Esks let one slip away in Hamilton
14-point lead slips away as Tiger Cats win by single point on late field goal
A dying-second field goal was the difference Thursday at Tim Hortons Field.
The Eskimos came back from a 10-point deficit after the first quarter, only to cough up a 14-point lead of their own on the way to a 25-24 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in a game made up entirely of wild momentum swings.
The victory gives Hamilton, which improved to 4-5 on the season to move into second place in the East Division, a clean sweep of the two-game season series against Edmonton, following a 38-21 win at Commonwealth Stadium in Week 2 that stands as the most points the Eskimos surrendered in a game this year.
On Thursday, Edmonton gave up 552 yards of net offence to fall to 6-4 and are now in danger of losing sole possession of second place in the West Division ahead of next week’s Labour Day Classic against the first-place Calgary Stampeders.
“We didn’t play well enough in the second half,” said Eskimos head coach Jason Maas, whose net-yards-leading offence was held off the scoreboard in three whole quarters. “We had opportunities in the second half to get them off the field, for us to stay on the field and just didn’t do it. They played better than us in the fourth quarter and obviously ended up winning the game because of it.”
Ticats quarterback Jeremiah Masoli completed 27 of 44 passes for 419 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions, engineering the game-winning drive from his own 38 yard-line with 1:32 left in the fourth quarter to set up a 29-yard field goal by Lirim Hajrullahu as the final seconds ticked off.
Alex Green rushed 19 times for 104 yards and a touchdown, and Luke Tasker posted game highs of nine catches for 156 yards and a touchdown for the win.
Reigning Canadian Football League most outstanding player Mike Reilly completed 15 of 25 passes for 250 yards and three touchdowns, while C.J. Gable rushed eight times for 81 yards and caught three balls for 35 more in his first game back in Hamilton since getting traded to Edmonton in the fall.
Duke Williams added to his league-leading tally with three receptions for 116 yards and a touchdown, while the guy right behind him at No. 2 overall, Derel Walker, made four catches for 59 yards and two touchdowns.
“We’ve got to be more consistent,” Reilly said. “We’ve got to be moving the chains for four quarters, we can’t just hit it in bursts.
“We’ll break down the film and figure out the details of what we need to do to get better.”
Edmonton’s defence looked to set the tone early, as linebacker J.C. Sherritt intercepted Masoli’s first pass of the game.
But with the Eskimos punting away all three of their first-quarter possessions, Hamilton took a 10-0 leadintothesecondquarterona25yard field goal and a nine-play, 83yard drive that ended in a 10-yard touchdown rush by Green.
The second quarter belonged to the Eskimos, who posted 24 straight points to send the Ticats into halftime amid sparse boos from the stands that held a crowd of 23,281.
After Sean Whyte hit a 52-yard field goal that tied his seasonlong, Edmonton pulled even with a 36-yard touchdown catch by Derel Walker after Brandon Banks fumbled the ball away to Eskimos safety Josh Woodman.
Edmonton took the lead on a 95-yard catch and run into the end zone by Williams, who took full advantage of the league’s new relaxed policy on touchdown celebrations, by sitting down with Vidal Hazelton and Kenny Stafford for a game of hot potato with the football.
Hamilton committed a third turnover on an interception by Forrest Hightower, before defensive pass interference against Mariel Cooper put the Esks in striking distance for a 17-yard touchdown reception by Walker to take a 14-point lead into the third quarter.
And that’s about where the Eskimos checked out, surrendering a 31-yard field goal off a fumble by Gable, as Hajrullahu went on to finish four-for-five between the uprights.
Masoli found Tasker for a 51-yard tackle-slipping catch and run into the end zone, before the tying twopoint convert fell incomplete, setting the stage for the finish.
The Eskimos return to action next at Calgary’s McMahon Stadium for the inaugural Battle of Alberta of the season on Monday, Sept. 3, against the Stampeders (1 p.m., TSN, ESPN+, 630 CHED).
They played better than us in the fourth quarter and obviously ended up winning the game because of it.