Ottawa Faces Edmonton at 103rd Grey Cup in Winnipeg

Two former Boise State football players and one former Idaho Vandal are on the Ottawa RedBlacks’ and Edmonton Eskimos’ active rosters for Sunday’s Canadian Football League championship game in Winnipeg, Manitoba. And while the Grey Cup will always be dwarfed by the Super Bowl, we Canadians should remember that our game was into proper halftime spectacles before the NFL.

The game was a disappointment for Redblacks fans who thought their team might be crowned champions at the end of their second season.

Allowing teams to use their own balls on offence gives quarterbacks a chance to play with balls that are familiar to them, as long as they meet standards.

Edmonton Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly hoists the Grey Cup after… So then the clock starts, so I had to call time out and I said look at this, because it’s too big a situation.

“Win, lose or draw, I was going to follow coach Jones”, said Watkins, a four-year vet in his second season with the Esks.

“You know what previous year, when it was in BC, the room filled up and everyone was really busy”.

“Kudos to Edmonton. They made plays and we didn’t and that’s the reason why they won the game”. But obviously heartbroken, disappointed, all those things.

“These guys, they rejuvenated my whole career”, said the seven-year veteran, who’s been good on 24 of 26 field-goal attempts.

CFL most outstanding player Henry Burris and the RedBlacks stormed out to a 13-0 lead before Reilly even touched the ball thanks to a Kendial Lawrence fumble, but the Eskimos didn’t panic and carved out a 17-3 run over the next quarter and a half to take a 17-16 lead into the break.

To make it this far after only two years in the CFL is a dream come true, he said.

Following a half-time performance by the band Fall Out Boy, Edmonton took the ball to start the second half after deferring to open the game. Chris Milo added a convert, single and two field goals. For the first time in team history, it saw four receivers go over 1,000 yards, while Burris led the CFL with 5,703 passing yards.

“We had opportunities to turn the tide and we just didn’t make the plays, whether it was me missing a throw or making a play or something”, Burris said. The Ottawa RedBlacks were up 13-0 before the Eskimos offence had run a play. Lolley had been at Auburn University coaching and then being the director of football external relations when his old gridiron pupil got the Eskimos job. “We’ve been over the game plan numerous times and it’s time to get on the field and put it all to work now”.