The Eskimos locker room continued to look like a MASH unit, but they stayed undefeated and beat the B.C. Lions 37-26 Friday night at Commonwealth Stadium.
The score likely would have been different if they didn’t have to rely on two-point converts following a pair of Mike Reilly touchdowns, as kicker Sean Whyte left the game with an injured leg.
“I’ve been part of football for 30 years and this is the grittiest win I’ve ever seen,” Eskimos coach Jason Maas said. “That many guys go down, we don’t have a punter or a kicker for a good part of the second half and to be able grind out a great football team is pretty impressive. I’ve never been a part of anything like this before so I’m very proud of our locker room right now.”
Reilly ran in a pair of touchdowns and passed for two more as the Edmonton Eskimos took sole possession of first place. He said every one stepped up.
“It was rough tonight. We lost a lot of pieces that are hard to replace mid-game. But that was against a very good football team obviously on a four game win streak but our guys just got the job done. They don’t worry about stuff they can’t control.”
The Eskimos remained the only undefeated team in the league, upping their record to 5-0. The Lions dropped to 4-2, with both of their losses coming against the Eskimos.
Edmonton didn’t waste any time getting on the scoreboard, as a 65-yard passing play from Reilly to Duke Williams on the first play of the game set up a 14-yard TD pass to Brandon Zylstra just 74 seconds into the contest.
“The guys are stepping up left and right. It’s just awesome to see,” Zylstra said. “This team is so deep and guys are stepping up when they need to.”
The Eskimos added to their lead with a 44-yard field goal by Sean Whyte, before Lions kicker Ty Long nailed a 49-yarder to make it 10-3.
Edmonton had a couple of things start to go wrong late in the first quarter when Reilly threw an interception for the first time this season and running back Travon Van left the game with a neck injury.
However, Edmonton got its momentum back early in the second as Reilly connected on a pass to Vidal Hazelton, who took the ball all the way to the end zone on what would end up as a 108-yard touchdown, the longest reception in Eskimos history.
B.C. battled back late in the second quarter with a 17-yard TD pass from Travis Lulay to Emmanuel Arceneaux. Edmonton countered with a 41-yard field goal to make it 20-10 at the half.
The Lions came out roaring in the third quarter, getting a field goal and then scoring on a third-down gamble when Lulay passed for a five-yard TD to Jeremiah Johnson to tie the game up.
Edmonton regained the lead midway through the third, as an 86-yard kickoff return by Chris Edwards set up a 19-yard field goal by Whyte, who then left the game with a lower-body injury — leaving the Esks without a kicker.
“As soon as we tied it, they had a big kick return and went back ahead and really controlled the ball,” Lulay said. “I mean I really felt like we were hardly on the field in teh fourth quarter. They held posession of the football and that’s a winning effort by their football team. You’ve got to tip your hat to them. Edmonton was better today.”
The Eskimos were fortunate when what looked like a failed third-down attempt was deemed to be pass interference upon review, leading to a one-yard TD plunge by Reilly early in the fourth. The two-point convert attempt was no good.
“I think the difference is we played a better football team,” Lions coach Wally Buono said. “They played better. We continually self destructed. Too many penalties which in the long run kept their drives alive, kept us on the field and they eventually turned them into points.”
“You got to execute. That’s what it’s going to take. When you’re on the road, when you’re playing a team that’s got a little momentum and little spark going about things, you can’t make that many mistakes and I think we made too many mistakes at the wrong time and I think that’s what cost us the game,” Arceneaux said.
Reilly scored on another one-yard plunge with 2:14 remaining to build up a cushion, adding a two-point convert pass to Hazelton.
Lulay scored a two-yard rushing TD with 53 seconds remaining, with the convert attempt missed.
The Eskimos play host to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats next Friday, while the Lions head home to play the Saskatchewan Roughriders next Saturday.
Notes: All of Edmonton’s victories in its first four games came by four points or less… The Eskimos honoured long-time equipment manager Dwayne Mandrusiak, who worked his 1,000th game with the team on Friday.
(With files from the Canadian Press)
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