Edmonton quarterback Mike Reilly threw two touchdown passes to Derel Walker and ran in another as the Eskimos held off the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 29-26 in front of 24,031 at Tim Hortons Field on Friday.
Reilly hit Walker with TD strikes from 21 and seven yards TD and ran one in himself from one yard out. CJ Gable, Terrence Toliver and Jeremiah Masoli scored for Hamilton.
Edmonton (9-8) has a guaranteed a crossover playoff spot in the East Division, but still needs to win its final game against Toronto and have Winnipeg (10-6) lose both its games against Ottawa to stay in the West playoff picture.
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Hamilton (7-10) remains second in the CFL East with a guaranteed playoff spot. With the loss, however, Ottawa (7-8-1) now needs to beat Winnipeg just once in its final two games to secure top spot in the division and a bye into the East Final.
Edmonton kicker Sean Whyte hit all three field goal attempts, from 17, 18 and 43 yards, but missed a convert.
Hamilton kicker Brett Maher was one-for-two in field-goal attempts, making a 40-yarder but missing from 28.
Hamilton quarterback Zach Collaros, back after missing two games with a concussion, threw one TD pass.
After falling behind 10-0 early, Edmonton slowly began to take control by the second quarter and was up 12-11 at halftime.
Edmonton’s drive stalled to open the second half, but Whyte hit a 43-yarder to extend Edmonton’s lead to 15-11. When Hamilton next went two-and-out, Troy Stoudermire returned Maher’s 38-yard punt 33 yards and a 15-yard roughness penalty was tacked to give the Eskimos a short field to work with.
Edmonton marched the remaining 32 yards on four plays, ending with Reilly’s one-yard TD plunge and the 22-11 lead.
Hamilton Defensive back Derrius Brooks was taken off by stretcher with a suspected head-and-neck injury and transported to hospital for observation after colliding with teammate Dominique Ellis one play before Reilly’s touchdown.
Reilly then capped a 76-yard, seven-play drive with the seven-yard TD strike to Walker and the 29-11 lead late in the third.
But midway through the fourth, Hamilton showed life, driving 79 yards on eight plays, including a pass interference call that set up a first-and-goal at the one-yard line. It took three attempts, but Collaros found Toliver for the TD and then Kevin Elliott for the two-point convert and Hamilton pulled to 29-19 with 7:42 left.
With under two minutes to play, Hamilton’s Junior Collins caught Edmonton’s Grant Shaw’s punt and immediately threw a lateral to Mike Jones, who ran it up the left side 48 yards to the Edmonton 31.
A pass interference call in the end zone made it first-and-goal from the one for Hamilton and Masoli ran it in to pull to 29-26 with 1:09 left in the game. But the onside kick didn’t work and Edmonton got the ball at the Hamilton 40 and held on for the win.
There was more bad news for Hamilton. Already without top receiver Chad Owens and Luke Tasker due to injury, the Ticats also lost Andy Fantuz midway through the second quarter when his left knee buckled as he made a move. And starting corner Johnny Adams left earlier in the quarter to an apparent ankle injury.
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Hamilton struck first in the game when Collaros led a touchdown drive 69 yards on seven plays highlighted by a 28-yard catch by Kevin Elliott and a 19-yard run by Gable. It was Gable who then ran it in from six yards out for the score. On Hamilton’s next possession, a 31-yard drive stalled but led to Maher’s 40-yard field goal and a 10-0 lead.
Edmonton answered with its next possession, driving 75 yards on four plays with Reilly hitting Adarius Bowman for a 33-yard reception and then Walker for the 21-yard TD catch. Whyte missed the convert. Hamilton opened the second quarter with Maher missing a 28-yarder for a single. Whyte hit field goals from 17 and 18 yards to give Edmonton the lead.
Notes: The two-year-old Tim Hortons Field was reportedly running partly on generator power for the game after one of the stadium’s two transformers blew during the week. A generator truck was parked and plugged in outside the back entrance for back-up as the crowd filed in.
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