ESKIMOS FORGE ON TO GREY CUP
Reilly comes up big in West final
It has been 34 years and three incarnations of Canadian Football League teams in Ottawa since the 5-11 Rough Riders came within a whisker of stopping the mighty Edmonton Eskimos in mid-Hugh Campbell dynasty.
Next Sunday, there will be no prohibitive Grey Cup favourite, but the Cinderella theme, with Campbell’s son Rick helping write the script, is still very much in play.
The Ottawa Redblacks, a team with a much parodied nickname, in its second year of existence, with a 40-year-old quarterback, will have a chance to upset the modern version of the Eskimos — a team perhaps less fearsome by half — only don’t tell the Calgary Stampeders that.
Sunday, the Eskimos were in a different class than their longtime southern Alberta tormentors, and unequivocally settled the issue of which 14-4 squad was superior, spanking Calgary 45-31 in the West final before 34,414 fans at Commonwealth Stadium.
It was 45-15 early in the fourth quarter before the Eskimos took their foot off the gas and nearly gave the visitors a chance to climb back into it.
But the hole was too deep and the Stamps were too error-prone (and penalty-prone) to claw all the way back.
After a streak of 12 straight losses, including playoffs, to the Stampeders, the Eskimos won this year’s Battle of Alberta 3-1, including the one that really mattered. It was especially sweet for the hosts after the butt-kicking Calgary administered in the 2014 West final.
“You know, I still remember pictures of them jumping in front of our coach’s motorcycle for a picture in the newspaper and all that stuff, and not really thinking we were a viable threat to play against,” said Edmonton quarterback Mike Reilly, who threw three touchdown passes and ran for two more in a masterly performance.
“And for good reason. Last year they beat us, what four times ... we needed to do some growing up and I’m glad they did that, because without that stuff I don’t know if we would have grown up. But now we have.
“I’ll never look past Calgary. I expect it to be a battle next year, I expect to be back in this same game again next year, against Calgary — I expect us to be hosting it, too. But that’s next year. Right now, it’s Ottawa.”
Reilly was, simply, superb. Cool, willing to take the second or even third read, trusting his receivers to get yards after the catch, and most importantly — and very much unlike the Stamps, who turned the ball over four times — making no mistakes.
He hit all three of his big-threat receivers, Adarius Bowman, Kenny Stafford and Derel Walker, for touchdowns and despite giving up lots of yards to Calgary quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, the Eskimo defence held the Stamps to just five Rene Paredes field goals until they started celebrating a little too early and forgot to play the fourth quarter.
Sean Whyte added three field goals for the winners.
The Stamps’ two touchdowns, to Eric Rogers and Joe West, looked as though they were simply garbage-time scores, but they caused some unease inside Commonwealth, and had Eskimo head coach Chris Jones yelling at his players to keep their heads in it.
“I got to give Calgary a lot of credit,” Reilly said. “When you’re down 30 after the first play of the fourth quarter, pretty much every person in the country thinks that game is over.
“That was a credit to them, to continue to fight. We held on, we did enough, but I’d like us to not really give up so much in the fourth quarter next time.”
Edmonton basically didn’t even bother running the ball, despite Reilly’s two rushing TDs. Calgary did, but the Eskimo defence, led by middle linebacker J.C. Sherritt, met Jerome Messam head-on, forcing one fumble and narrowly missing two others while holding him to 56 yards on 13 carries.
“He’s a good back. Big bruising back, not overly quick, so our quickness and athleticism kind of alleviated his power,” said Jones, “and as long as we can make him go east-and-west, it wasn’t going to go anywhere.”
As handily as Edmonton won, it could have been more lopsided still. Two defensive touchdowns were called back, one for a penalty and one for an inadvertent early whistle by the officials.
Calgary head coach John Hufnagel said he thought the Stamps’ failure to convert first-and-goal situations into touchdowns — once from the four-yard line, once from the three — in the first half were pivotal, compared to the Eskimos, who scored majors early and late in the first half and on the first series of the third quarter.
It was a sour end to an impressive coaching career for Hufnagel, who now hands the reins to his offensive co-ordinator, Dave Dickenson.
“I’m not riding off into the sunset,” Hufnagel said. “I’ll still be around.”
Jones said he’d miss matching wits with his former employer.
“(Hufnagel) has had a great run, he’s a tremendous coach, can’t take away anything from what he’s done,” he said.
“I learned a lot from him, but he’s leaving it in good hands with Dickie there, he’s taught that staff well.”
The Eskimos were reluctant to put their hands on the Western final trophy, being as superstitious as any other athletes, but finally did, and Reilly brought it with him to his post-game news conference.
“Without getting this trophy,” he said, “you can’t play for the next one.
“And this whole year has been about the Grey Cup.”