Reilly, Eskimos hold off Roughriders

Mike Reilly and the Edmonton Eskimos almost got burned for falling into their habit of going cold, but survived the last-place Saskatchewan Roughriders in a 33-25 home win on Friday.

Edmonton (5-4), which will take a three-game win streak into their traditional Labour Day road game against the first-place Calgary Stampeders, built a 22-point first-half lead, and had a 13-point advantage with six minutes left at Commonwealth Stadium. Saskatchewan (1-8), sparked by some high-risk, high-reward coaching moves and some veteran moxie from Darian Durant, never went away and had a chance to tie the game in the final two minutes.

Linebacker Deon Lacey, who also had a sack for a safety, closed on Roughriders slotback Nic Demski to force a third-down incompletion and a turnover on downs with 1:22 left. Edmonton was able to punt for a single and close out the win with its prevent defence.

Reilly kept on pace for a 6,000-yard passing season by going 21-of-26 for 253 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, and also scored on a 7-yard rush. Backup running back Shakir Bell set his CFL single-game high with 18 rushes for 138 yards, while also catching a touchdown pass. Derel Walker had a touchdown reception as well, and Sean Whyte was 3-of-3 on field goals to reach the 1,000-point milestone for his career.

Reilly leads the CFL with 3,096 passing yards in nine games. Only five quarterbacks have ever amassed 6,000 yards in a season. Anthony Calvillo (2004) is the most recent to do so.

Durant was 25-of-36 for 246 yards and rushed for two TDs. Kendial Lawrence also rushed for a score for Saskatchewan, while Namaan Roosevelt made five receptions for a game-high 132 yards. Rookie kicker Tyler Crapigna made his only field-goal attempt.

The Roughriders made only three first downs in the first 28 minutes and trailed 22-3 at halftime. In the third quarter, backup QB Brandon Bridge caught Edmonton by surprise by coming off the bench to complete a 43-yard pass to Roosevelt. Durant completed the drive by scoring on a 1-yard sneak, snapping a 129-minute, 29-second touchdown drought.

Bridge, a Toronto native who was released by the Montreal Alouettes earlier this month, is the first Canadian quarterback to dress for Saskatchewan since 1977.

Saskatchewan kept Edmonton on its heels for the rest of the quarter by recovering a short kickoff and sacking Reilly for a safety, before Durant scored again on the last play of the third.

However, Reilly took advantage of the Roughriders' porous defence – which is last in the CFL in yards allowed per play – with a 72-yard drive that stretched the lead to 29-19 with 11:04 left in the game. Bell kick-started the march with a 27-yard run. Reilly had two big scrambles on that mark, including a touchdown run where he vaulted over linebackers Greg Jones and Korey Jones, and extended the ball over the end-zone pylon.

The game was almost a carbon copy of the West Division rivals' first meeting at Commonwealth on July 8, where Edmonton eked out a 39-36 win.

Saskatchewan scored as many points on Friday as it did in its previous three road games. The Roughriders are 0-5 on the road and have been outscored 201-86. Their only victory was a one-point decision against Ottawa on July 22.

Saskatchewan hosts the surging Winnipeg Blue Bombers (5-4) in their traditional Labour Day weekend game on Sept. 4.