OTTAWA — It might have been a slogging, penalty-filled contest for the first three quarters, but the Ottawa REDBLACKS and visiting Edmonton Eskimos provided all the drama necessary in a ridiculous fourth quarter on Saturday night in the nation’s capital.
The REDBLACKS (4-2-1) emerged as the last team standing, 23-20 winners, at the end of an emotional roller-coaster of a night which saw them and the Eskimos (2-4) combine for 27 penalties, totalling over 300 yards, in a grinding, defensive battle.
Ottawa opened the scoring on the first possession of the night, as veteran quarterback Henry Burris led the REDBLACKS offence on an 11-play, 64-yard drive capped by a 17-yard Chris Milo field goal.
The hometown defence came up with a big-time play on Edmonton’s first possession, when REDBLACKS defensive lineman stripped Esks quarterback Mike Reilly in Ottawa territory. Zack Evans pounced on the fumble to regain possession for Ottawa.
REDBLACKS receiver Ernest Jackson hands his touchdown pass to a fan on Saturday night. (CFL.ca photo)
A series of short, uninspiring drives for both teams followed, winding down the clock quickly in the opening quarter.
Backed up inside their own 10-yard line, the REDBLACKS tried to stretch the field in the closing stages of the first quarter, but Burris’s deep bomb was dropped by receiver Chris Williams, forcing punter Zack Medeiros to concede a safety on the ensuing third down.
Mike Reilly was then roughed up by Ottawa linebacker Damaso Munoz on a play early in the second quarter; Munoz was flagged — a common theme throughout the night for the REDBLACKS — for roughing the passer, while Reilly was forced to miss a snap while being patched up on the sidelines.
A couple of long-distance connections on the following Ottawa drive between Burris and receiver Greg Ellingson, one for 41 yards and another for 22, marched the REDBLACKS offence into the red zone, where Burris then hit Ernest Jackson up the middle for a 20-yard reception and the game’s first major. Milo added the convert and Ottawa led 10-2.
The Eskimos would chip away through a Grant Shaw punt single and a 33-yard Sean Whyte field goal, whittling Ottawa’s lead down to 10-6 entering the half.
Henry Burris then fumbled twice, with Ottawa recovering both loose balls, on the closing possession of the first half.
Photos: Eskimos at REDBLACKS (Week 7)
The 41 year-old pivot then unloaded on the TSN panel during a passionate half-time interview with TSN’s Matthew Scianitti.
A penalty-filled slog of a third quarter was finally broken after nearly ten minutes by a 53-yard Whyte field goal which cut the Ottawa lead to 10-9. Milo responded for the REDBLACKS roughly five minutes later with a 25-yard kick of his own to restore the hosts’ four-point lead.
Whyte came right back in what was quickly becoming a battle of the kickers early in the fourth quarter, drilling a 27-yarder to cut the Eskimo deficit to 13-12.
After Ottawa’s offence stalled in the red zone on the subsequent possession, Chris Milo trotted out for what should have been a chip shot from 22 yards to once again restore the four-point lead. Shockingly, Milo pulled his kick wide right and, to add insult to injury, was not given the rouge after it was deemed the kick deflected off the upright. It remained a one-point game.
An unlucky pick-six on Ottawa’s next possession then gave the visitors from Edmonton their first lead of the night. An errant throw from Burris bounced off the foot of receiver Chris Williams and was snatched by Edmonton linebacker JC Sherritt, who sprinted to the house for Edmonton’s first touchdown — and first lead — of the night. The play was reviewed and confirmed. Reilly then hit slotback Chris Getzlaf for the two-point convert, pushing Edmonton’s lead to 20-13.
Burris, backing up his words at the half, responded by engineering a seven-play touchdown drive into the end zone, finished by a Chris Williams 7-yard touchdown reception. Milo added the convert and the hosts had tied the ballgame at 20.
Then, the unforeseen: Mike Reilly was picked off by Jermaine Robinson on the first play of the following drive. Robinson returned it 48 yards, setting up a game-winning 25-yard Chris Milo field goal with just 94 seconds left.
The Esks were able to cross midfield on its final possession, but that was as far as the REDBLACKS defence would let them: three incompletions from Reilly from the Ottawa 50 sealed a massive home win for Ottawa.
Burris did come through on his half-time promise to turn it around, ultimately throwing for 341 yards and a pair of touchdowns on the night, while his counterpart had one of his weakest performances of the season.
Reilly was held under 300 passing yards for the first time in 2016, completed just 61 per cent of his passes, and was kept out of the end zone by a fresh-faced Ottawa secondary.
Neither squad ran the ball particularly well or often, with both running backs — Edmonton’s John White and Ottawa’s Nic Grigsby — each running for 33 yards on nine carries.
Ottawa’s Greg Ellington led all receivers with 121 yards, 65 of which came on the drive which led to Ernest Jackson’s first-half touchdown reception.
Kenny Ladler (eight tackles) and JC Sherritt (seven tackles, pick-six) led the way defensively for the Esks, while John Boyett (seven tackles) and University of Ottawa product Ettore Lattanzio (four tackles, sack) were notable defensive performers for the REDBLACKS.
The win snapped a two-game losing skid for Ottawa, which now moves into its Week-8 bye with a 4-2-1 record, while Saturday’s loss was Edmonton’s third in a row.
The Esks will be back in action at Commonwealth Stadium on Thursday Night Football (Aug. 11, 9 p.m. ET) against the Montreal Alouettes.
