EDMONTON — Quarterback Mike Reilly scored two touchdowns and passed for three more as the Edmonton Eskimos punched their ticket through to next Sunday’s 103rd Grey Cup in Winnipeg against the Ottawa Redblacks with a 45-31 victory over the Calgary Stampeders in the West Division final on Sunday.
Despite a three-week break, the Eskimos looked sharp in the contest, winning their ninth game in a row to earn their first Grey Cup appearance since 2005.
The Stampeders were the defending CFL champions, defeating Hamilton 20-16 in last year’s Grey Cup.
Edmonton’s special teams unit came up big in the early running as Ryan King recovered a punt fumble by Calgary’s Skye Dawson on his own 23-yard line. That quickly led to a one-yard touchdown plunge by Reilly, followed by a two-point convert pass to Derel Walker.
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Calgary responded with a pair of Rene Paredes field goals to close to 8-6 at the end of the opening quarter.
The field goal parade continued for much of the second quarter with Edmonton’s Sean Whyte kicking two and Parades responding in kind before the Eskimos broke the pattern with a 15-yard TD pass from Reilly to Adarius Bowman with 20 seconds left in the half to head into the dressing room up 20-12.
Edmonton extended its lead three minutes into the third frame as Reilly hit Kenny Stafford for a couple long passes, the second a 38-yard TD strike.
The teams traded field goals once again to make it 31-15 Edmonton at the end of the third, despite a couple of lengthy breaks that determined a pair of potential Eskimos defensive touchdowns wouldn’t stand.
Edmonton added to its lead to start the fourth as Walker reeled in a 57-yard TD pass.
Dexter McCoil picked off Stamps QB Bo Levi Mitchell on the next series, eventually setting up an eight-yard QB keeper by Reilly.
The Stamps kept their cool and came right back with a 66-yard TD pass from Mitchell to Eric Rogers and then another 16-yard major on a pass to Joe West, both of which were capped off by two-point converts to make the final minutes much more tense.
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