Photo: The Canadian Press

EDMONTON — As Elks quarterback Tre Ford was about to begin his postgame media availability, Toronto Argonauts general manager Mike “Pinball” Clemons poked his head into the Edmonton players lounge.

He pointed at Ford and yelled, “I love you, man.”

Even Ford’s opponents admired the way the Canadian quarterback rallied Edmonton to a 31-30 overtime victory over the Argos on Friday at Commonwealth Stadium. It was a game that meant nothing in the CFL standings, but, for Ford, this game offered him a chance to establish himself in the league. The former first-round pick is not under contract for next season.

Ford passed for 325 yards and three touchdowns, and added 81 yards rushing in just three shifts. Jarret Doege played the second quarter in a planned rotation.

“The fourth quarter was phenomenal,” Ford said. “We were able to come down and get (three) crucial touchdowns that were huge. This gave us the opportunity to win the match.

Jake Julien’s 54-yard punt sailed through the end zone for a rare game-winning red.

“I thought maybe we had a chance to catch the ball and return it,” Argos coach Ryan Dinwiddie said. “We had a plan for it, but yeah, it was successful for a long time.”

“I looked at Jake and said, ‘Can you get him out of the back of the end zone?’” Elks head coach Jarious Jackson said. And the answer? “I got you.”

“I trusted him, I believed in him, I see him kicking every day.”

The Elks took advantage of big plays and a strong running game to overcome an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit in the regular-season finale for both teams.

Ford led the Elks (7-11) on a two-play, 90-yard drive in the final minute to end a wild fourth quarter. After a 50-yard bomb to Eugene Lewis, he connected with Zach Mathis on a 40-yard touchdown. It was Mathis’ first touchdown in the CFL. After the extra point, the Elks led 30-27.

But Lirim Hajrullahu made a game-tying field goal for the Argos late in the fourth quarter, sending the game into overtime.

The Elks entered the final quarter with a score of 20-9.

After a four-yard touchdown run by Eugene Lewis brought the Elks within five, Ford led the Elks on a 98-yard drive, highlighted by a 71-yard pass play to Jerminic Smith. It was punctuated by a 10-yard touchdown run by Justin Rankin.

Lewis finished the game with 88 receiving yards, bringing him to 1,070 on the season. Lewis may have played his last game as an Elk, as he signed a two-year contract that paid him $320,000 per season.

Lewis also caught a touchdown for the eighth straight game, a team record. The CFL record is 10, set by Calgary’s Terry Evanshen in 1967-68.

“I had to sit down and really think about it,” Lewis said. “This is my football career. Even in high school and college and stuff like that, it’s tough as a receiver to get three touchdowns in a row. Scoring in just three games in a row is difficult. To have eight? It’s incredible.

But the Argos regained the lead on Deonta McMahon’s second touchdown of the game, a nine-yard pass from quarterback Nick Arbuckle.

The Argos (10-8) received 122 yards from Makai Polk and Jake Herslow caught his first career touchdown pass.

For Polk, the big night allowed him to eclipse the 1,000 receiving yards mark this season. He finished the campaign with 1,024.

Herslow prepared to catch a 29-yard touchdown pass from Nick Arbuckle in the second quarter and finished with 55 yards on the night.

Arbuckle, a former Elk, entered the game in the second quarter and threw for 378 yards. Sophomore Cameron Dukes played the first quarter for the Argos before suffering an ankle injury. Dinwiddie opted to rest No. 1 quarterback Chad Kelly ahead of next week’s Eastern semifinal against the Ottawa Redblacks.

With the game having no impact on the Argos’ standings, the team also rested their top running back, Ka’Deem Carey.

They started Tre Ford at quarterback despite him not being under contract for 2025. In the first quarter, he avoided a blitz and threw a 67-yard touchdown to running back Javon Leake, who s snuck out of the backfield.

Leake, who also had an 88-yard run early in the third quarter, finished with 128 rushing yards.

Dinwiddie was unable to rest all of Argo’s regular players, due to the size of the CFL roster and salary cap considerations. So Argos fans will be sweating over the condition of wide receiver Damonte Coxie, who limped in the second quarter after taking a hard hit to the hip from Elks linebacker Nick Anderson.

He didn’t come back.

With 10 tackles, Anderson tied BC’s Barrin Simpson’s CFL record of 116 tackles by a rookie.

While Ford is disappointed with another lost season for the Elks, he noted that 7-11 is much better than 4-14 in 2023. And then he gave Elks fans a glimmer of hope.

“I think it’s definitely a step in the right direction.” And I can’t wait to see where things go.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published October 25, 2024.