July 27, 2018

Eskimos Explode For Season-High 44 Points

Edmonton Eskimos Mike Reilly throws the ball during 1st half CFL action against the Montreal Alouettes in Montreal Friday, June 22, 2018. (CFL PHOTO - Peter McCabe)

Everybody may have been talking about Johnny Manziel during the past week, but Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly was the centre of attention on Thursday.

Reilly threw for four touchdown passes and ran for another TD as the Eskimos scored a season-high 44 points in a romp over the Montreal Alouettes in front of 16,654 spectators at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium.

It was only the third time that Reilly has had four scoring passes in a game during his 91-game CFL career. He also passed for 415 yards, breaking the 400-yard milestone for the first time since the season opener and putting himself back on track for his first 6,000-yard season. The 2017 CFL Most Outstanding Player has a league-leading 2,063 yards after six games.

Meanwhile, second-year slotback Duke Williams caught two of Reilly’s TD passes as the Eskimos overcame yet another slow start with a 24-point explosion in the second quarter to defeat the Alouettes 44-23.

Williams, 25, finished with four catches for 116 yards to boost his league-leading total to 672 yards on 35 receptions. It was also his fifth straight game with more than 100 receiving yards, marking only the 10th time in CFL history that a receiver has had five consecutive 100-yard games. Brian Kelly in 1983 was the last Eskimos player to accomplish the feat.

“It was nice to come out and put over 40 on the (score)board,” said Reilly, who completed 24 of 32 passes. “That’s what this offence is capable of – regardless of who we’re playing against in this league – if we go out and play to the best of our abilities.”

The Eskimos had just three touchdown drives during their previous 26 possessions as they fell behind at the end of the first quarter for the fifth straight game – they have scored just six points during the first quarter over the last four games – and spotted Montreal a 10-3 lead by the first play of the second quarter.

Their offence finally ignited in the second quarter with Williams’ fourth and fifth TDs of the season, and the Esks scored more points by the end of the third quarter (34) than they managed during the last two games combined (33).

Williams’ touchdown receptions of 20 and 61 yards (running 45 yards after the catch on the second scoring play) along with running back C.J. Gable making a highlight reel, one-handed grab for a 17-yard pass-and-run TD – his second major of the year – helped Edmonton rally to take a 27-13 lead into halftime.

Wide receiver Derel Walker added a 36-yard TD catch in the third quarter, and Reilly scored his fifth rushing touchdown – but first in three games – when he plunged over the goal-line from one yard out early in the fourth quarter. Kicker Sean Whyte, who had previously kicked 99 converts and 399 points at Molson Stadium, booted three field goals (45, 13 and 40 yards) and five converts for a 14-point outing.

Defensively, middle linebacker J.C. Sherritt had a game-high eight defensive tackles and a quarterback sack while the D-line applied plenty of pressure on Montreal QB Vernon Adams. Second-year defensive end Kwaku Boateng led the way with three of the team’s six sacks in his first game back in the lineup after missing the previous two contests with an injury.

Boateng has five sacks and six defensive tackles in his last two games. A fifth-round draft pick in 2017, he ranks second in the league in sacks.

Defensive halfback Aaron Grymes also returned an interception 35 yards to set up an Edmonton TD in the second quarter.

It was the first time the Eskimos have won back-to-back games this season. The win also extended Edmonton’s winning streak against the Alouettes to nine games since the start of the 2014 season – matching a nine-game run they had against Montreal from 1978-83.

The victory allowed the Eskimos (4-2) to take over sole possession of second place in the West Division behind the Calgary Stampeders (5-0) with a home game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders (3-2) up next at 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 2, at The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium, presented by Purolator.

“The way the division is turning out to be right now, you’ve got to keep winning,” said Eskimos head coach Jason Maas. “It’s always nice to get a victory so you feel so much better about your football team and can correct things and be a little bit harder on the players because we have some things to improve upon. In order to win the West, we have to be better.”

In particular, Maas was referring to the Eskimos taking 17 penalties for 191 yards (two pass interference infractions accounted for 71 of those yards).

The Alouettes, who finished with nine penalties for 143 yards, didn’t use their celebrated new acquisition (Manziel is still waiting to make his CFL debut) in the game. They also missed three field goals.

SHORT YARDAGE: Wide receiver Kenny Stafford had five catches for 105 yards. It: was his second 100-yard game in six years in the CFL … Whyte is tied for eighth place on the Eskimos all-time list for converts (87) with Jackie Parker and Joe Mobra.