Earlier this week, Edmonton Eskimos head coach Jason Maas said the additions of linebacker Korey Jones and defensive back Brandyn Thompson would make a difference to both his defence and his entire football.
On Saturday night, Thompson registered five defensive tackles while Jones recorded three and intercepted Toronto Argonauts quarterback Ricky Ray with 31 seconds left in the fourth quarter to seal a 30-27 win for the Eskimos, who clinched a playoff spot for the fourth straight season.
“The stars aligned from the last couple of games watching them, we had to take care of business against a playoff team,” Maas said. “A tough fought battle, but I loved our result. I loved the way we worked all night, and when it mattered most the offense stepped up, the defence stepped up, and the special teams stepped up. I couldn’t be more prouder of the group knowing what our season’s been like, the good and the bad, and this has just gotten gooder, I guess.”
LISTEN: Head Coach Jason Maas speaks after win
The Eskimos trailed the Argos 27-23 with under three minutes to go in the game.
Receiver Derel Walker scored the winning touchdown with 57 seconds left in the fourth quarter, thanks to a six-yard touchdown pass from Mike Reilly. It was the fifth game-winning drive engineered by Reilly this season. Receiver Brandon Zylstra converted a third and 10 from the Argos 52 yard line catching a 31 yard pass down to the 21 yard line. The Argos were called for pass interference on the previous play, which put the ball on their six-yard line before Walker provided the heroics.
“I just was going to try everything I could do to get in the end zone,” Walker said. “Most definitely I saw that ball all the way into the touchback; the fundamentals. When you drop a ball like I did, it really killed the drive for us. I think we wound up getting a field goal and not a touchdown that we needed. So with that being said, when it was time for that last touchdown to come, the last play call we had I made sure I caught that ball and saw it all into the tuck and just made sure I got into the end zone.”
Reilly was 23 of 40 for 309 yards passing, throwing for one touchdown and one interception. Reilly also scored on a 28-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
“I thought it was two teams standing in there throwing blows at each other,” Reilly said. “They got the better of us a couple of times, we got the better of them a couple of times, but that last drive was huge.”
“To be quite honest with you, I don’t really care which way that we go. As long as we’re playing our best football. We’ve got basically three weeks to do whatever we’ve got to do to make sure that we’re firing on all cylinders and this was a step in the right direction.”
LISTEN: Quarterback Mike Reilly talks post game
Derel Walker finished the game with eight catches for 82 yards and a touchdown. Zylstra recorded his league-leading ninth 100-yard receiving game, recording 147 yards. Running back C.J. Gable recorded his second-straight 100-yard rushing game as an Eskimo and his third overall with 104 yards rushing and a touchdown.
Argos head coach Marc Trestman knows these two teams could meet again.
“We know what’s ahead of us,” Trestman said. “We know we’ve got a chance to get better, and we know there’s opportunity there to know that eventually we’re going to play a playoff game at BMO. Really it can be up to us, to some degree, whether we get to play one with a bye week or not. They’re optimistic about that opportunity. They know that we’ve got two weeks to work and get better and go out and win a couple of games and that’s what we’re going to focus on doing.”
The Eskimos have clinched at least a crossover spot into the Eastern Division. The win also moves the 9-6 Eskimos into sole possession of third place in the Western Division, two points up on the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
The Eskimos visit the B.C. Lions next Saturday at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver.
Comments