EDMONTON \u2014 The Edmonton Elks will host the CFL West final for the first time in more than a decade.<\/p>\n
Cody Fajardo ran for two touchdowns and passed for two more as Edmonton rallied to a 35-27 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Friday. Edmonton has not hosted a West final or even a home playoff game at all since 2015.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels great,\u201d said Elks head coach Mark Kilam. \u201cWe had a great opportunity to be able to clinch at home in front of our fans, so I\u2019m really proud of the guys for finding a way tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fajardo completed 12 of 17 pass attempts for 120 yards for the Elks (13-4).<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was sweet,\u201d he said. \u201cI told the guys going in that this was phase three of five and we checked that off of our list. Getting a West final in front of our fans, they were the difference tonight.<\/p>\n
![\"Edmonton](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792239896_861_c874901913ece6057a844409e7f4cb060f6cebe78c8cd5c5b77d98a22849d11d.jpg\" "\\"Edmonton")
Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros (8) throws a pass under pressure from Edmonton Elks\u2019 Kenny Logan Jr. (20) and Robbie Smith (40) during first half CFL football action in Edmonton on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Codie McLachlan<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just huge three phase football tonight, I couldn\u2019t be prouder of this team.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Blue Bombers (8-9) failed in their attempt to secure a playoff spot, but could still earn a post-season berth this weekend if Calgary loses to B.C. on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just not good enough,\u201d said Winnipeg head coach Mike O\u2019Shea. \u201cWe were on the wrong end of five or six plays. It\u2019s like every game. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe winners usually make those five or six and the guys that don\u2019t go home wishing they did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winnipeg quarterback Zach Collaros completed 28 of 33 passes for 331 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t make mistakes, you can\u2019t lose the turnover battle,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can\u2019t throw interceptions when you\u2019re driving to potentially take a lead in a game. Those are on me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you make mistakes that are that magnified, it\u2019s going to hurt you.\u201d<\/p>\n
After missing a field goal on their first drive, the Blue Bombers put together another strong drive with five minutes left in the opening quarter and capped it off with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Collaros to Nic Demski.<\/p>\n
The Elks responded with an 18-yard field goal from Vincent Blanchard to close out the quarter.<\/p>\n
Collaros was picked off at the Winnipeg nine by Kenny Logan Jr., leading immediately to a pass from Fajardo to Shunderrick Powell, who fought his way into the end zone. Fajardo had gone three straight games without a TD pass.<\/p>\n
The Bombers\u2019 QB made up for it on the next series as he hit Ontaria Wilson deep in the end zone for a 32-yard TD strike.<\/p>\n
Winnipeg kept it coming with a one-yard TD run by backup QB Bryce Perkins.<\/p>\n
However, after a 65-yard kickoff return by Montrell Washington, the Elks converted a third-down gamble with two seconds remaining in the first half on a four-yard TD pass from Fajardo to Austin Mack to cut Winnipeg\u2019s lead to 21-17 at the mid-mark.<\/p>\n
Edmonton carried that momentum forward to start the third as Fajardo finished off a long drive with a one-yard TD plunge. They added a single on the subsequent kick.<\/p>\n
The Bombers pulled back within one on a 23-yard field goal by Sergio Castillo, but he would hit the uprights from 55 yards out on his next attempt.<\/p>\n
Blanchard kicked a 52-yarder for the Elks.<\/p>\n
Edmonton went up 35-24 with 1:39 remaining as Fajardo took another one in from two yards out.<\/p>\n
Castillo kicked a late 53-yard field goal.<\/p>\n
Notes<\/p>\n
The Elks captured their third straight win over Winnipeg, having previously defeated the Bombers 23-18 and 22-18 this season. The last time Edmonton swept a three-game series against Winnipeg was in 1979 \u2026 Demski caught his 47th career TD pass, tying him for first among active players with Kenny Lawler.<\/p>\n
Up next<\/p>\n
Winnipeg: Travels to B.C. to face the Lions to close out regular season play next Friday.<\/p>\n
Edmonton: Finishes the regular season in Saskatchewan against the Roughriders next Saturday.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EDMONTON \u2014 The Edmonton Elks will host the CFL West final for the first time in more than…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":936411,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-936410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936410","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=936410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/936411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=936410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=936410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=936410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}