YOU’RE NEXT, CALGARY
Eskimos running back C.J. Gable, left, and quarterback Mike Reilly celebrate Gable’s winning touchdown against the Blue Bombers during the second half of their western semifinal in Winnipeg on Sunday. The Esks will play the Stamps this Sunday.
It took Mike Reilly until the second half to get them all sharp.
But when he did, the Edmonton Eskimos quarterback simply had too many weapons as he sliced and diced the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to death.
Football games generally come down to a handful of plays and the Eskimos went from one handful to another.
In the first half of the West Division Semifinal here Sunday, it looked like it would come down to dropped passes by Vidal Hazelton, Adarius Bowman, Derel Walker, Brandon Zylstra and Calvin McCarty.
But it turned out to be a failed third down gamble by Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea early in the third quarter, followed by a carry-a-carload-of-defenders-on-his-back 15-yard touchdown run by C.J. Gable, that gave the Edmonton Eskimos the lead.
“I feel like I let the guys down,” said O’Shea of the gamble on the Winnipeg 42 that swung the game.
That was followed by consecutive 43-yard and 33-yard passes to Zylstra and a 42-yard (couldn’t-be-more-wide-open) scoring toss to Bowman to turn the contest into a 39-16 rout that the Bombers heroically tried to overcome, but couldn’t close the gap on before the final gun.
In the end, it was 39-32 in favour of Edmonton, making it six wins in a row, following six losses in a row, following seven wins in a row for the Eskimos in this insane season of injuries.
If the first-half Eskimos show up Sunday in McMahon Stadium, their season will end there. If the second-half Eskimos show up, new CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie will be handing them the Grey Cup a week later in Ottawa.
The two teams weren’t only tied 10-10 on the scoreboard at the half, they were just two yards apart in net offence in the first home playoff game since 2011 for the Bombers, which drew 27,244 in 33,350-seat Investors Group Field.
But then the third quarter happened.
In the end, Zylstra, Reilly and Gable were the three stars.
Despite all those dropped balls, Reilly completed 23 of 33 passes for 334 yards, Zylstra caught eight of the nine that he was targeted on for 159 yards and Gable ran 16 times for 107 yards and two touchdowns.
“Any time those three players are on the field and healthy, they are tough to stop,” said head coach Jason Maas. “They have proven that through the course of their time playing with one another.
“Obviously C.J. has only been here for a third of our season, but when he’s on the field and doing the things that he’s capable of doing and our offensive line is opening up those holes, we’re a dangerous team.
“Any time Mike is making good decisions and is given time to throw it he’s going to have a game like that.
“And you look at Zylstra. Everything you’ve seen he’s been doing over and over. He comes up with plays every single game that help us win.
“The three of them are a great combo and obviously they showed up tonight. But when they are going like they were going it happens because the whole offence is working.”
Reilly said Zylstra has been remarkable.
“He gets better and better every week.”
Zylstra, who had double digits in his two playoff games last year, was asked what it was like to come up big in the playoffs.
“It’s cool, but I don’t want to talk about it as something I did. It’s something this offence did.
It’s something I can’t do on my own. This offence relies on everybody doing their jobs. The only thing I had to do was catch the ball when it was thrown to me.”
He’s doing exactly what Walker was doing last year, something that resulted in him attending an NFL training camp. Zylstra refused to bite on that question.
“I promise you, that’s not on my mind right now. The only thing that’s on my mind right now is Calgary.”
Gable had a quiet first half but exploded in the second.
“He’s been great,” said Reilly, adding that Gable’s run he had after the Bombers’s failed gamble with all those tacklers draped all over him was remarkable.
“I’ve never seen anything like that before. He just keeps his legs pumping and its hard to tackle him. He’s got the speed. He’s got the strength. He’s got the smarts.
“That drive he had in the fourth quarter was a huge drive. I just had that feeling, with C.J. and the offensive line, that they just weren’t going to be stopped.”
The Eskimos, attempting to win only their second Grey Cup without playing a home game, are playing with the same kind of momentum they had in 2015 when Reilly led them to 10 straight wins to end the season.
The win over Winnipeg sent the Eskimos to their 46th West Final in the team’s 69-year history, with a chance to advance to their 26th Grey Cup appearance and win their 15th title, all records over that span.
The Bombers extended their streak to 27 seasons without winning the Grey Cup.
When you have history, the idea is to make it keep repeating itself.