{"id":936682,"date":"2026-10-17T17:54:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T17:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/936682\/"},"modified":"2026-10-17T17:54:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T17:54:17","slug":"blue-bombers-bucked-by-elks-as-edmonton-clinches-home-field-for-upcoming-cfl-west-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/936682\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Bombers bucked by Elks as Edmonton clinches home field for upcoming CFL West final"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 3 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

The Edmonton Elks will officially host this year’s CFL West final.<\/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.<\/p>\n

Fajardo completed 12 of 17 pass attempts for 120 yards for the Elks (13-4), who have not hosted a West final or even a home playoff game at all since 2015.<\/p>\n

Winnipeg quarterback Zach Collaros completed 28 of 33 passes for 331 yards and two touchdowns.<\/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

\"A<\/p>\n

Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros (8) throws a pass under pressure from Edmonton Elks’ Kenny Logan Jr. (20) and Robbie Smith (40) during first half CFL football action in Edmonton on Friday. (Codie McLachlan\/The Canadian Press)<\/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’ 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

\"A<\/p>\n

Edmonton Elks’ Joshua Cephus (18) is tackled by Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ Major Williams (24) during second half CFL football action in Edmonton on Friday. (Codie McLachlan\/The Canadian Press)<\/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’s 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. 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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":936683,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":["post-936682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936682","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=936682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936682\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/936683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=936682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=936682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=936682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}