A CLASSIC CASE OF REVENGE
Esks draw on 2015 victory over Calgary that propelled them to Grey Cup title
There are only a dozen left.
It was only three seasons ago, but there are 12 members of the Edmonton Eskimos who remember the Labour Day rematch of 2015.
Mike Reilly. Calvin McCarty. Kenny Stafford. Derel Walker. Matt O’Donnell. Justin Sorensen. Almondo Sewell. Korey Jones. J.C. Sherritt. Aaron Grymes. Ryan King. Sean Whyte.
But for this core group — it was announced Thursday Walker is out for six to eight weeks — it’s a memory to share with the new members of the team as they prepare to play the back end of the annual Labour Day week doubleheader Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium.
They were there in 2015 when the Eskimos lost 16-7 on that Monday in Calgary.
When the Eskimos returned from that game in 2015, not one player wearing green and gold was on the team the last time they won a Labour Day rematch. The Eskimos had lost 11 straight to the Stampeders and eight straight at their home stadium that generally attracts the largest crowd of the season in the CFL.
As a result of that 2015 Labour Day loss at McMahon Stadium, Edmonton fell four points back of the 8-2 Stampeders and took a modest 6-4 record into the 27th Labour Day replay game in Edmonton.
As it turned out, Reilly returned to start at quarterback for the first time since injuring his knee in the opening game of the season and the Eskimos went on to win 27-16.
That year the two teams played each other three times and Edmonton returned to Calgary and won the rubber match 15-11.
Both teams would end up 14-4 for the season with Edmonton taking first place by virtue of winning two of three against Calgary. They would go on to beat the Stampeders 45-31 in the West Final en route to the Grey Cup, where they would win the team’s 14th title.
Fast-forward three seasons ahead.
With the current Stampeders at 9-1 and the Eskimos sitting at 6-5, any chance of the Eskimos finishing first are next to nil. But that doesn’t mean a win Saturday can’t have the same effect for this team trying to make it into the 106th Grey Cup game in Edmonton one way or the other.
“You can see the similarities to 2015. You could see how hard we played them in Calgary and just couldn’t find a way to win down there,” said Sherritt.
“When we won back here, it catapulted us into our (Grey Cup) run,” he said, alluding to their eight-game winning streak to end the season.
“I absolutely see similarities going into this game this year as the one here in 2015,” said centre Sorensen.
“We definitely played well enough to win in Calgary and I think we have a great chance of beating them this weekend. A win could definitely turn our season around and lead to stringing a bunch of wins together.
“I think if we can get the win this weekend, it will show a lot of guys that we’re a good team and that we can be a great team. If we can win, it will give everybody confidence on the team. I think that would be a very, very beneficial thing.”
Grymes was new to the team in 2015, but believes the motivation that came out of losing on Labour Day gave birth to what followed.
“We went down there and played a hard-fought game that was close and went down to the wire and we used that hunger to kind of fuel our fire for the rematch.
“Obviously we’re hoping to use our hunger resulting from our loss down there to win the next game.”
Five-time all-star Sewell is of the same mindset.
“This is a very young team. We’re not a veteran team anymore. We’re young. And it can be a momentum kind of thing. It breeds confidence.
“We came back from that loss on Labour Day in Calgary, made a couple of adjustments and beat them here. From there it was a momentum thing.”
We’ll leave the last word to Reilly, who was the 2015 Grey Cup MVP.
“I think every season you talk about this week. You talk about how it can be a potential turning point, positive or negative,” he said. “In the past two years, they’ve got us in both of these games. That set the tone for the rest of the season. We still made it to division finals, but we didn’t finish in those.
“In 2015, we didn’t win the Labour Day game, but we did win the rematch game and it kind of propelled the rest of our season. The opportunity is still the same, for sure.
“But we’re just going to go out there and try to make amends for Monday ’s game. We’re close. Close makes you a good team, not a great team.”