Eskimos fend off surging RedBlacks to remain lone undefeated team

The Edmonton Eskimos kept their perfect record intact Friday night, outlasting the Ottawa RedBlacks for a 23-21 victory at home.

The Eskimos were forced to earn every bit of their victory, as RedBlacks quarterback Trevor Harris did all he could to send the game to overtime.

With less than two minutes to play in the fourth quarter, Harris strung together a nine-play drive that saw the RedBlacks reach the end zone on a touchdown pass to Joshua Stangby with 32 seconds left. Trailing by two points, Harris was unable to capitalize on the resulting two-point conversion attempt when his pass intended for Greg Ellingson fell incomplete.

Harris finished the game 23-of-35 passing for 284 yards and the lone touchdown to Stangby.

Harris' counterpart, Mike Reilly, remained his usual effective self, completing 27-of-39 total passes for 265 yards and a lone touchdown to Adarius Bowman in the final seconds of the first half.

The Eskimos were able to spread the ball around successfully in the victory with a multidimensional attack that saw Travon Van rush for 103 yards on 18 carries, and Brandon Zylstra haul in a game-high 108 receiving yards on 10 catches.

The Eskimos (3-0) will travel to southern Ontario on July 20 to take on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (0-2) in Week 5, while the RedBlacks (0-3) will look to bounce back with their first win of the season against the Montreal Alouettes (2-2) on July 19.