Samuel Emilus, Trevor Harris rue touchdowns that should have been in Riders’ loss to Elks

Photo courtesy: Saskatchewan Roughriders/Electric Umbrella/Liam Richards.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders are wondering what could have been after they failed to score a potential game-winning touchdown on consecutive fourth-quarter drives during Thursday’s loss to Edmonton.

Trailing by two points with just over five minutes remaining, the Riders were given a gift when Elks quarterback Cody Fajardo mishandled a snap and subsequently pitched the football into no man’s land for a defensive fumble recovery. Antoine Brooks Jr. returned the turnover to the Edmonton 24-yard line and two plays later, Trevor Harris connected with Sam Emilus for an apparent 21-yard go-ahead touchdown.

The celebration was quickly silenced, as officials flagged Emilus for offensive pass interference on the play. Replays showed hand-fighting with Kordell Jackson and a slight push-off as the Canadian receiver broke to the corner of the end zone, though the Mosaic Stadium crowd was not convinced.

“I don’t know. I didn’t get to see the replay,” a visibly dejected Emilus said of the call post-game. “Personally, I didn’t feel like I pushed him. I don’t think you make that call in the fourth quarter inside of three minutes (sic). I think you would make it in the first or second quarter, but I don’t know. I don’t know.”

Rightly or wrongly, the penalty backed the Riders up by 10 yards. Harris was sacked for a loss of seven yards on the following play, resulting in a 46-yard field goal attempt from kicker Alex Hale. The Aussie sent the ball wide left, generating no points off the fortuitous turnover.

“It’s tough,” Emilus admitted. “I feel like a touchdown puts us in a better position to defend and get the win.”

Momentum would not swing back in Edmonton’s favour for long, as the Saskatchewan defence stuffed short-yardage quarterback Cole Snyder on a sneak at his own 30-yard line just three plays later. The turnover on downs gave the Riders’ offence the ball deep in opposition territory with 2:20 remaining in the game, primed to deliver a deciding blow.

That’s where the nightmare started for Trevor Harris. After advancing to Edmonton’s three-yard line, he dropped back to pass on second-and-goal and spotted an open Johnny Johnson III in the end zone. The 40-year-old signal-caller didn’t put enough mustard on what was ultimately his final pass of the night and watched it flutter harmlessly to the turf.

“I’m probably gonna be waking up all night thinking about the last play,” Harris said at the podium.

“It’s not even part of the progression of the play, but they kind of just all condensed right down to our primaries, and I noticed they left the middle field wide open. When I flipped around, I saw (Johnson’s) eyes, and he felt he was uncovered, and so I thought he was just going to stop right there. It’s just a miscommunication. It’s my fault. I should throw the ball through, and I shouldn’t put touch on it, but I just thought he was so wide open, I could just put some touch on it. I just need to throw it through him. It’s one that’s gonna bother me all night.”

Hale delivered the chip-shot field goal needed to put the Riders up by a single point, but it wouldn’t be enough. Fajardo led the Elks on a nine-play, 52-yard drive that ate up the final 1:41 of game clock and set up kicker Vincent Blanchard for a 57-yard walk-off game-winner. Edmonton prevailed 36-34.

“I was a returner; we put two returners back there in case we had to run the ball out,” Emilus recalled. “Just seeing the ball going through definitely hurt.”

That kick handed the Riders their second loss of the 2026 season and has the defending Grey Cup champions sitting second in the West Division heading into a rematch with the first-place Elks next week. Those roles could have been reversed had either fourth-quarter touchdown opportunity come to fruition.

Nevertheless, the close defeat hasn’t altered Harris’ perspective on his team.

“I felt like we were going to win it up until the very end. A play here, play there; a call here, call there,” he said.

“Nothing’s changed. We’ve got a dang good football team. We’re going to be there in the end. If you think otherwise, I don’t know if you know ball.”

The Riders (4-2) and Elks (6-1) will clash again on Saturday, August 1. Kickoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. EDT at Commonwealth Stadium.

J.C. Abbott is a University of British Columbia graduate and high school football coach. He covers the CFL, B.C. Lions, CFL Draft and the three-down league’s Global initiative.