Eskimos’ Grey Cup dreams end up twisting in the wind
Roller-coaster season comes to an end against Stamps in West Division final
CALGARY The Edmonton Eskimos will not be going to their second Grey Cup final in three years.
And a 32-28 loss to the first-place Calgary Stampeders in front of 30,116 at McMahon Stadium during Sunday’s West Division final will send their southern rivals to Ottawa for the 105th Grey Cup.
Making their second championship final appearance in a row, Calgary will face the Toronto Argonauts, who pulled out a 25-21 comeback win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the East Division final.
It was Calgary’s first win in four games after dropping their last three of the regular season with the first-round bye already locked up, after putting to bed an Eskimos squad that was coming in on a sixgame win streak.
It was the 13th divisional final meeting between the provincial rivals, with Calgary earning a 7-6 historic advantage.
Mike Reilly completed 23 of 38 passes for 348 yards and a touchdown after leading the league with an Eskimos’ record 5,830 passing yards this season, while his Calgary counterpart, Bo Levi Mitchell, completed 20 of 32 for 228 yards and a touchdown.
Just like their season started on a seven-game win streak before dropping six in a row on the way to a 12-6 record, Edmonton took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, only to trail 22-15 at halftime.
But instead of rebounding with a strong finish, like they did going 5-0 down the stretch, the Eskimos witnessed why Calgary was the king of the hill on a 13-4-1 season, taking advantage of both the crowd noise and their familiarity with swirling, windy conditions on the field, despite an unseasonably warm 5 C temperature at kickoff.
“It was a crazy wind,” said Eskimos head coach Jason Maas. “We took the ball in the second half, and had we not taken the ball, I wouldn’t know which way to take it because it seemed like it was swirling all over the place, so we just decided to take the ball and let them deal with it.”
Trailing by seven with five minutes to go, Edmonton gave themselves an opportunity to tie the game after Reilly took the snap on third-and-10 and hit a slanting Brandon Zylstra for a 31-yard gain into the red zone.
The next set of downs resulted Maas sending Sean Whyte in to kick a 20-yard field goal on thirdand-four with less than two minutes to go.
While questions around the decision swirled through the postgame press conference much like the litter out on the field, Whyte said it’s not his job to question a call.
“To be honest, I didn’t know what was going on until after I made the kick and people were talking about it,” said the veteran kicker, who came in having hit 17 of 18 field-goal attempts over an injury-shortened year, but missed twice in the wind to finish two-forfour on Sunday. “Whatever Maas called, Maas called and we’ve got to execute it. He’s got a game plan and we’re the players.
“We didn’t execute today, that’s it.”
The game ended with Eskimos kick returner Jamill Smith bobbling the game’s lone turnover on a punt return in the dying seconds, which was recovered by Stampeders long-snapper Pierre-Luc Caron to seal the victory.
But it was all Edmonton in the beginning, answering a pair of two-and-outs by the Stampeders with back-to-back touchdowns for a 14-0 lead. C.J. Gable swept into the end zone from eight yards out to record Edmonton’s second opening-drive touchdown of the playoffs and seventh of the year, before Derel Walker followed up a six-yard reception with a 69-yard touchdown catch and run into the end zone.
But Calgary bounced back to outscore Edmonton 30-1 over a span of 24:43 thanks, primarily, to finding traction on a ground game that ended up averaging 9.6 yards on 19 combined carries for a 182-yard outing, as both teams finished with 400 yards of net offence.
“They jumped out on us and looked like they were going to run away with it,” said Dave Dickenson, who will play in his second Grey Cup in as many seasons as Calgary’s head coach. “A lot of fight from our players, we came back and I felt like we were in control.
“To me, it was a classic. It’s always a classic when you win though.”
Vidal Hazelton had game-highs of seven catches for 113 yards, while Walker ended up with six catches for 112 and the touchdown. Calgary’s Kamar Jordan was right on their heels with six catches for 111 yards, while Roy Finch led the way with 81 yards — including a 50yard jail break into the end zone to to take a 22-15 lead heading into halftime — on four carries.
“I’m proud of the way my guys fought and I’m proud of my (coaching ) staff the whole year and management,” said fullback Calvin McCarty, the elder statesman of the Eskimos locker-room in his 11th CFL season. “I’m not here to point the fingers. If you really point the fingers, you’d point them at us.
“We didn’t make enough plays.”
Whatever Maas called, Maas called and we’ve got to execute it. He’s got a game plan and we’re the players.