Another miserable finish for Redblacks
Ottawa comes up short in loss to Eskimos who have played through a long string of injuries
Maybe the misery will end next Friday in Hamilton.
Until then, the Ottawa Redblacks and their fans will have to live with yet another disappointment — a 27-20 loss to the Edmonton Eskimos Thursday night at TD Place.
While the Eskimos remain undefeated at 7-0, the Redblacks have fallen to 1-6-1 — just one win in eight games. Miserable, right? While the Eskimos have played through a long string of injuries, the Redblacks can’t use that as an excuse. There should be no excuses. Game after game, they just aren’t good enough. They have to find another gear — from quarterback Trevor Harris all the way down.
Somewhat surprisingly, the Redblacks, who you’d think would come out fired up, weren’t very good in the first quarter. On the opening drive, the Eskimos got a great block by lineman D’Anthony Batiste to spring LaDarius Perkins for a 35-yard touchdown off a screen pass to the right side. The convert gave Edmonton a 7-0 lead.
On Edmonton’s next possession, Kenny Stafford turned Imoan Claiborne inside out, caught a pass from QB Mike Reilly and went 70 yards. The Eskimos settled for a 20-yard Hugh O’Neill field goal after Claiborne made a terrific diving knockdown.
The Eskimos made it 13-0 on a 38-yard field goal.
After a 25-yard completion to Greg Ellingson, Harris found Diontae Spencer for 36 yards. Harris then hit Ellingson with a four-yard touchdown pass and, with the convert, it was 13-7.
An illegal block by Andrew Marshall wiped out an electric 92-yard punt return for a touchdown by Quincy McDuffie. On the next play, Mossis Madu Jr. scampered 22 yards. After McDuffie took a handoff and ran for nine yards, Brad Sinopoli caught a 20-yard pass. Ottawa settled for a 33-yard field goal by Brett Maher.
On Edmonton’s next offensive play, Reilly found Bryant Mitchell for 58 yards. The drive sputtered and Edmonton got a 21-yard field goal with 2:32 left in the half.
After a two-and-out by Ottawa, the Eskimos got the ball on their own 11-yard line. But after a short run and a time-count violation, the Eskimos punted the ball back, with Ottawa starting on its own 46-yard line with 1:25 left. That didn’t work, but the Redblacks got the ball back when Taylor Reed tipped a Reilly pass into the air and Claiborne snagged the interception. A 31-yard completion to Madu was overturned on an Edmonton challenge. A 16-yard catch by Sinopoli and a sixyard completion to McDuffie set up a 40-yard Ottawa field goal on the final play of the half.
On their first possession of the second half, the Eskimos made it 19-13 with a 42-yard field goal.
After an unnecessary roughness penalty to Edmonton, Harris found Joshua Stangby for 38 yards, down to the Eskimos’ 10. Two plays later, Harris hit Spencer in stride at the back of the end zone. The convert gave Ottawa its first lead of the game, 20-19.
The Eskimos were marching downfield on their next possession, but a tip by Sherrod Baltimore and interception by Antoine Pruneau in the end zone gave Ottawa the ball on its own 12.
A couple of possessions later, a beautiful punt by O’Neill bounced out of bounds at the Ottawa one. After a Maher punt from his end zone, Edmonton took over on the Ottawa 46 and capitalized on a Chris Getzlaf touchdown. The Eskimos went for the two-point convert and took a 27-20 lead when Reilly dashed into the end zone.
A 49-yard Eskimos field goal attempt with 55 seconds left went wide and the Redblacks had life — at their own 13-yard line. An interception with no time remaining closed it out.
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