Eskimos add to winning tradition

Mike Reilly doesn’t see the Edmonton Eskimos being one-hit wonders.

“It’s awesome. I mean this is why you do it”, said Jones. “We play for one another and that’s why we came out on top”. I have tremendous teammates and I’ll do anything for these guys. It is steeped in tradition that traces its roots all the way back to 1909, when Governor General Earl Grey donated the first Grey Cup to the Canadian Football League.

The Eskimos, who extended their longest winning streak since 1982 to 10 games, once again outscored their opponents in the fourth quarter.

In a game that started out with all kinds of fireworks, it wasn’t long before everything settled into the defensive battle that was expected all week. “They get paid to”, Johnson said of the Eskimos.

Ottawa football fans must be starting to really, really dislike pass interference penalties. The first touchdown went to Patrick Lavoie and the second to Ernest Jackson.

Reilly finished 21-of-35 passing for 269 yards and two touchdowns.

The Ottawa Redblacks’ dream lasted deep into the fourth quarter of the 103rd Grey Cup game, and then it died on an instant replay of an incomplete pass.

Edmonton crawled back from an early 13-0 deficit to take a 17-16 lead into halftime. It was no masterpiece, but it was close. Reilly threw for 352 yards and three TDs in a 27-16 victory and the Eskimos never looked back, winning its final 10 games culminating with the Grey Cup title.

Notable Eskimos who could go free are receivers Adarius Bowman and Kenny Stafford, defensive back Aaron Grymes, running backs John White and Kendial Lawrence, defensive linemen Willie Jefferson and Almondo Sewell, and kicker Sean Whyte.

“We certainly didn’t play our best football game (Sunday) night, but we did enough to win the football game”, he said Monday after landing at Edmonton International Airport. “You can’t win the second and third until you win the first and now we’ve done that. It’s memories that I’m happy I’ll have for the rest of my life”. When you have that type of power, that just makes me want to get behind him and pull for him.

Eskimo’s Eddie Steele chasing Redblack’s Henry Burris.

Ottawa regained the lead in the third on Chris Milo’s 33-yard field goal.

Shamawd Chambers ended a frustrating 2015 season with a bang.

In the final quarter, the Redblacks’ lead was down to 20-18 until Lynch’s one-yard punch proved to be the knockout blow. Only the 1996 Argonauts, who won 11 more games than the year before, have had a bigger one-year turnaround in CFL history. But there was no call.

The thinking from those around the league is the rich Roughriders could pay Jones well north of $500,000 per season, which would make it hard for him to say no. CFL insiders also told the Sun this season that Jones and Eskimos GM Ed Hervey aren’t exactly BFFs. After the assistants upstairs got to see the slow-motion replay, Jones challenged the call.