EDMONTON – Putting aside the disappointment of another season without November football, there is still much for the Elks to play for on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. against the Stampeders.
First up, the Green and Gold have the opportunity to sweep the three-game season series against their provincial rivals for the first time since 2002. In two contests against the Stampeders this season, Edmonton has imposed their will on both sides of the ball. The Elks have outscored their rivals 72-36, racked up 1,011 yards of offence, while adding nine interceptions.
Another win won’t lesson the blow of this year being the first season since 1945 that Alberta will not be represented in the Canadian Football League playoffs, but it will be a nice bonus to an Elks team that has been trending in the right direction.
“Of course there’s always a cloud of disappointment, but we’re going to have a smile on our face and song in our heart and fight through it,” Interim Head Coach Jarious Jackson said. “That’s the only way.”
The next two games are about continuing to build towards the future. In the 26 games which Coach Jackson has been the offensive coordinator, the Elks have been held to under 20 points only four times. The Double E currently pace the entire CFL in points with 450 (28.1 per game) and have score eight more offensive touchdowns than any team in the league (49 to second place Hamilton’s 41).
It will be the youth of the Elks that will carry the load for the rest of the way. Quarterback Tre Ford will get the start in Calgary, while rookie Justin Rankin continues to dress as the lead rusher in the Elks three-headed monster in the backfield.
One player who has been getting the opportunity to make his mark in the last few weeks has been 2024 supplemental draft pick Zach Mathis. The giant 6-foot-7 Canadian wideout had been biding his time on the team’s practice roster since joining the Elks in June of this season. Mathis was a standout wide receiver at North Dakota State University where he lined up next to Green Bay Packers star Christian Watson and received passes from 2021 NFL third-overall pick Trey Lance.
Last week against the Roughriders, Mathis showed what he can do at the pro level. The 24-year-old hauled in six-of-seven targets for 74 yards in the solid performance which caught the eye of his head coach.
“I went and watched the tv copy of the game last night and seven targets, six catches and they were big catches,” Jackson said. “We were getting cover zero on a couple of those where he was able to catch, turn up his shadow, and doing a good job of getting first downs for us”
“You can definitely see the confidence in him growing game-by-game, which is good to see.”
