November 5, 2017

Esks go East to Winnipeg for Western Semi-Final

Edmonton Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly (13) runs the ball under pressure from the Saskatchewan Roughriders' defence during first half CFL action in Regina on Saturday, November 4, 2017. (CFL PHOTO - Matt Smith)

“Goin’ to Winnipeg.”

Unlike the TV commercial tire pitchman who unexpectantly found himself on a plane heading to Manitoba, the Eskimos earned the right to travel to Winnipeg for the West Division Semi Final on Sunday, Nov. 12, by downing the Saskatchewan Roughriders 28-13 on Saturday at Mosaic Stadium in Regina.

The Eskimos hopes of hosting a playoff game at The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium ended with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ victory over the Calgary Stampeders on Friday night.

Quarterback Mike Reilly (21 of 27 passing for 294 yards, 29 yards rushing) scored three touchdowns on plunges up the middle and set an Eskimos single-season record with 5,830 passing yards as Edmonton put Saturday’s game away with a dominant fourth quarter to extend its second winning streak of the CFL season to five games.

“It was pretty much what I expected,” Reilly said on the 630 CHED post-game show. “This is playoff-type football. That’s how you have to win games. You have to figure out a way to get it done. Our guys did that tonight. I couldn’t be more proud of them.

“We had a couple of things we would have liked to have done better, but against that defence and in these weather conditions, putting up 28 points is not a bad night.”

While the Eskimos tied the Bombers at 12-6 – the third time in four years they’ve had at least 12 wins – Winnipeg was awarded second place based on the tie-breaker advantage of having won both regular-season games between the teams.

Winnipeg is the only club Edmonton hasn’t defeated this year, although the Eskimos just got their first wins over the Roughriders and Stampeders during their last two games.

For Saskatchewan, 10-8, the loss sends the Riders to the East Division for the playoffs, starting with the semi final at Ottawa against the defending Grey Cup champion RedBlacks, 8-9-1.

The Calgary Stampeders, 13-4-1, and Toronto Argonauts, 9-9, earned byes to their respective division finals.

“I keep telling the guys another seven-game win streak gets us back in the Grey Cup,” said Eskimos defensive back Aaron Grymes, who’ll make his first trip back to Winnipeg since winning the 2015 Grey Cup. “From there, it’s a one-game season.

“We definitely have momentum,” he added. “We are clicking on all phases right now – that’s offence, defence and special teams. … I think we’re putting it all together at the right time.”

The Eskimos led from start to finish Saturday, opening up an 11-0 lead five minutes into the second quarter on Reilly’s two-yard QB sneak, Sean Whyte’s convert and the first of his two field goals (30 and 19 yards) plus Hugh O’Neill’s 49-yard punt single.

After switching to Canadian quarterback Brandon Bridge in the second quarter, Saskatchewan trimmed the deficit to 11-7 by halftime and to a single point (14-13) by the end of the third quarter on a pair of touchdowns by Marcus Thigpen.

Then Reilly scored one-yard TDs on back-to-back series to open the fourth quarter, marching the Esks 81 yards on eight plays (aided by a pass interference call in the end zone on the Riders’ Derrick Moncrief) followed by James Tuck’s big hit to pop the ball loose on the ensuing kickoff, with Cory Watson recovering the ball at the Saskatchewan 27. Five plays and another Roughriders penalty later, Reilly scored his league-leading 12th rushing TD of the season.

“They’re always blowing guys off the line,” Reilly said about the Eskimos offensive line of Joel Figueroa, David Beard and Jacob Ruby, Justin Sorensen, Matt O’Donnell and Colin Kelly. “It’s a good feeling when you’re a yard or yard-and-a-half or even two yards off the goal line and you land in the end zone but you’re not laying on the turf because you’re laying on the backs of two of your big boys up front and the other three guys are right next to you as well.

“They’re big boys and that’s hard for any defensive front to get a stop. That’s something that’s been a big part of our offence.”

Reilly was successful on all six of his short-yardage plunges in the game, two of them third-down gambles in the first half and four in the fourth quarter.

Otherwise, Edmonton’s O-line kept Reilly upright to record a clean sheet and finish the season with the fewest quarterback sacks allowed (29) in the CFL.

“Kudos to our O-line,” Eskimos Head Coach Jason Maas said. “They’re always the unsung hero. You don’t win 12 games in a season without a great O-line and we believe we have that. To lead the league in least amount of sacks given up is a tremendous feat, particularly when you throw the ball like we throw it.”

The game was played in cold weather (minus-7 C at kickoff) with winds between 25 and 37 km/h and wet snow on the field that started to turn a little crusty later in the game.

“It was freezing out there,” said wide receiver Vidal Hazelton, who led the Eskimos with five catches for 64 yards. “Our staff did a good job of getting us warmed on the sidelines; we had some heaters. But the adrenalin was pumping, so everything was pretty good out there. Your toes were a little cold, but other than that, we wanted to get the win. That was more important.”

Grymes said some players think if they tell themselves it’s not cold, it’s really not. “I’m more like, ‘It’s as cold as hell outside, but we’re going to get on the other team’s butt tonight, no matter how cold it is. I’m like, ‘It’s cold outside, but I’m ready for the cold so let’s get it.’ ”

When the wind started blowing in the fourth quarter, Grymes admitted that he “got the shivers a little bit. But at that point, we were in a good position so I felt OK with it.”

The Eskimos defensive line played another strong game, with three sacks (Almondo Sewell, Da’Quan Bowers and John Chick), five quarterback pressures (Sewell had two, Bowers, Euclid Cummings and Chick), 10 defensive tackles (Sewell and Chick with four each, Bowers with two) and Chick’s pass knockdown.

“We’ve got a great group of D-linemen up there who are going to get after (Bridge) a little bit and try to get him out of the pocket if they can,” said Grymes, who knocked down a pass and had three defensive tackles to give him 30 on the season in only six games. “I don’t think a quarterback can beat us scrambling all day. Eventually, they’ve got to throw the ball or run the ball and get into their playbook.

“It’s hard to play a guy like that, a great athlete,” he added. “I hit him twice today (on blitzes) and he’s hard to take down.”

Reilly had several statistical accomplishments in the game. Besides breaking Ricky Ray’s Eskimos single-season passing record of 5,663 yards, set in 2008, and leading the league in passing yards and rushing touchdowns, he also passed Warren Moon (21,228) on the team’s all-time passing yardage charts and was Edmonton’s leading rusher with 390 yards.

“That just shows how effective our offence has been,” Reilly said about the various stats. “It just shows that for the last two years our coaching staff has continually given us a great game plan to work with; our wide receivers have shown up to work ready to go and understand the importance of their alignment and assignment and not being selfish and not caring who gets the ball knowing it’s going to get spread around; our running backs and offensive line doing such a great job in pass protection.”

Running back C.J. Gable had 70 hard-fought yards on 17 carries as well as four catches for 55 yards (including 47 yards after catch).

League-leading receiver Brandon Zylstra (1,687 yards) had three catches for 72 yards. He becomes only the seventh Edmonton receiver to catch 100 passes in a season and broke the club record with 10 100-yard receiving games.

Adarius Bowman (two catches for 56 yards, including a game-high 45-yarder deep in Saskatchewan territory) also hit milestones, becoming the sixth Eskimos receiver to reach 7,000 career yards while also going over the 9,000-yard mark for his CFL career.

“It’s not just the offensive side,” Reilly said. “It’s the special teams getting us the ball in good position, it’s the defence forcing quick two-and-outs and things like that to get us the ball so we can have all that time of possession (the Eskimos led the league with a per-game average of 31 minutes and 41 seconds).

“It all works hand-in-hand and that’s why I love football. It’s the best team game there is. It doesn’t matter if you have the best stats in the world. It’s not about you. It’s about all the other guys on the field with you.”