The Edmonton Eskimos will have to become road warriors to successfully defend their Grey Cup title.
Edmonton (10-8) begins its title defence Sunday afternoon visiting the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East Division semifinal. The Eskimos earned CFL crossover by compiling a better record than the third-place Montreal Alouettes (7-11).
Hamilton also had a 7-11 record but cemented second — and home field for the East semifinal — by winning the season series with Montreal.
A win Sunday will earn Edmonton a trip to Ottawa on Nov. 20 to face the Redblacks in the East Division final. The winner will advance to the Grey Cup game Nov. 27 at BMO Field in Toronto.
“There’s no easy path to the Grey Cup but I think we’ve got a pretty damn good team so I like our chances,” quarterback Mike Reilly said this week. “We’re going to have a challenge, there’s no question about it.
“But (last two years) we’ve been pretty good on the road so again, I like our chances. I think we’ve got a lot of momentum going into the playoffs.”
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Edmonton comes in having won five of its last six games. Hamilton has dropped two straight and its last four home contests to stand 3-6 overall at Tim Hortons Field this season.
Hamilton is also 2-8 versus West Division teams. Edmonton was 5-4 on the road and 5-3 against East rivals.
This will mark the first-ever division playoff meeting between the two clubs although they’ve split their two Grey Cup appearances.
The Eskimos make their third crossover appearance. In 2008 they became the first CFL team to win a crossover game, beating Winnipeg 29-21 in the conference semifinal but lost 42-26 to Toronto in 2012.
Eight times West Division teams have crossed over to the East, but not one has ever reached the Grey Cup.
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Edmonton and Hamilton split the season series 1-1.
Backup quarterback Jeremiah Masoli had a CFL-record 23 straight completions in rallying Hamilton from a 25-point deficit to a 37-31 road win July 23. On Oct. 28, John White’s 132-yard rushing performance anchored Edmonton’s 29-26 victory at Tim Hortons Field.
“I think they’re dangerous,” said Edmonton coach Jason Maas. “They’re coached well and they’ll have some healthy players back.
“I know they’ve been decimated by injuries throughout the entire year so the consistency with their lineup hasn’t been what they probably want, but they’re not very far removed from being a Grey Cup contender and being in the Grey Cup. They’re not going to be an easy out, we understand that but our job is to go there and beat them.”
Veteran safety Courtney Stephen is expected back in Hamilton’s lineup Sunday but veteran receivers Andy Fantuz (101 catches, 1,059 yards, five TDs), Luke Tasker (76 catches, 852 yards, five TDs) and Chad Owens (58 catches, 808 yards, five TDs) remain on the injured list.
Ticats head coach Kent Austin is thankful for Stephen’s anticipated return.
“He’s got great range back there, he gets guys lined up, he makes plays,” Austin said. “We’re glad to have him back.”
Fortunately for Austin and the Ticats, they’re preparing for a familiar foe.
“I think where it helps you is you have a more immediate familiarity with personnel,” Austin said. “Obviously there’s going to be changes to what they do schematically and the same with us but you do have a better understanding of the personnel because you’ve seen them recently.”
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Edmonton’s aerial game will present Hamilton with challenges. Reilly threw for a CFL-high 5,554 yards with 28 TDs while Adarius Bowman (120 catches, 1,761, nine TDs) and Derel Walker (109 receptions, 1,589 yards, 10 TDs) were 1-2 in receiving.
But Edmonton’s offence also boasts the CFL’s second-ranked ground game (103.7 yards per game).
“We understand when your running attack can be effective it makes everything easier,” Reilly said. “The fact we’ve been able to be pretty balanced for almost two months now, it takes the stress off the pass game and it also puts a stress on the defence.”
The Ticats counter with a versatile running back in C.J. Gable but averaged a CFL-low 66.9 yards rushing per game. But starting quarterback Zach Collaros offers a simple solution to reverse Hamilton’s home woes.
“Just execution, making a few more plays,” he said. “In every game you lose there’s five, six, seven plays that are kind of turning points or plays that could go either way… but we just need to execute, by physical and we’re confident things will go our way.”
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