REGINA — Vincent Blanchard kicked a 57-yard field goal on the final play of the game to lift the Edmonton Elks to an exciting 36-34 CFL victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Thursday.

The West Division-leading Elks improved to 6-1 and are off to their best start since 2017 when they were 7-0. The Riders, second in the West, slipped to 4-2 on an emotional night for the hosts.

Alex Hale kicked a pair of fourth-quarter field goals to give the Riders a late 34-33 lead.

Elks quarterback Cody Fajardo had a big night, passing for 510 yards and four touchdowns. He completed 25 of 32 passes.

The Riders took a 28-27 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter when quarterback Trevor Harris connected with Dhel Duncan-Busby on a seven-yard touchdown pass.

The Elks, however, took little time responding as Fajardo and Austin Mack connected on their second touchdown pass of the contest on Edmonton’s first play after the Saskatchewan touchdown. Mack hauled in a bomb with his fingertips and went 81 yards to give the Elks a 33-28 lead. Edmonton attempted a two-point convert but Fajardo’s pass hit the crossbar of the uprights and was incomplete.

Mack’s first touchdown was a 57-yard reception late in the third quarter that gave the Elks a 27-21 lead.

Hale closed the gap later to 33-31 with a 48-yard field goal and had an opportunity to give the Riders the lead with three minutes remaining but his attempt from 46 yards was wide left and returned to the Edmonton 20-yard line by Javon Leake.

The first half featured both quarterbacks attacking the defences with deep passes. Harris finished the half 13 of 19 for 231 yards and three touchdowns, including a 56-yard scoring toss to Kian Schaffer-Baker. Harris hit on six of 10 passes for 136 yards in the first quarter, an average of 22.5 yards per completion.

Fajardo also had a big half, completing 11 of 13 for 196 yards and two touchdowns. His longest completion was a 68-yard bomb to Kaion Julien-Grant that set up Edmonton’s second touchdown of the half.

The Riders took a 21-17 lead into the halftime break when KeeSean Johnson grabbed a two-yard touchdown pass from Harris with four seconds left. Samuel Emilus joined Schaffer-Baker and Johnson with touchdowns, scoring on an eight-yard reception early in the second quarter.

Brendan O’Leary-Orange, on a 16-yard reception, and Leake, on a 12-yard catch, scored touchdowns for the Elks in the first half.

The teams took to the field just five days after a two-vehicle crash claimed the lives of Riders linebacker Jayden Dalke and Bhishma Rajyaguru, a 22-year-old from Regina, on Sat­urday even­ing just out­side Lums­den, about 30 kilo­metres north of Regina. RCMP said the 30-year-old Dalke was driv­ing north­bound in the south­bound lane of the divided high­way when his vehicle col­lided with Rajy­aguru’s SUV.

Both victims were honoured with tributes and a moment of silence before the opening kickoff at Mosaic Stadium.

Elks: Host the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday, Aug. 1.

Roughriders: Visit the Edmonton Elks on Saturday, Aug. 1.