Brandyn Thompson’s fumble return touchdown turned things around for the Edmonton Eskimos, who remain undefeated on the season with a 23-21 victory over the Ottawa Redblacks on Friday.
The Eskimos, who were coming off a bye week, improved to 3-0 and moved into sole possession of first place in the West Division. The defending Grey Cup champion Redblacks dropped to 0-3-1.
“The games are going to be tight, we realize that,” Eskimos Head Coach Jason Maas said. “But we’ve been fortunate – the first three of the year we’ve come out on the right end of them.”
“You get confidence from that.”
The only points in the first quarter were recorded by Ottawa’s Brett Maher, who got on the board with a 42-yard field goal.
The Redblacks took a 9-0 lead seven minutes into the second quarter, as a 34-yard passing play from Trevor Harris to Greg Ellingson set up a one-yard TD plunge by back-up quarterback Ryan Lindley. The convert missed.
The Eskimos came thundering back with scoring plays just 27 seconds apart near the end of the second quarter to take the lead, getting a 21-yard field goal from Sean Whyte, and then a touchdown on defence, as a lateral pass from Harris got away from the receiver and was scooped up and taken 31 yards into the end zone by Eskimos defensive back Thompson.
Maas called the defensive touchdown “incredible”.
“I think it set the tone for the better part of the game after that,” Maas said.
“It’s one thing to have the ball on the ground, it’s another thing to scoop it and score it. It was great to see.”
Edmonton then pushed into a 17-9 lead on a four-yard touchdown pass from Mike Reilly to Adarius Bowman with just three seconds to play in the first half.
Whyte pulled off another field goal in the third, after Eskimo linebacker Alex Hoffman-Ellis blocked a punt by the Redblacks.
A two-yard touchdown by Ottawa’s William Powell caused a scare near the end of the third, but after another failed convert, Whyte returned with yet another field goal to bring Edmonton up to their final score of 23.
The Redblacks got a chance to tie the game with less than 30-seconds left after a 13-yard touchdown pass to Ottawa wide receiver Josh Stagby, but Ottawa failed a final convert to give the Eskimos their narrow victory.
A standout for Edmonton was Travon Van, who replaced running back John White, who is out for the season with a torn ligament.
“He had a great game. There was a lot of eyes on him, from the outside, wondering how he was going to fill in to replace John White,” Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly explained. “I wasn’t concerned – it sucks to lose John, but we have a lot of faith in Travon. He’s come in and worked his tail off and done a great job for us.”
“He was a huge part of our win.”
The Edmonton Eskimos will be in Hamilton next Thursday, trying to remain undefeated as they take on the Tiger-Cats. Kick-off for the July 20th game is at 5:30 p.m.
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