The injury plagued Edmonton Eskimos saw their undefeated streak end as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers handed them their first loss of the season by a score of 33-26 Thursday night at Investors Group Field.
Winnipeg running back Andrew Harris was electric, rushing for 105 yards and also pilling up 120 yards receiving in the game.
It didn’t start well for the Eskimos but defence came up big on the Bombers’ first drive and forced Winnipeg to settle for a 22-yard field goal to take the 3-0 lead with 8:58 left in the first quarter.
Fast forward to the second quarter, when the Blue Bombers struck again.
Dan Lefevour snuck one in from the one-yard line as Winnipeg took a 10-0 lead with 6:28 to go in the first half.
The Eskimos got on the board a few minutes later when Hugh O’Neill hit a 31-yard field goal to cut the lead down to 10-3.
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But the Blue Bombers answered right back with a 25-yard catch by Darvin Adams to restore Winnipeg’s lead to 17-3 with just 0:19 before halftime.
Winnipeg completely dominated the Eskimos in time of possession heading into the third quarter.
The Blue Bombers had 20:11 with the ball in the first half, while the Eskimos had just 9:49.
Edmonton started the second half strong though.
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After Vidal Hazelton left the game with an injury, Kenny Stafford stepped up and hauled in a 40-yard pass from quarterback Mike Reilly 3:27 into the quarter to cut the Blue Bombers’ lead down to 17-10.
Five minutes later though, Winnipeg responded.
Matt Nichols snuck in from the one-yard line with 8:46 left to go in the third quarter to give the Blue Bombers a 24-17 lead.
Medlock put two more through the uprights – one late in the third quarter and another in the fourth quarter – to extend Winnipeg’s lead to 30-17.
After that score, the Eskimos came right back up the field. Cory Watson had a huge run to bring the ball down to the four-yard line.
Mike Reilly dove one in to cut the Blue Bombers’ lead to 30-23 with 5:42 to go in the game.
O’Neill missed the point after.
That score would hold up until Medlock hit another field goal, this time a 33-yarder, to extend the Blue Bombers lead to 33-23 with 1:22 to go in the game.
O’Neill hit one more field goal with 0:14 to go to cut the lead to 33-26.
That would hold up as the final score.
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The bad news didn’t end on the scoreboard for Edmonton either.
Vidal Hazelton, J.S. Roy and Korey Jones all left the game and did not return, adding to the long list of injuries for Edmonton this season. Defensive backs Brandyn Thompson, Johnny Adams, and Andrew Lue also left the game.
Reilly was once again a bright spot on the banged-up Eskimos roster. He went 20/33 for 356 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in the game.
Reilly said the team dug themselves a hole in the first half.
“We just didn’t really do anything well in the first half,” Reilly said. “Which is unfortunate, because we’ve been playing pretty good football to start the games the last month or so. I don’t think that we came out flat, I just think that we came out and didn’t execute. We were just a little bit off.”
Head coach Jason Maas said the Eskimos won’t be dwelling on the loss.
“I’m very proud of our group,” Maas said. “We’ve used just about every single person on our roster tonight, and basically used every player in our organization to get to this point. I love the fight in our group.
“I know one thing, this team is going to be excited to go to work on Sunday. They’re going to be excited about Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. And then getting ready to play (Saskatchewan) will energize this club.”
The Eskimos will look to get back in the win column as they host the Saskatchewan Roughriders next Friday on the Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium.
Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. 630 CHED will have all the action starting with the Countdown to Kickoff at 6 p.m.
– With files from The Canadian Press, 630 CHED’s Dave Campbell and Global News’ Phil Heidenreich
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