Jordan Lynch’s one-yard touchdown run with 3:22 remaining rallied the Edmonton Eskimos to an exciting 26-20 Grey Cup win over the Ottawa Redblacks on Sunday night.
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It’s the Eskimos 14th Grey Cup title and first since 2005.
A pair of Edmonton Eskimos fans dress for the weather in Winnipeg on Sunday, November 29, 2015.
The three points capped off a seven-play, 75-yard drive by Henry Burris and the Redblacks. That gave the Eskimos the ball at the RedBlacks’ 10-yard line.
The ’81 Ottawa Rough Riders took a 13-0 lead after the first quarter and a 20-1 lead at the half before losing 26-23 to the Eskimos on a last-second Dave Cutler field goal.
Ottawa began the game on fire before a crowd of 36,634 in Winnipeg, jumping out to a stunning 13-0 lead just minutes inside the first quarter. Ottawa (12-6) finished atop the Eastern conference after winning just two games in its inaugural 2014 season while Edmonton (14-4) finished tied with Calgary for the league’s best record but secured top spot in the standings based after winning the season series with the Stampeders. That meant the two cornerbacks did not necessarily start on the outside edge of Edmonton’s defence for most of the first quarter, although the Esks started to change up their coverage in the second quarter. He also rushed ten times for 66 yards. “We had opportunities there at the end to make plays both offensively and defensively and we weren’t able to do that”.
The second quarter’s early drives didn’t create much, with Ottawa settling for a Milo field goal from 26 yards and Whyte missing from 44 (but producing a rouge).
Reilly orchestrated an eight-play, 88-yard drive just before the half, capping it with a short touchdown pass to Akeem Shavers with less than 10 seconds left on the clock. He tossed up a couple of balls that were dangerously close to being intercepted, and the RedBlacks were kept from the end zone, having to settle for a Chris Milo field goal.
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If Edmonton quarterback Mike Reilly has his way, this group of Eskimos will be celebrating a Canadian Football League championship again in the near future. The Saskatchewan Roughriders are believed to be interested in him for their vacant general manager and head coaching positions, and Jones didn’t exactly announce after the game that he’s staying put. Reilly, who was chosen the game’s MVP, completed a strike for the two-point conversion to regain the lead, going up by six.
