Henry Burris is taking the Ottawa Redblacks back to the Grey Cup.
Burris threw two TD passes as Ottawa held on for a wild 35-23 win over the Edmonton Eskimos in a snowy East Division final Sunday. The Redblacks will face either the Calgary Stampeders or B.C. Lions in the Grey Cup game next Sunday at Toronto’s BMO Field.
Tristan Jackson’s 75-yard punt return TD at 11:50 of the third gave Ottawa a commanding 23-3 lead. Burris made it 25-3 with a two-point conversion pass to Patrick Lavoie before Edmonton countered with Mike Reilly’s five-yard TD strike to Adarius Bowman at 14:47 to cut the Redblacks’ lead to 25-10.
Reilly’s 18-yard TD pass to Chris Getzlaf and Sean Whyte’s convert at 3:11 made it a 25-17 game. Ray Early’s 23-yard field goal – set up by an illegal kick penalty – put Ottawa ahead 28-17 with 4:30 remaining.
But Reilly found a wide-open Bowman on a 57-yard TD strike with 2:57 remaining to cut Ottawa’s lead to 28-23. The two-point convert was unsuccessful.
However that’s as close as Edmonton would get as Kienen Lafrance clinched the Ottawa win with a 20-yard TD run at 14:15.
Weather was a major storyline in a contest played on a wet, snow-covered field courtesy of the city’s first winter storm. While the white stuff fell throughout the contest, the major factor was the wind, which blew at about 37 kilometres, gusting at times to 49 km/h.
READ MORE: IN PHOTOS: Weather dominating East Division final between Edmonton Eskimos and Ottawa Redblacks
The start of the second half was delayed briefly as stadium officials worked to repair the lines on the field. They had been scraped away while crews shovelled the snow off the turf.
A paint machine was brought out to make the repairs but it ceased working, forcing one crewman to re-paint the lines by hand.
The weather was indeed a factor considering Ottawa threw for CFL-high 6,191 yards while Edmonton was second (5,922). Reilly was the league’s top passer (5,554 yards) and the two teams combined sported six 1,000-yard receivers.
The nasty conditions were no deterrent to the hearty TD Place sellout crowd of 24,248, many wildly ringing cowbells every time Ottawa enjoyed success on the field.
Edmonton gambled to open the second half by taking the ball after winning the toss and deferring its choice. After the two teams traded TDs, the Eskimos faced having to erase a 15-point deficit into the wind going into the fourth.
Ottawa earned its third straight win of the season over Edmonton, which was attempting to become the first cross-over team to reach the Grey Cup. The Redblacks also snapped a three-game home losing streak with just its third victory of the year at TD Place.
Ottawa also continued the trend of the home team winning in the East final as seven of the last conference championship games have gone to the home squad. The Redblacks also won the first-ever playoff meeting with Edmonton although the teams have squared off four times in the Grey Cup.
READ MORE: Calgary Stampeders battle B.C. Lions for spot in 2016 Grey Cup
Greg Ellingson and Khalil Paden had Ottawa’s other touchdowns. Lafrance added a two-point convert while Early booted two field goals and a convert.
Whyte kicked a field goal and two converts for Edmonton.
Ottawa’s ground game, anchored by Lafrance, helped the home team to its 17-3 half-time lead. Lafrance accounted for 107 of the club’s 128 rushing yards and had a two-point convert on Paden’s TD that put the Redblacks ahead 17-0 at 4:15 of the second.
The Redblacks outgained Edmonton 263-145 in the opening half, with Burris completing 8-of-13 passes for 128 yards and two TDs. Eskimos starter Mike Reilly, the CFL passing leader this year, was 8-of-14 passing for 124 yards while John White – who ran for 160 yards in last weekend’s East semifinal win over Hamilton – had just 21 yards on five carries over the first two quarters.
White connected from 33 yards out at 6:36 of the second but missed from 42 yards out later in the frame.
Ottawa opened with the wind and surged into a 9-0 lead following Early’s 35-yard field goal at 3:59 and Burris’s 26-yard TD strike to Ellingson at 10:47 but Early missed the convert. Edmonton punted following all three of its possessions in the quarter.
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