‘Have to put the nail in the coffin’: Riders continue to search for killer instinct after 21-18 win over Elks

WATCH: Donovan Maess explains how the Saskatchewan Roughriders overwhelmed the Edmonton Elks to reclaim first place in the West.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders staved off a late charge once again, defeating the Edmonton Elks 21-18 Friday night.

Saskatchewan’s win propels them to first place in the Canadian Football League’s (CFL) West Division.

Despite improving to 6-1 on the season, the team wasn’t pleased with their performance, especially down the stretch.

“There’s some positive things to take away, but I’m not happy with the way we finished the game offensively,” quarterback Trevor Harris put bluntly following the win. “If you want to be a championship caliber team, you’ve got to put the nail in the coffin.”

“We didn’t do that,” he added.

At one point in the third quarter, Saskatchewan held a 17-point lead, but Edmonton would score 14-unanswered points in the fourth to draw within three points with less than two minutes to go in the game.

It added to a theme within games so far this season, where the Riders have allowed teams to stay within reach.

“We [as coaches] talk aggressively about the things we want to get done,” head coach Corey Mace told reporters. “We’re missing it somewhere as of right now. But we’re still getting kills.”

Harris believed his team has the ability to close out games within their room – finding it is their next goal.

“It’s just a matter of us manifesting it this year,” he said. “It’s not something I worry about. It’s about us just making sure we look in the mirror.”

“We got dogs, and we’ve got guys who are going to bury you, and we will,” the quarterback added.

Mace took some of the blame off the players for how the Riders’ closed out tonight’s game.

“We got to we just got to cut down on the mental errors,” he said. “If it’s physical, menta or if it’s a lack of focus – maybe we’re not coaching it hard enough.”

“We’ve got to finish,” receiver KeeSean Johnson added. “We can start fast, but we have to finish. That’s our main thing, have a full game [effort] and do what we need to do.”

Defense spoils Fajardo’s return

Throughout the week, speculation swirled amongst the Elks on who was going to start at quarterback.

Ultimately, Cody Fajardo – a former Roughrider – was handed the reins for Friday night’s game.

It was his first start against Saskatchewan since leaving to free agency at the end of the 2022 season.

“I knew I could get some boos,” Fajardo told TSN after the game. “I did see some ‘Fajardo’ jerseys in the stands, so that made me feel good.”

“And, I will say that the ‘bring em out’ gave me a little bit of chills up my spine because I remember running out to that music and that theme song. It was fun to get my first start, against those guys,” the pivot added.

With Edmonton down early, head coach Mark Kilam was forced to pass early and often.

Fajardo finished with 346 yards through the air on 26 completions and 33 attempts, adding two TD passes and did not throw an interception.

However, Roughrider defenders sacked the Elks’ QB eight times - including each of the final two plays of the game to end it.

“I thought our offensive line played absolutely amazing tonight,” Fajardo said. “There’s a couple plays that were on me, some [run-pass option] stuff where I held on to the ball too long.”

“We’re definitely happy about it man,” Rider defensive lineman Micah Johnson said. “Sacks are one of those things where sometimes it goes away, sometimes it doesn’t. But I’m super proud of how we’ve been rushing.”

“[Fajardo] usually gets the ball out pretty quick,” Mace said. “The score kind of dictated that early for him to sit back there a little bit. We tried to take away some things for him we knew he likes to look at, which allowed a little bit of time for the D-line to go get it.”

Five different Roughrider defensemen notched at least one sack, with three earning two.

“We all knew how elusive [Fajardo] could be,” Micah Johnson, who had two sacks, added. “But if we came out and rushed together, try to keep him in the pocket as much as we could, we thought we’d have success.”

On the ground, Saskatchewan made the Elks’ run game nearly non-existent. Combined, Edmonton rushers had just 25 yards.

Among the Riders’ top defenders were DB Rolan Milligan Jr., who had a team-high seven tackles, and linebacker A.J. Allen who had six tackles plus a sack himself.

“The defensive line got paid today,” Allen said. “Football a lot easier when they do things like that. I’m giving all I can to them.”

“That was an incredible performance by them,” he added.

“The Riders have one of the best defensive lines in this league,” Fajardo said. “You see them on paper, they’ve got a lot of guys who have played a lot of football games. But I was really proud of the way our offensive line fought tonight. A lot of those sacks on me.”

Emilus, Johnson shine on offense again

Rider receivers Samuel Emilus and KeeSean Johnson were the two most targeted weapons by Harris Friday. Combined, the two wideouts had 15 receptions and 191 receiving yards.

“Anybody in our room can do it,” KeeSean Johnson said after the game. “I just happened to be the guy today.”

KeeSean Johnson had nine receptions on 11 targets for Harris as well as a touchdown on Saskatchewan’s second drive of the second half – which helped keep the Riders in front late.

Emilus ended the night with catches on all six of his targets for a game-high 113 total receiving yards and a touchdown – which kickstarted the Rider offense at the end of the first half.

“He’s an animal,” Harris said about Emilus.

However, the star receiver left the game late with an injury and did not return.

Head coach Corey Mace did not have an update on his status immediately following the game.

Harris’ record continues

Harris would finish 25-for-33 with 268 passing yards and two touchdowns.

His 76 per cent completion rate extended a CFL-record streak of game completion percentage of 70 per cent or more to 10 games.

Harris’s performance also moved him past 35,000 career passing yards and into 14th all-time in passing yards – and within 1,000 yards of Roughrider great Kent Austin (36,030).

Harris also moved past Tom Burgess and into sole possession of 16th place on the CFL’s all-time touchdown-pass list (191). Next on the list is also Austin (198).

The Roughriders are next in action on the road in Montreal on August 2.