THE CANADIAN PRESS
Giving up two touchdowns in the first six minutes wasn’t in the Edmonton Eskimos’ game plan for the 103rd Grey Cup presented by Shaw.
Like a boxer forced onto the ropes, the Eskimo defence regrouped and punched back in a 26-20 win over the Ottawa REDBLACKS Sunday before a sellout crowd of 36,634 at Investors Field.
“They came out with a good game plan,” said defensive halfback Aaron Grymes. “They caught us off balance at first.
“We made some adjustments and they really didn’t do anything after that.”
The REDBLACKS scored a touchdown on their first possession, taking a 7-0 lead on a seven-play, 73-yard drive. Edmonton’s Kendial Lawrence fumbled the kickoff and Ottawa recovered.
Ottawa quarterback Henry Burris put together a four-play, 40-yard drive that ended in a seven-yard touchdown pass to Ernest Jackson. The convert missed but the REDBLACKS looked in control of the game.
“It got us back on our heels,” said Eskimo coach Chris Jones. “Henry came out hot, about as hot as I have ever seen him.
“I’m throwing everything I’ve got at him and he keeps completing footballs.”
The Eskimos started the game playing mostly man-to-man defence. After giving up the two quick touchdowns, they switched back to zone coverage. The strategy worked as Ottawa scored just two field goals and a single for the rest of the game.
“We just came to the sidelines and settled ourselves down,” said veteran linebacker J.C. Sherritt, who finished the game with four tackles. “They jumped on us early. We had to adjust and we did and it paid off.
“We felt if we could keep them to field goals, or keep them punting, our offence was going to come back and win it for us.”
In their previous nine games, all wins, the Eskimos had outscored their opponents 107-22 in the fourth quarter.
“They came out with a great game plan, an accelerated game plan,” said cornerback Pat Watkins, who led Edmonton with six tackles. “We can’t say we weren’t ready but it was a lot faster than we had seen in the previous week.
“We are a very resilient group. We just continued to fight. Being down 13-0 in the first quarter, there is still a lot of game after the first quarter.”
The Eskimos limited the REDBLACKS to 102 yards total offence in the second half. Burris completed 10 of 13 passes for 70 yards.
Jones said the Eskimos remained patient and never lost their confidence.
“We’re not going to panic,” he said. “We had been in that situation before.
| City of Champions Once Again |
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The Edmonton Eskimos grabbed their first Grey Cup Championship since in 10 years with their win Sunday. CFL.ca has sideline-to-sideline coverage in the 103rd Grey Cup Centre. |
“It’s unfortunate that we tend to always put ourselves in a hole like that. It’s a tribute to the character of our football team that they just keep on believing in what we are doing.”
Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly, who was named the Shaw Most Valuable player, praised the Ottawa defence.
“That was one of the best defences we played against all year,” he said. “Those guys fought their tails off until the end.
“They didn’t make it easy on us.”
Defensive end Odell Willis said the Eskimos never quit.
“We have been down before this year, y’all have seen that,” said Willis, who had one of Edmonton’s three sacks. “Every team that come out, they can play just like we do. Once we figure out what they are doing, it’s click clack.
“Four quarters of Edmonton Eskimos football will put your W on the board. You have ebbs and flows in football. You just want to make sure you flow more than ebb.”
