Elks face strong Alouettes squad in season home-opener

Edmonton Elks quarterback Tre Ford throws the ball against the B.C. Lions during the first half of a CFL football game in Vancouver, on Saturday, June 7, 2025.

It’s early in the Canadian Football League season, and the Edmonton Elks have played just one game and already taken a bye week, but another sizable challenge awaits the new-look Commonwealth Stadium inhabitants.

The Montreal Alouettes look primed for domination from their perch atop the East Division – again, it’s early – given their sterling team statistics through two weeks of the 2025 CFL campaign.

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They come calling on the Elks Thursday night (7 p.m.) at Commonwealth Stadium, almost two weeks after Edmonton lost their season-opening game to the B.C. Lions.

With the pigskin, the 2-0 Als rank:

• 2nd in average yards rushing (131) behind Winnipeg (201);
• Tied for 2nd in first downs (44);
• 3rd in average yards per play (7.27); and
• 4th in net offence (average 396 yards) behind Winnipeg (438), B.C. (428) and Calgary (400).

The Als are seventh in average passing yards (274.5), but the Elks are last in that category (178 yards).

Through two games, starting Alouettes quarterback Davis Alexander has thrown for 549 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, and completing 42 of 58 of his passes (72%) for a 99.0 passer rating.

But it’s on defence where the Als are dominant through two weeks of the schedule. Without the football, they rank:

• 1st in offensive points allowed per game (13.5);
• 1st in net offence against (255.5 yards);
• 1st in yards per play (5.21);
• 1st in rushing yards against (37); and
• 2nd to the Lions is passing yards allowed per game (241.5).

The Elks, meanwhile, have just one week of statistics to show for the season so far thanks to its bye last week.

And in their lone game so far – a 31-14 Lions’ win over them in Week 1 on June 7 – the Elks struggled to find their footing on both sides of the ball, especially as the game went on.

B.C. quarterback Nathan Rourke threw for 324 yards and three touchdowns in the West Division showdown at Vancouver’s B.C. Place Stadium, while the Lions’ offence feasted on the Elks’ defence, collecting 446 yards in net offence – a stat that puts Edmonton last in the nine-team circuit in that category – on 324 yards passing and 124 yards rushing.

Offensively, Elks quarterback Tre Ford threw for 178 yards and an interception, and added 54 yards rushing of his team’s 87. Both Elks touchdowns came from short-yardage plunges by backup QB Cody Fajardo. By game’s end, the Elks put up 248 yards in net offence.

One of Elks head coach Mark Killam’s primary concerns lies on the defensive side, telling media on Wednesday “finishing has got to be front and centre” for the unit against the Alouettes given its time spent on the field vs. the Lions two weeks ago.

“We played a good first half, but we were on the field for a long time, some long drives – seven-, eight-, 10-play drives in the second half,” Killam, who’s in his first year guiding the Elks, said after the pre-game walk-through at Commonwealth Stadium. “We’ve got to get off the field.”

With the ball, Elks offensive lineman Mark Korte said establishing the rush early is something players are focused on to try to establish a rhythm.

He said the run game wasn’t “staying on schedule on first down” and was therefore unable to “consistently run the ball well early in the game, so then it gets harder for a play-caller to come back to it.”

“When you run early and it doesn’t go well, then throughout the course of the game, it can get difficult,” said the 28-year-old Korte, a seven-year CFL veteran and Spruce Grove native.

“One of our points of emphasis is being able to run the ball well early, be on schedule on first down, getting us into second and manageable situations.

“I think that’s big for us.”

Full-sized fire truck returns for home-opener

They’re going large. Large fire truck, that is.

The Elks are bringing back the original, full-sized version of the team-hued fire truck that drives on the track around the field after touchdowns.

A smaller version of the truck had been used the last few seasons, which Evan Daum, the Elks’ vice-president of marketing and fan experience, said had been used since 2019.

He said the original one “has been refurbished, so it’s historically accurate in terms of what it looks like, and we’ve made some mechanical upgrades so it’s a little bit easier to drive.”

“We know how much the fans enjoy it,” Daum told CTV News Edmonton on Wednesday. “We’re looking forward to coming out and having some firefighters on there doing their thing.”

Also on tap for Thursday’s opener are pyrotechnics, including in places around the stadium they haven’t before been used, an in-house band, more Kids Zone features and an enhanced tailgating experience that includes upgrades to the beer garden, better seating and more signage, Daum said.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Dave Mitchell