Eskimos sit 16 starters in tie with Blue Bombers
Fourth-string QB sparks late Edmonton rally in team’s final pre-season matchup
WINNIPEG It was the Winnipeg Blue Bombers versus the Edmonton Green and Gold on Thursday.
After all, how can you call Edmonton’s team the Eskimos with the likes of reigning Canadian Football League passing-yards leader Mike Reilly, reigning receiving-yards leader Adarius Bowman and perennial all-star defensive tackle Almondo Sewell wearing sweats on the sidelines of Investors Group Field?
In all, the Eskimos sat six starters on defence and 10 on offence, putting their depth under the microscope against Winnipeg ’s first-stringers to close out their 2017 pre-season schedule with a 38-38 tie in a penalty-filled affair.
For the second time in a row, the game came down to a two-point convert in the dying seconds for Edmonton, while the Bombers tied both their pre-season games.
The Eskimos finished their exhibition schedule 0-1-1, thanks to a recovered on-side kick in the final minute Thursday to set up a 22-yard touchdown pass from Zach Kline to John Harris before Marion Grice ran in the tying two points on the conversion.
But it was all Edmonton early on, despite facing Winnipeg ’s starters in a first half that ended 17-17.
The Eskimos second-teamers took a 17-3 lead under the guidance of second-string quarterback James Franklin, who completed 11 of 16 passes for 133 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown pass to standout rookie receiver Duke Williams.
The Bombers, who committed five penalties before even taking their first snap of the game, got on the board with a 32-yard field goal by Felix Mernard-Briere, before Sean Whyte answered with a 14-yard pitch through the uprights for Edmonton.
The Eskimos came up with a big turnover on the ensuing kickoff return, when Mercy Maston forced a fumble on Matt Smalley that was recovered by Grice to close out the first quarter.
But they couldn’t turn it into points, as a short-yardage attempt by Franklin was stuffed by defensive tackle Jake Thomas.
Edmonton bounced back as rookie running back LaDarius Perkins went on a 49-yard jailbreak to take a 14-point lead with 10 minutes to go in the half.
But that’s all the time Bombers quarterback Matt Nichols needed, as he put together a pair of drives to knot things up by the midway mark.
The first covered 69 yards on five plays that ended in a seven-yard completion to Clarence Denmark in the end zone, before a nine-play drive covered 87 yards, including a 43-yard bomb to Darvin Adams with 37 seconds left in the half.
Nichols’ numbers were impressive against his former club, backups or not, completing 19 of 24 passes for 227 yards, the two touchdowns and no interceptions.
With league-wide cut-downs scheduled for Saturday, the secondand third-stringers took over the rest of the way for both sides as the coaches’ focus shifted to evaluating depth.
Dom Davis aired out a 60-yard pass to L’Damian Washington before the quarterback carried it the rest of the way for a seven-yard touchdown scramble to give Winnipeg its first lead of the night, 24-17, to end the third quarter with a four-play, 102-yard scoring drive.
Davis gave way to third-stringer Dan LeFevour in the final frame, resulting in a pass-interference call against Eskimos rookie defensive back Kent London on a pass intended for Ryan Lankford three yards from the goal-line.
LeFevour took the next snap the rest of the way for a 31-17 lead.
Not to be outdone, fourth-string quarterback Zach Kline took over for the Eskimos, looking to build on a 90-yard touchdown pass in his one-and-only snap in Edmonton’s first pre-season game.
This time, he threw a 30-yard pass intended for Anthony Barrett that resulted in pass interference that set Edmonton up six yards from the end zone.
Grice finished things off with a two-yard touchdown plunge to trail 31-23, as Sean Whyte missed his second convert kick in as many pre-season games.
Timothy Flanders came up with a 46-yard run to add to Winnipeg ’s lead with five minutes left, before Grice added a one-yard touchdown dive in the final minute to set up the on-side kick attempt.
O’Brien completed four of seven passes for 45 yards with an interception, while Kline finished 10for-17 for 127 yards and the touchdown.
Penalties were once again a concern for the Eskimos, who were flagged 18 times for 193 yards Thursday, following up on 17 infractions that cost them 135 yards in Sunday’s loss to the Calgary Stampeders.
Winnipeg was right on pace with 16 penalties for 205 yards.
IN AND OUT
Bombers WR T.J. Thorpe left in the opening quarter with a lowerbody injury.
NEXT UP
The Eskimos are off Friday and Saturday, as league-wide cut-down to a 46-man active roster plus practice squad has a deadline of 8 p.m. Saturday.