HAMILTON — Cody Fajardo and the Edmonton Elks are bringing playoff football back to Commonwealth Stadium. Fajardo, Zach Mathis and ShunDerrick Powell scored fourth-quarter touchdowns to power Edmonton past the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 27-12 on Friday night. That clinched the Elks (12-4) a CFL home playoff game, which will be their first since 2015. Edmonton defeated the Calgary Stampeders 45-31 in the ’15 West Division final, then beat Ottawa in the Grey Cup. The Elks were last in the playoffs in 2019. “We have an end goal that’s bigger than just hosting a playoff game,” Fajardo said. “We’ve got to find a way like we did tonight. “That’s a good Hamilton team, their record doesn’t show how good they are. We had an uphill battle offensively but we made the plays when we had to and our defence did a great job.” Edmonton remains first in the West ahead of the B.C. Lions (10-6), who defeated the Ottawa Redblacks (0-16) 41-20 on Friday night. Edmonton can clinch first place by winning one of its final two games versus Winnipeg (next Friday) and Saskatchewan (Oct. 24), respectively. Mathis, a second-year receiver, delivered the game’s biggest play, scoring on a 48-yard interception return at 10:43. He picked off punter Nik Constantinou’s pass to Tyler Ternowski. Isaiah Wooden pulled Hamilton to within 21-12 with an 87-yard kickoff return TD at 11:22. However, Harrison Frost’s pass to Kiondre Smith for the two-point convert was incomplete, an interesting decision given a one-point convert would’ve made it a one-score game. Powell completed the scoring with a five-yard TD run at 14:36. It came after Hamilton turned the ball over on downs at its 26-yard line. Marc Liegghio’s 37-yard field goal at 6:56 pulled Hamilton to within 14-6. It followed Fajardo’s one-yard TD run at 4:47. “I don’t think I’ve been part of two plays that have been so high and then so low in all my years playing football,” Fajardo said of the pick-six and kickoff return TD. “We’ve got to clean some things up at the end of the game to really put the game away. “People can poke holes in it all they want and figure out, ‘They didn’t play this, that and the other.’ But we’re winning games and we’re 12-4. We’re a damn good football team and we know when things get close, we can win football games.” Fajardo said there are definite benefits to Edmonton winning its final two regular-season games. “The reason why is I don’t think we’re playing our best football,” he said. “We’re winning games but I told the guys going into this week it’s not about the team with the best record at the end of the year. “It’s about the team playing the best football and so we have two games to do that.” Edmonton earned a second straight win over Hamilton after a 37-35 double overtime home decision Sept. 26. Vincent Blanchard kicked a CFL-record nine field goals. That loss eliminated Hamilton (5-12) from playoff contention. Edmonton last swept a two-game series with Hamilton in 2017. And the Elks did so emphatically, outscoring the Ticats 20-9 in the fourth quarter. “That’s kind of been a calling card of our football team this year,” said sophomore head coach Mark Kilam. “We’ve been finding ways to make plays late in the game and that’s something we take pride in.” Edmonton’s stellar ’26 campaign comes after it finished last in the West Division last season with a 7-11 record. “It’s reflective of the hard work of a lot of people in that organization, not just the football team,” Kilam said. “We have our sights set higher.” The contest was hardly an offensive masterpiece as the two teams combined for 18 punts (10 by Edmonton). Fajardo finished 16-of-25 passing for 229 yards, while Frost was 21-of-36 for 221 yards. “It felt like we got whipped in the first half,” said Hamilton head coach Scott Milanovich. “We struggled to establish the run game, I didn’t think we gave the quarterback a lot of time to throw. “Obviously we made some adjustments at halftime … but that’s a good team and we didn’t play very well offensively or on special teams.” Blanchard had two field goals, a single and two converts. Lieggho kicked two field goals. Liegghio’s 18-yard field goal at 11:58 cut Edmonton’s lead to 7-3. It capped a 13-play, 94-yard march after Hamilton had accumulated 49 net offensive yards to that point. Blanchard’s single to end the second quarter gave Edmonton a 7-0 halftime lead. Defensive lineman Mario Kendricks Jr. got a hand on Blanchard’s 47-yard field goal try and Isaiah Wooden Sr. couldn’t return the ball out of the end zone. Brad Hladik’s recovery of Wooden’s fumble on a punt return gave Edmonton possession at Hamilton’s 48-yard line. Blanchard’s 26-yard boot at 12:43 earned Edmonton a 6-0 advantage. It followed Malik Carney’s sack — his third of the first half — of Frost at the Ticats’ 46-yard line on a third-and-five gamble. Vincent’s 13-yard boot at 13:38 of the first opened the scoring. At halftime, Hamilton added running back Troy Davis to its Wall of Honour. Davis spent five seasons with the Ticats (2001-2005) and is their all-time leader in carries (1,053), yards (5,296), and 100-yard games (18). In 2004, Davis set franchise records for carries (324) and yards (1,628) while scoring 10 touchdowns. Up next Elks: Host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Friday, Oct. 16. Tiger-Cats: Have a bye week, host the Ottawa Redblacks on Saturday, Oct. 24. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 9, 2026. Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press
