Two quick-strike, third-quarter touchdowns carried the Edmonton Eskimos to a 29-20 victory over the Calgary Stampeders on Saturday to keep alive their hopes for a second-place finish in the CFL West Division.
Quarterback Mike Reilly hit Brandon Zylstra and Adarius Bowman with scoring passes to break open an 8-6 lead and spark the Eskimos (11-6) to their fourth straight victory.
The loss was Calgary’s second straight, but the Stampeders (13-3-1) had already clinched first place long ago.
Edmonton will play Saskatchewan in Regina next weekend to determine the second, third and fourth place finishes in the West.
Edmonton is now tied with Winnipeg with 22 points, two up on the Roughriders.
The first quarter was about as uneventful as 15 minutes of CFL action could be, with the teams combining for just 103 yards total offence, and neither coming even close to threatening to score.
It took the game’s first turnover early in the second Edmonton came up short on third-and-one on its own 47-yard line to create a scoring chance.
The Stamps, trying to rebound from last weekend’s 30-7 loss to Roughriders, moved the ball to the Edmonton 10 before stalling and settling for a 17-yard Rene Paredes field goal.
The Eskimos, who have been plagued by injuries since training camp, lost defensive back Brandyn Thompson on the series with a lower-body injury.
By John Korobanik (The Canadian Press)<
We weren't good enough on special teams we had poor field position throughout the game." DD
— Sports On News Talk (@SportsOn770) October 29, 2017
Dave Dickenson "Did we play our best football...no...the effort and our guys believing was excellent."
— Sports On News Talk (@SportsOn770) October 29, 2017
Comments