Two weeks remain in the CFL regular season and teams who have qualified for the post-season are trying to round their game into form. The Edmonton Eskimos will look to extend their winning streak to four games as they host the Calgary Stampeders Saturday afternoon on The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium.
The Eskimos can finish as high as second in the Western Division and host a playoff game. The more likely scenario is finishing either in third in the West or crossover into the Eastern Division. Regardless, quarterback Mike Reilly says he is looking to play their best football heading into the playoffs.
“When you’re playing good football and winning, that becomes contagious. When you’re making mistakes and losing that does as well,” Reilly said. “I’ve been saying this for a couple of weeks now. Once we made the playoffs I was less concerned about the results in terms of wins and losses and just more concerned about playing good football, having focus and making less mistakes as the season went on.”
The Eskimos picked up their third straight win and 10th of the season last week with a 35-29 win over the B.C. Lions in Vancouver. The Eskimos raced out to a 12-0 lead only to see the Lions go on a 29-1 run. The Eskimos would go on to score the final 22 points of the game as Reilly recorded his CFL leading sixth-game winning drive.
The Eskimos are first in the CFL in average passing yards per game (337.1) and in two games against the Stampeders Reilly has averaged 390.5 passing yards. The Eskimos haven’t beaten the Stampeders in the regular season since October of 2015 to the tune of four straight losses.
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The Eskimos won’t have the services of arguably their best player on defence on Saturday as Kenny Ladler will rest a minor injury. Ladler leads the Eskimos and is fourth in the CFL in defensive plays with 119, which includes a team-leading 81 defensive tackles and nine pass knockdowns. Brandyn Thompson will move from the secondary to the nickel spot in place of Ladler. Forrest Hightower will play at the wide-side halfback spot for Thompson.
Running back C.J. Gable will return to the lineup after missing last week’s game against the Lions. Gable has recorded 215 rushing yards and has scored three touchdowns in two games since being acquired by the Eskimos in a trade from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats earlier this month.
Safety Neil King and defensive back Chris Edwards will both return after missing two games with injuries. Receiver Jamill Smith will come on the roster and will likely handle kick-return duties with Edwards.
Fullback James Tuck will return after a one-game absence due to injury, he has 10 special teams tackles in six games played with the Eskimos this season. Linebacker Nehemie Kankolongo who was signed by the team this week will play his first game of the season.
Linebacker Alex Hoffman-Ellis, running backs LaDarius Perkins and Pascal Lochard along with fullback Alex Dupuis have been placed on the one-game injured list. Defensive back Brendan Morgan comes of the main roster and has been placed on the practice roster.
The following are the projected offensive and defensive starters for the Eskimos:
Offence
Quarterback: Mike Reilly
Running Back: C.J. Gable (Fullback: Calvin McCarty)
Offensive Line: Colin Kelly-David Beard-Justin Sorensen-Matt O’Donnell-D’Anthony Batiste
Receivers: Derel Walker-Adarius Bowman-Cory Watson-Brandon Zylstra-Vidal Hazelton
Defence
Defensive Line: Odell Willis-Almondo Sewell-Euclid Cummings-Philip Hunt
Linebackers: Adam Konar-Korey Jones-Brandyn Thompson
Defensive Backs: Johnny Adams-Aaron Grymes-Neil King-Forrest Hightower-Arjen Colquhoun
The Stampeders saw a number of streaks come to an end last week in a 30-7 loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The Stampeders saw their 11-game winning streak snap along with a 17-game home winning streak and 16 straight wins against the Western Division.
What does work in the Stampeders favour is their ability to bounce back; they haven’t lost back-to back games since July 2012. The Stampeders are 13-2-1 on the season including a 6-1-1 road record. They have locked up first place in the West and will host the Western Final at McMahon Stadium in Calgary on Nov. 19.
630 CHED will have live coverage of Saturday’s game starting with Countdown to Kick-off at 3:30 p.m. The opening kick-off between the Eskimos and Stampeders will be at 5 p.m. on The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium.
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