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REGINA — 323 days ago it was Tre Ford who led the Edmonton Elks to what was their last victory. On Saturday evening, the Canadian quarterback played his part in Edmonton’s first win of the 2024 season as his team came out of Regina with a 42-31 victory against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Ford’s electric playmaking combined with running back Javon Leake‘s big day on the ground were the key difference-makers in what was a much needed result for the Elks at Mosaic Stadium.
Here are CFL.ca’s three key stats from the Elks’ win over the Roughriders.
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3 – JAVON LEAKE TOUCHDOWNS
With Edmonton’s leading rusher Kevin Brown on the injury list, it was Javon Leake who took on some added responsibility in the Elks offence. Leake certainly answered the call, running for three touchdowns to go with 169 yards.
Going into Week 9, the Roughriders were allowing their opponents a league-low 48 rushing yards per game. That wasn’t the case on Saturday, as Leake was able to find holes in the Saskatchewan defence throughout the game.
In the fourth quarter, Leake rolled left for a 51-yard score to give the Elks a lead they would not give up. After the three-minute warning he put the game out of reach with another monster 61-yard rush up the middle.
3 – EDMONTON SCORES TO START THE GAME
Mario Alford stunned everyone with a touchdown return on the game’s opening kickoff but the Elks didn’t falter after going down early.
After Ford scored three touchdowns on all three of his fourth-quarter drives in Edmonton’s Week 8 loss against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, he and the Elks offence came out firing with scores on their first three possessions.
Boris Bede delivered field goals on Edmonton’s first two drives and then on their third, Ford through a stunning 93-yard touchdown pass to Tevin Jones as the Elks took back the lead on the road.
22 – FOURTH-QUARTER EDMONTON POINTS
The Elks offence came out of halftime looking out of sorts, and for a moment, it looked like the Roughriders would take over the ballgame.
After three punts and an interception, Edmonton went into the fourth quarter down by one and needing to find themselves on offence once more. They did just that.
Leake found his biggest plays of the game in the final frame, while Ford stay composed when he got his opportunities. He got the ball to Jones for his second touchdown of the game with less than two minutes on the clock as Edmonton sealed the result on the road.