Esks’ woes continue against Stamps.
Calgary tailback scores two TDS, Eskimos lose fifth straight
CALGARY – Jon Cornish went from showing his rear end on Sunday to kicking rear end on Friday.
The charismatic tailback ran up and down the Edmonton Eskimos for 180 yards and two touchdowns in a resounding 39-15 win over Edmonton, just three weeks after running for a career-high 185 yards against them in the Labour Day rematch in Edmonton.
Cornish was fined by the Canadian Football League for mooning fans at Mosaic Stadium on Sunday in a loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He got back to business on Friday and helped his team earn an important win in front of 29,290 fans at McMahon Stadium.
“We played poorly,” Eskimos head coach Kavis Reed said. “We played poorly in every phase of the game and Calgary deserved the win that they got.”
The Stampeders (8-5) won the season series with the Eskimos, going up 3-0 on their provincial rivals with a final meeting set for Nov. 2 at Commonwealth Stadium.
Edmonton (5-8) is on a five-game losing skid that ran them winless in the month of September for the first time in franchise history.
Matt Nichols showed promise in his first CFL start with 14 of 26 passing for 167 yards, one passing touchdown and one rushing TD, as well as an interception thrown.
“I thought he did a good job of managing the game,” Reed said of Nichols. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get the time of possession we needed because Calgary did a good job offensively of controlling the ball. Matt did a good job, he managed the game very well, got us back within 10 points in the fourth quarter.”
“I felt like I got more comfortable as the game went along,” Nichols said.
“We made a few plays here and there, but obviously not enough. We need to put up more points as an offence and help out our defence a little more.”
The Eskimos were no match for Calgary’s finely tuned effort in all three phases of the game. Nichols was outduelled by Calgary pivot Kevin Glenn (21 of 28 passing, 292 yards and two touchdowns).
Calgary opened the scoring at the 50-second mark of the second quarter when Cornish took a handoff 73 yards for his eighth touchdown on the ground this year.
Along the way to the Stampeders’ 7-0 lead, Cornish broke the 1,000-yard rushing mark — becoming the third Canadian to do so in the past 12 years. He joined Eskimos running back Jerome Messam, who did it in 2011, and Sean Millington, who broke the mark in 2000 with the B.C. Lions.
The Stampeders doubled their lead on a quick, twoplay, 74-yard drive midway through the second. Glenn lobbed a 44-yard pass up to receiver Johnny Forzani for the major, with Rene Paredes’ convert going through at 8:12 to make it 14-0.
With the game teetering on the brink of getting out of hand, Nichols responded with an equally quick drive of his own. He was helped by a 43-yard kickoff return from Weldon Brown, then hit receiver Matt Carter on a 34-yard pass. Nichols capped the drive with an 18-yard pass to slotback Fred Stamps, who picked up full difficulty points on the reception with double coverage draped all over him.
With Calgary backup Bo Levi Mitchell in for the remainder of the half, Cornish ran the ball up the field to the four-yard line and had to settle for an 11-yard field goal from Paredes. Calgary went into the break up 20-7.
The Eskimos had a golden opportunity to get back into the game early in the third quarter, off of a Jon Gott fumble recovered by Shawn Lemon at Calgary’s 39-yard line. Nichols gained two yards on the shortlived drive and kicker Grant Shaw watched his 39-yard field goal attempt sail wide to translate into a 46-yard single.
Calgary continued to create scoring opportunities, but couldn’t also find the end zone. The Stampeders defence forced a two-point safety at 6:38 and Paredes chipped a 27-yard field goal home at 9:05 to make it a 25-8 game.
With the game once again looking to get away from the Eskimos, Nichols put together another scoring drive to keep his team in striking distance. He called his own number to put the exclamation point on a nine-play, 75-yard drive at 13:31 of the third, barrelling his way into the end zone.
The game turned in Calgary’s favour in the fourth quarter. Cornish went over the 150-yard mark on his one-yard touchdown push at 1:25. Glenn connected with slotback Nik Lewis for a five-yard pass at 6:40, with Paredes’ converts making it a 39-15 game.
Nichols finished the night on a low note, throwing an interception to defensive back Keon Raymond.