and four interceptions.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

RELATED
\u00bb Depth Charts:\u00a0OTT<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0EDM<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0Game Tracker: REDBLACKS at Elks by the numbers<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0Sign up and watch CFL games on CFL+ in the U.S. and Internationally<\/a><\/p>\n

SCORING PLAYS<\/p>\n

Justin Rankin 19-yard rushing touchdown (Q1, 10:24) | EDM 7, OTT 0
\nVincent Blanchard 36-yard field goal (Q2, 07:55) | EDM 10, OTT 0
\nBryson Barnes<\/a> one-yard rushing touchdown (Q2, 03:58) | EDM 10, OTT 7
\nVincent Blanchard 15-yard field goal (Q2, 00:33) | EDM 13, OTT 7
\nVincent Blanchard 50-yard field goal (Q2, 00:00) | EDM 16, OTT 7
\nJake Maier<\/a> 21-yard touchdown pass to Ayden Eberhardt<\/a> (Q3, 01:28) | EDM 16, OTT 14
\nCody Fajardo<\/a> four-yard touchdown pass to Kaion-Julien Grant (Q4, 12:04) | EDM 23, OTT 14
\nBrett Lauther<\/a> 27-yard field goal (Q4, 09:09) | EDM 23, OTT 17
\nCody Fajardo<\/a> 33-yard touchdown pass to Justin Rankin (Q4, 06:28) | EDM 30, OTT 17
\nJustin Rankin 31-yard rushing touchdown (Q4, 02:52) | EDM 37, OTT 17
\nVincent Blanchard 11-yard field goal (Q4, 00:58) | EDM 40, OTT 17<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

NEXT UP<\/p>\n

The Elks stay home to face the BC Lions in Week 7 on Friday, July 17. The two teams met in Week 5, when the Lions handed the Green and Gold their first loss of the season with a 36-24 victory in Kelowna. Fajardo threw for 395 yards and three touchdowns in the defeat but was also intercepted three times.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the REDBLACKS return home to host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Sunday, July 19. It will be the first meeting between the two teams in 2026 and marks quarterback Dru Brown<\/a>\u2018s return to Ottawa after a late June trade sent him back to Winnipeg following two seasons in the nation\u2019s capital. Brown is set to make his first start<\/a> since rejoining the Blue Bombers in Week 6 against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EDMONTON \u2014 Justin Rankin found the end zone three times, Cody Fajardo threw two touchdown passes and the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":792302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[49,48,20739],"class_list":["post-792301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ottawa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=792301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/792302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=792301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=792301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=792301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}