Game Recap: Esks Defeat Bombers

On Thursday night in Winnipeg, The Edmonton Eskimos left Investor’s Group Field victorious with a 20-16 win over the Blue Bombers.

Edmonton’s record improved to 2-1 and into a first-place tie with the BC Lions.

Edmonton’s defence gave up just one major early in the second quarter, and there were plenty of stories behind the story.

The win was Edmonton 100th over Winnipeg in franchise history.

Edmonton has now beaten Winnipeg seven straight times and Winnipeg head coach Mike O’Shea is now 0-5 against the Eskimos.

“It was a gritty win, on the road against a team that gave us everything they had,” Eskimos head coach Jason Maas told 630 CHED. “Our defence showed up for four quarters. Every single time (Winnipeg) got some momentum, we stifled it. Offensively, we did what we needed to do.

“We put up a ton of yards. The points weren’t there for the amount of yards we put up. At the end of the game, I would have like to have scored one more time to put it away. Overall, a team effort for 60 minutes, just what I knew we needed to win this game.”

After taking some heat in the early going, the defence put on a much more aggressive performance, sacking Bombers QB Drew Willy three times.

“We got pressure on the quarterback,” said Maas. “They tackled well. I look at the overall group and think they all stepped up and made plays when they had to. Gritty performance on that side of the ball.”

Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly put on a statistical show and for the third straight game got support from a pair of 100-yard receiving games.

Adarius Bowman racked up 185 yards on 10 catches, his third straight 100-yard game.

Derel Walker hauled in a 74-yard TD pass 29 seconds in the final quarter to give the Eskimos their first lead of the game after they had spotted Winnipeg an early 13-3 lead.

“The coaches talked all week about a certain look and they called it at the perfect time,” said Reilly about the game winner.

Reilly’s 465 passing yards was the second-best of his career and 10th-best in Eskimos history. After a slow start, Reilly started the comeback when he hit Cory Watson on a two-yard TD pass with three seconds left in the first half.

“A win’s a win and we’ll take it,” said Reilly. “Any time you’re on the road against a divisional opponent and you can get a win, we’ll certainly be excited about that”

Yet, Reilly believes that type of production should result in a higher score.

“This is the third week in a row where we do some stuff really, really well, but we were playing against ourselves for most of the first half and part of the second half,” said Reilly. “It’s going to get harder and harder from now on in and when you’re playing against yourself, it makes it nearly impossible.”

Edmonton’s defence kept the Bombers out of the end zone after giving up a 20-yard TD pass to Rory Kohler, a play that was set up by a 72-yard punt return by Kevin Fogg.

“Our defence played phenomenal tonight,” said Reilly. “If we can eliminate the stupid mistakes, we’re going to be really tough to beat.”

Corner Pat Watkins made a game-saving play with time running out, knocking down a desperation long ball.

“It was a lot of execution,” said Watkins. “When the plays were called, people were in the right spots. When you put a lot of effort in, it corrects a lot of mental mistakes. Everybody was on the same page.”