Eskimos escape in OT, ruin Chris Jones' return

Mike Reilly was not about to let his former coach, Chris Jones, spoil his four-touchdown night.

The Edmonton Eskimos quarterback and his receivers bailed out their teammates after a second consecutive late collapse, getting in range for Sean Whyte to a kick a tying 51-yard field goal at the end of the fourth quarter before winning 39-36 in overtime at Commonwealth Stadium.

Reilly and Edmonton (1-1) had only 13 seconds to work with after Saskatchewan (0-2) took the lead on former Eskimo Shamawd Chambers' 5-yard touchdown catch from Darian Durant. A 16-yard sideline completion to Derel Walker to give Whyte a chance to force overtime.

Following Whyte's field goal on the first possession of the mini-game, Saskatchewan's fate was sealed when Jones passed up a 33-yard field-goal try to gamble on third-and-one. Durant failed to convert on a quarterback sneak for the second time on the night, ending the game and giving Edmonton head coach Jason Maas his first CFL win.

Jones, who led Edmonton to the Grey Cup last season before becoming Saskatchewan's coach-GM and importing his entire coaching staff en masse, very nearly guided his new team to the upset.

Edmonton led by two touchdowns with 7:37 left and was preparing to get the ball back when punt returner Joe McKnight lost a fumble. On the ensuing drive, Jones elected to let Durant try a third-and-five gamble, which produced a 20-yard touchdown catch by John Chiles.

With 5:22 left, the Roughriders tried a short kickoff, which Jordan Reaves, a converted basketball player, recovered by tipping out of bounds. The gamble paid off with a 45-yard field goal by Tyler Crapigna that put the Riders within a touchdown of the lead, and Saskatchewan forced a two-and-out to give Durant time to put together a 64-yard go-ahead drive.

Reilly was 27-of-37 for 378 yards with four touchdown and one interception. Adarius Bowman caught three touchdowns. John White, who rushed for 96 yards, and Chris Getzlaf also scored touchdowns for Edmonton. Whyte was 2-for-2 on field goals.

Durant, playing in his 100th career CFL game, was 27-of-38 for 317 yards and four touchdowns, to Chambers, Chiles, Rob Bagg and rookie Ricky Collins, who was impressive with six receptions for 115 yards. Crapigna was 3-for-3 on field goals.

While Jones' willingness to gamble got Saskatchewan off the deck, it also put the Riders in a hole. The coach's first failed third-down gamble, midway through the third quarter, was at Saskatchewan's 30-yard line when it held a five-point lead. The Eskimos scored the next 19 points.

With Calgary and Ottawa tying 26-26, Friday marked the first time since 1995 that the CFL had two overtime games on the same day.