Streaking Eskimos roll into West final
WINNIPEG• The Edmonton Eskimos have now run the gamut, defeating all Canadian Football League opponents to find themselves one win away from their second Grey Cup final in three years.
A 39-32 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in front of 27,244 at Investors Group Field on Sunday has earned the Eskimos a trip to Calgary to face the first place Stampeders in next week’s West Division final.
And they’ ll bring with them a six- game win streak, after dispatching a Bombers squad that was the only team the Eskimos couldn’t beat in the regular season, having been swept in the two- game season series.
Both those results sandwiched a stretch that included all of Edmonton’s losses this year on the way to a 12- 6 record, while handing homefield advantage for Sunday’s West Division semifinal to the Bombers, who also finished 12- 6 to host their first home playoff game since 2011.
But the Eskimos ruined the homecoming party with a 334-yard, three-touchdown performance through the air by quarterback Mike Reilly, 156 receiving yards and a touchdown on eight catches by league- leading receiver Brandon Zylstra and 107 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries by running back CJ Gable.
“Anytime you have a 100-yard rusher and a 300- yard passer, I think you do your job of controlling the line of scrimmage,” Eskimos head coach Jason Maas said. “Ball security was paramount for us and we won that battle.”
Edmonton forced three turnovers, while not giving any back in return to a Bombers squad that was 0-5 in the regular season when they turned the ball over more than the opposition. Considering Winnipeg led the league with 166 points off turnovers, ball protection was key for the Eskimos, who came up with a fumble and a pair of turnovers on downs.
The biggest one came on a punt fake. A direct snap to Timothy Flanders on thirdand- three from Winnipeg’s 42 yard line resulted in a two- yard loss on a tackle by Eskimos receiver Cory Watson.
“Probably the let down was the fake punt,” Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea said of what started out as a tight, defensive game. Edmonton was leading 11-10 at that point, just three minutes into the third quarter.
“It kind of let the wind out of our sails a little bit j ust f or that moment in time. That was enough for them to get a couple of plays on us that we had to climb back out of.
“We got the look we wanted, we had a change and there was a little confusion. Maybe I should have called a timeout. I feel like I let the guys down, absolutely.”
At no point did the Bombers give up, taking a 10-7 lead back after Edmonton scored on a 17- yard touchdown re- ception by Adarius Bowman, his first of two scores on the night, to mark the sixth time this season the Eskimos found the end zone on their opening drive.
Matt Nichols, who played the entire game despite a calf injury that limited his practice time during the same week that saw the birth of his second daughter, completed 35 of 48 passes for 371 yards and three touchdowns.
But it was Gable’s first of two rushing touchdowns — one that involved him trucking 15 yards through tackles before his offensive line pushed the pile over the goal- line, while the other saw him hurdle a defender into the end zone — and a 30- yard touchdown toss to Zylstra that saw the Eskimos pull ahead to take a 25-16 lead into the final frame.
An Eskimos team that was outscored by the opposition in each of the first three quarters all season l ong benefited once again from a strong finish, after having outscored opponents 213116 in fourth quarters and overtime over their 18-game schedule.
They added to those totals as Reilly and Bowman connected on a 42-yard touchdown pass ahead of Gable’s second trip to the end zone, which followed up a fumble by Bombers receiver Weston Dressler, to lead 39-16.
While Nichols responded with three straight touchdown passes over the final eight minutes, it proved too little, too late against an Eskimos team that came up with perhaps their cleanest outing of the year.
“On penalties, we were the most disciplined team out there,” Maas said. “They had five penalties, we had four penalties, so I was very proud of the fact that things we talk about in our lockerroom as being important to us, we showed tonight that we are able to win ball games when we’re able to do all of those things.”
Extra points: Temperature at kickoff was - 8 C. ... A moment of silence was held in remembrance of fallen soldiers prior to the signing of the national anthem.
ANY TIME YOU HAVE A 100YARD RUSHER AND A 300YARD PASSER, I THINK YOU DO YOUR JOB OF CONTROLLING THE LINE OF SCRIMMAGE.