ESKIMOS PLAY ROUGH

Crush Riders in exhibition debut

There were 152 players lined up in full uniform standing on the sidelines for O Canada prior to Sunday’s CFL pre-season game between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Edmonton Eskimos at Commonwealth Stadium.

Sixty-six of them were Roughriders. Eighty-six of them were Eskimos.

Normally to see that many players lined up on a sideline for a game, you’d have to go to an NCAA game in Norman, between the Oklahoma Sooners and Notre Dame Fighting Irish or somewhere. At least, that was the game of the season in U.S. college football a couple of years back that your correspondent covered. And just to spice it up, a rich OU alumni member sent a jumbo jet to fly in the 250-member Notre Dame marching band to be part of proceedings.

With no cut-down deadlines through camp, there is an unrestricted number of players you can take into a pre-season game in Randy Ambrosie’s league.

It was more likely the 25C temperatures for the first-ever May football game and earliest pre-season game in CFL history that attracted 28,374 to Commonwealth Stadium to watch the predictable 35-12 Eskimos win than the cast of thousands. But it was interesting to watch the coaches try to get players in long enough to evaluate.

Riders head coach Chris Jones decided to leave 21 players he had pencilled in as starters back at camp in Saskatchewan, as will be the case with Jason Maas with his Eskimos starters when the team takes a same-day flight to Winnipeg to play the Bombers on Friday.

So it was CFL Most Outstanding Player Mike Reilly and the starting offence against Saskatchewan’s not quite ready for prime time players. And it was surgery.

Riders head coach Chris Jones decided to leave 21 players he had pencilled in as starters back at camp.

Reilly put together a 59-yard drive and returned to deliver a 75-yard drive for a 14-0 lead. Six and a half minutes remained in the first quarter and Reilly had completed five of six for 69 yards with a QB efficiency rating of 158.3 and was done for the preseason.

He won’t be on the plane to Winnipeg until the Eskimos return June 14 to open the regular season against the Bombers, although he’ll be back at Commonwealth Stadium next Sunday for Fan Day.

Kevin Glenn was given the rest of the half with liberal substitutions and managed to produce his own touchdown drive in going 10 for 13 for 131 yards.

Maas guaranteed in his Saturday afternoon pre-game press gathering: “You’re going to see some new guys, guys you’ve never heard of make plays.” And indeed you did.

If you were looking to see if there was a third-string quarterback behind Reilly and Glenn who could step up and do what Ricky Ray did when starter Maas was injured in 2002, the only time the Eskimos have managed to get to a Grey Cup game in Edmonton, Zach Kline from Fresno State certainly had to grab your attention.

Seldom do you see a quarterback sneak touchdown celebrated to the extent Kline did after he completed 25-yard pass to Harry McMaster to get it to the one. Kline’s enthusiasm was infectious as he made his way back to the bench.

It certainly wasn’t Danny O’Brien who was two for seven, with an interception or Eli Jenkins who didn’t get into the game until late in the fourth quarter.

Seventeen different Eskimos caught passes including Juron Criner with six and Shaquelle Cooper (who also carried four times) with three.

But it was on defence where the Eskimos made a lot of changes, where there were some eyebrows raised.

In the third quarter, Eskimos fans watched Ole Miss grad Gerald Rivers, listed second on the depth chart at defensive end behind Alex Bazzie, register back-to-back sacks.

Josh Woodman impressed with an interception. Defensive back Money Hunter looked like a player.

On special teams, Jamal Smith had four kickoff returns for 100 yards and was going to enjoy the film room reviews.

You get the idea. Despite both coaches somehow appearing to manage to get everybody into the game, it looked like they both learned a lot of the things they wanted to learn. And in the case of the Eskimos, fans saw a team that played with enthusiasm and excitement.

Hard not to get excited on this Edmonton Grey Cup host year for a lot of fans, I suspect. But with all the starters staying home when the Eskimos heading to Winnipeg, don’t be shocked if it’s not the same game in reverse over there.