The Edmonton Eskimos and the Ottawa Redblacks play in opposite divisions but the two have formed a good rivalry over the last couple of seasons.
The two will renew pleasantries on Friday night on The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium.
The Eskimos won five straight against the Redblacks – who entered the CFL in the 2014 season. The Redblacks have won the last three meetings including last November’s East Final. The Eskimos last win over Ottawa came in the 2015 Grey Cup game in Winnipeg.
“Last year they had our number and the year before we had theirs,” Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly said. “None of that stuff in the past has any bearing on this game; this is a totally different team as are they. Whoever shows up and plays the best football is going to win that game.”
“There’s going to be no real secrets between the two teams, we just got to come out and play with intensity and I’m sure they will too.”
The Eskimos are 2-0 to start the season while the Redblacks are 0-2-1 in their first three games, losing by a total of five points. The Redblacks let a 12-1 lead at the half slip away last week in a 26-25 loss to the Toronto Argonauts. The Redblacks have the second-highest scoring offence in the CFL with 95 points but have surrendered a league-worst 100 points.
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The Eskimos last game was on June 30 when they beat the Montreal Alouettes 23-19. In that game the Eskimos lost running back John White in the first quarter, White is out for the season with a torn A-C-L in right knee. Travon Van took over the starting duties and rushed 17 times for 50 yards and scored one touchdown. In total Van recorded 71 yards on 21 touches in the win and will be the starting running back going forward.
The Eskimos signed running back Kendial Lawrence during their bye week, he will play on Friday and handle the kick return duties.
Other lineup changes will see defensive end Marcus Howard make his season-debut on Friday as he has been activated of the six-game injured list. Howard has played in just 27 of 54 games over the last three seasons because of injury.
Defensive end Philip Hunt has been placed on the six-game injured list.
Defensive back Johnny Adams is out of the lineup and has been placed on the one-game injured list after suffering an injury in practice, Mercy Maston will make his first start of the season.
Linebacker Alex Hoffman-Ellis will play, moving fellow linebacker Terrance Bullitt to the practice roster. Hoffman-Ellis was signed by the Eskimos late last month.
Linebacker Doug Parrish has been activated from the one-game injured list and has been moved to the practice roster.
The following is the projected offensive and defensive starters for the Eskimos:
Offence
Quarterback: Mike Reilly
Running Back: Travon Van
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: Marcus Howard-Euclid Cummings-Almondo Sewell-Odell Willis
Linebackers: Adam Konar-Korey Jones-Kenny Ladler
Defensive Backs: Mercy Maston-Garry Peters-Neil King-Brandyn Thompson-Arjen Colquhoun
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 Redblacks will be at 8 p.m. on The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium.
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