Reilly powers Esks to win

Mike Reilly passed for three touchdowns and took one in himself as the Edmonton Eskimos came away with a 4024 victory over the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday.

Reilly was 33 for 42 passing for 424 yards to help the Eskimos (6-3) earn their fourth win in the past five games.

He surpassed the 25,000 mark for passing yards in his CFL career in the game.

Antonio Pipkin started at quarterback for the Alouettes (1-8) with Johnny Manziel out with a concussion.

Montreal (1-8) has lost six games in a row and has only one victory to show from its last 20 games. Pipkin is the fifth QB the Alouettes have started in that six-game losing skid.

Edmonton got a 38-yard field goal from Sean Whyte on its opening drive, and added to that on the Eskimos second drive when Reilly hit replacement running back Shaq Cooper for an 11-yard passing touchdown.

An Eskimos to attempt a short kick backfired and allowed Montreal to get on the board as a drive by QB Antonio Pipkin was capped off by a four-yard trip into the end zone by Eugene Lewis.

Reilly started the second off with a 10-yard TD pass to Duke Williams, who drew a penalty for Edmonton after the play by crawling through a sign in the end zone.

The Alouettes bounced right back as Pipkin took it in himself from the one for his first CFL touchdown.

Edmonton restored its 10point advantage late in the second as a Reilly floater was tracked down by Bryant Mitchell for a 13-yard TD, followed up by a 49-yard Whyte field goal in the final minute.

Whyte added a 35-yarder midway through the third, with a punt single coming from the Als, before another Whyte field goal to start the fourth.

Boris Bede then put three points on the board for Montreal.

Reilly scored from the one with six minutes left to make it 40-18.

A minute later Montreal’s BJ Cunningham reeled in a 22yard TD pass.

The Eskimos hit the road in Hamilton next Thursday, while the Alouettes return home to host Toronto next Friday.

Notes:

The three Montreal quarterbacks came into the game with a combined 53 completions in their CFL careers. Edmonton entered the game with a nine-game winning streak against the Als. With running back CJ Gable out with an injury, Cooper got his first CFL start for the Eskimos. The heavy smoke blanketing the town for several days from forest fires in B.C. meant it came down to a game day decision whether or not it had cleared enough to play.