By The Canadian Press

Hajrullahu’s 48-yard field goal on final play earns Argos 31-30 win over Elks

Sep 13, 2025 | 5:52 PM

TORONTO — Jarret Doege was an unlikely hero for the Toronto Argonauts on Saturday afternoon.

Doege came off the bench to engineer the decisive drive that Lirim Hajrullahu capped with a 48-yard field goal on the game’s final play to earn Toronto a wild 31-30 victory over the Edmonton Elks. Doege replaced starter Nick Arbuckle (calf) and completed three-of-six passes for 35 yards in marching the Argos 40 yards on eight plays to set up Hajrullahu’s game-winning boot.

“It’s my third year in the CFL so I feel like I’ve kind of figured out the game a little bit,” Doege said. “I kind of feel like I know how to go out there and play well.

“There’s always nerves but once you hit the first completion they go away. I knew we were trying to get to the 50 or past the 50 to get a field goal so that was my main goal.”

The six-foot-one, 210-pound Doege spent his first two CFL seasons with Edmonton (2023-’24) before joining the Argos during training camp. Friday’s contest was Doege’s first-regular season action with Toronto and he relished that it came against his former team.

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“Oh yeah, that felt good,” he said. “It felt it had a little more to it than any other game.

“It (coming off bench) is tough to do. But it’s part of the job and being a backup quarterback because you’ve got to prepare like you’re the starter and be ready to play when your number is called.”

Arbuckle was hurt on Toronto’s previous possession and the injury severely impacted his mobility, prompting head coach Ryan Dinwiddie to change quarterbacks.

“Nick just couldn’t move well enough to get it done for us,” Dinwiddie said. “The kid (Doege) works his butt off.

“He’s here in the morning when I get here and he’s here at night leaving when I leave. You’ve got to be that guy at the quarterback position.”

Toronto (5-8) earned a third straight win despite playing catchup throughout most of this contest.

Arbuckle hit Jake Herslow on a 30-yard touchdown strike at 3:17 of the fourth to pull Toronto to within 24-21. But Vincent Blanchard’s 16-yard field goal at 9:18 — set up by Kenneth Logan Jr.’s interception — put Edmonton ahead 27-21.

Defensive lineman Andrew Chatfield Jr. gave Toronto a 28-27 lead with a 10-yard fumble-return TD at 11:35. Derek Parish sacked Edmonton quarterback Cody Fajardo and forced the fumble.

“I thought our defensive line answered the bell and let our linebackers fit the gaps and play downhill,” Dinwiddie said. “If we can do that, we’ve got a shot.

“We’re far from a finished product, we’re still a work in progress but that’s the whole point. You want to be playing your best football at the end.”

Edmonton (5-8) missed an opportunity to create a three-way tie for third in the West Division. Instead, the Elks stand fifth, two points behind the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (6-7) and B.C. Lions (6-7) despite registering six turnovers (four interceptions, twice on downs).

Edmonton came in with a CFL-low three picks.

Arbuckle finished 21-of-31 passing for 261 yards with two TDs and the four interceptions. Makai Polk had six catches for a game-high 95 yards.

Fajardo completed 25-of-28 passes for 229 yards and two touchdowns. Justin Rankin — who ran for 204 yards and two TDs in last week’s win over Calgary — rushed for 27 yards on 12 carries.

It was a thrilling end for the BMO Field gathering of 14,742 as Toronto paid tribute to the late John Candy, who in the 1990s co-owned the franchise with Bruce McNall and Wayne Gretzky. Last week, the documentary “John Candy: I Like Me,” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Herslow had Toronto’s other two touchdowns while Dave Ungerer III had a two-point convert. Hajrullahu had three field goals and two converts.

Rankin, Kaion Julien-Grant and Cole Snyder had Edmonton’s touchdowns. Blanchard added three converts and three field goals.

Hajrullahu’s 27-yard field goal at 10:43 of the third pulled Toronto to within 21-14. Blanchard’s 30-yard kick to end the quarter made it a 10-point game.

Toronto opened the second half with Arbuckle’s 18-yard TD pass to Herslow at 1:57. Arbuckle found Ungerer for the two-point convert to cut Edmonton’s lead to 14-11.

But Edmonton countered with Snyder’s one-yard TD run at 7:54 to lead 21-11.

Hajrullahu’s 53-yard field goal to end the second quarter cut Edmonton’s halftime advantage to 14-3. It capped a miserable opening half for Toronto’s offence, which accumulated just 89 net yards, of which 69 came on a 13-play march that ended with Spencer Brown being stopped short on third down at the Elks’ 15-yard line.

Toronto had three first-half turnovers, two coming on short third-down gambles out of shotgun formation.

Edmonton wasn’t much better offensively, amassing 137 net yards — including just 13 on the ground. Fajardo was a tidy 12-of-14 passing for 146 yards and two TDs while being sacked three times.

Fajardo’s 19-yard touchdown pass to Julien-Grant staked Edmonton to a 14-0 lead at 9:24 of the second. Rankin opened the scoring with a four-yard TD grab at 11:35 of the first.

UP NEXT

Toronto: Hosts the Montreal Alouettes (5-7) on Friday night.

Edmonton: Visits the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (8-5) on Saturday night.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2025.

Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press