After starting off the 2017 CFL season on the right foot the Edmonton Eskimos will look to do the same on Friday night in their home-opener as they welcome the Montreal Alouettes on The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium.
Last Saturday the Eskimos squeaked out a 30-27 win over the B.C. Lions in Vancouver. Kicker Sean Whyte kicked a nine-yard field goal with no time left on the clock in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
The win came at a cost however as middle linebacker J.C. Sherritt suffered a ruptured Achilles in the second quarter and will be out for the season. Korey Jones took over and recorded six defensive tackles; the four-year veteran will start in his first CFL game on Friday. Jones has 34 CFL games under his belt, and said that gives him comfort that the moment won’t be too big for him.
“I’m not even thinking about it not like that,” Jones said. “I’ve been thrown in the fire a few times so I’ve played out there and made some difference whether it’s starting a game or coming in a second series kind of thing. I’ve been there a little bit and I’m not putting any pressure to start. Its just football.”
Running back Travon Van will play his first game of the season and will handle the kick return duties, running back Ladarius Perkins, who played last week in Vancouver, has been placed on the practice roster.
Other roster moves see defensive back Andrew Lue move from the practice roster to the 46-man roster, linebacker Doug Parrish has been added to the one-game injured list. Receiver and 2017 first round draft pick Nate Behar, who signed with the team late last week, has been added to the 46-man roster.
The following is the projected offensive and defensive starters for the Eskimos:
Offence
Quarterback: Mike Reilly
Running Back: John White
Offensive Line: Joel Figueroa-Simeon Rottier-Justin Sorensen-Matt O’Donnell-Tony Washington
Receivers: Vidal Hazelton-Adarius Bowman-Cory Watson-Brandon Zylstra-Duke Williams
Defence
Defensive Line: Philip Hunt-Almondo Sewell-Euclid Cummings-Odell Willis
Linebackers: Adam Konar-Korey Jones-Kenny Ladler
Defensive Backs: Johnny Adams-Garry Peters-Neil King-Brandyn Thompson-Arjen Colquhoun
The Montreal Alouettes come into Friday’s game with a 1-0 record thanks to a 17-16 win last week at home over the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
The Alouettes are led at quarterback by Darian Durant who was traded by the Saskatchewan Roughriders to Montreal in the off-season. Durant, who was 20 of 31 for 233 yards passing and recorded two touchdown passé in his Alouettes debut, said he’s relieved last week’s game against his former team is behind him.
“No matter how much you want to say it’s a regular game we all know that it’s not,” Durant said. “All the questions leading up to it, I’m just glad I don’t have to deal with that again until October and we can just focus on our opponent each and every week and not worry about the storylines behind it.”
630 CHED will have live coverage of Friday’s game starting with Countdown to Kick-off at 6 p.m. The opening kick-off between the Eskimos and Alouettes will be at 8 p.m. on The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium.
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