Nail-biting overtime has not been a unique occurrence at The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium this season.
Though the Eskimos held the lead for much of the game, the Stampeders escaped with a 34-28 double-overtime win in Saturday’s Labour Day rematch before 35,278 fans.
“It’ll take some time to get over it, but it’s our job to look at it, get better and move on. There isn’t a huge consolation prize in taking the best team in the league to overtime. You’re playing professional sports. You’re paid to win, not to make ’em close. We weren’t good enough tonight,” said head coach Jason Maas.
Reilly combined with Derel Walker on a 104-yard pass and run on Edmonton’s opening play.
“They played better than we did in the second half,” said Reilly. “We have to figure out how to get a win. It doesn’t matter how close the score is. If the other team has more, they get the two points in the standings and we don’t.
After a quiet game in Calgary last Monday, Walker became the second Eskimos receiver to go over 1,000 receiving yards this season, a week after teammate Adarius Bowman hit the milestone.
“We’ve been putting in work all week busting our butts and it didn’t come out the way we wanted to,” said Walker, who caught seven balls for 164 yards. “At the end of the day, you have to finish what you start and we didn’t finish strong. Calgary’s a great team. I’ll give them credit for that.
“We killed ourselves on a few drives … two and outs, not being able to put up points when we should have. Instead of kicking field goals, we need touchdowns. We fell a little short today. It’s a tough loss in the Battle of Alberta. It didn’t come out the way we wanted to. At the end of the day, we have a great team and a great coaching staff. We’ll bounce back.”
Eskimos linebacker Deon Lacey launched the other Eskimos touchdown drive with an interception on Calgary quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell. Reilly took advantage, hitting Bowman on a 26-yard pass to give Edmonton a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter.
The teams exchanged a pair of field goals.
Down 20-6 late in the third quarter, Calgary’s DaVaris Daniels caught a 30-yard touchdown pass then a 27-yarder in the fourth to tie the game at 20-20 and send it to what would be double over time.
The teams exchanged one-yard plunge TDs and successful two-point converts in the first overtime.
Bakari Grant caught a 28-yard TD pass from Bo Levi Mitchell in the second overtime frame.