Eskimos, Bombers settle for tie in pre-season finale
WINNIPEG — Zach Kline connected with John Harris for a 22-yard touchdown and Marion Grice had a two-point convert as the Edmonton Eskimos salvaged a 38-38 road tie against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Thursday in CFL pre-season action.
In Winnipeg’s first pre-season game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the game ended in a 25-25 tie on June 10. No overtime is played in the CFL preseason.
Dominque Davis and Dan LeFevour — the Bombers’ backup quarterbacks — both scored on second-half touchdown runs on Thursday to help Winnipeg get the lead.
Davis engineered a four-play, 102-yard drive, capping it off with a seven-yard TD run at 14:37 of the third quarter.
The score gave Winnipeg its first lead of the game, a 24-17 edge in front of 24,934 fans at Investors Group Field.
LeFevour started the fourth and got help from an Edmonton pass-interference call that moved the ball 38 yards to the Eskimos’ three-yard line. LeFevour then ran the three yards for the major at 1:30 and a 31-17 lead.
Edmonton running back Marion Grice would make it 31-23 after a two-yard run and a missed convert by Sean Whyte, but Bombers running back Timothy Flanders busted loose for a 46-yard TD run at 9:48 for the 38-23 lead.
Grice scored his second TD of the game with 59 seconds left on a one-yard plunge to close the gap 38-30 with a good Whyte convert.
With nine seconds left, Esks backup QB Kline hit Harris to close within 38-36. A two-point convert pass was incomplete, but a Winnipeg penalty gave Edmonton another crack. Grice ran in from one yard to knot the score.
Winnipeg veteran receivers Clarence Denmark and Darvin Adams each caught balls in the end zone for TDs from starting quarterback Matt Nichols.
Edmonton also got touchdowns from receiver D’haquille Williams and running back LaDarius Perkins.
The Eskimos didn’t dress 16 starters, including quarterback Mike Reilly.
ALOUETTES 38, REDBLACKS 5
MONTREAL — Darian Durant threw TD passes to Tiquan Underwood and B.J. Cunningham in his first action as an Alouette as Montreal downed the Ottawa Redblacks 38-5 on Thursday.
Brandon Rutley and George Johnson also scored TDs for the Als, and Durant said he felt sharp despite missing a week of camp with a sore knee.