EDMONTON — The Edmonton Eskimos‘ last couple of wins haven’t been pretty, but linebacker JC Sherritt said it’s only the end result that matters.
Mike Reilly engineered a thrilling late comeback and tossed a pair of touchdown passes as the Eskimos won their third game in a row, defeating the visiting B.C. Lions 29-23 on Saturday.
The Eskimos completed their comeback with two minutes remaining as Derel Walker made a huge 22-yard catch in the end zone on a pass from Reilly, who then took in the two-point convert himself.
"With the type of team we have, we always believe we’re going to win the football game," Reilly said. "We’re not the kind of team to hang our heads and give up and stuff like that."
Edmonton (9-4) remains two points behind Calgary for first place in the West Division.
It was another scrappy win for the Eskimos after last week’s ugly 27-18 victory over Hamilton in which Reilly completed just seven of 22 passes for 49 yards. On Saturday, the Eskimos overcame a sloppy first half that saw them get called for a some drive-killing offensive penalties before Reilly took over.
"Obviously, that first half we weren’t too proud of with the penalties and things like that," Sherritt said. "That’s something we’ve got to clean up but at the end of the day, two points is two points.
"I’m just honestly really proud of the way we found a way to win because teams that can win ugly, that’s a great sign."
It was the third loss in a row for the Lions, who dropped to 4-8.
"Any time you don’t get the win, it is frustrating," said Jonathon Jennings, who made his first pro start at quarterback for the Lions. "We had a solid lead and just couldn’t pull it off."
Lions running back Andrew Harris suffered a rib injury in the final second of the first quarter and did not return, but hopes to be back in the fray for a final push to the season.
"It’s still a bit tough to breathe, but I am going to give it some rest and hopefully I will be good to go next week," he said. "We collectively fell apart at the end of the game and let it slip away, but that has kind of been our MO for this season. We need to buckle down and own October."
The Lions took a 7-0 lead with four minutes left in the first as Jennings completed a 25-yard touchdown pass to Lavelle Hawkins.
After forcing the Esks to concede a safety, the Lions came back for more as Shaq Murray-Lawrence plunged in from the one-yard line.
Edmonton was able to finally generate some offence with two minutes left as Reilly found Kenny Stafford for a 10-yard passing major to make it 15-7 at the half.
B.C. had a solid drive to start the third quarter, but ended up settling for a single on a 15-yard Richie Leone field goal attempt.
The Lions made up for that with five-and-a-half minutes remaining as a Reilly pass was tipped and picked off and landed in the arms of Adam Bighill, setting up a 15-yard TD pass to Marco Iannuzzi on the next play.
The Eskimos responded to close out the third quarter trailing 23-15, after a long drive was capped off by a one-yard TD plunge by Jordan Lynch and two-point convert pass to Walker.
Edmonton inched even closer with 10 minutes left in the fourth with a 48-yard Sean Whyte field goal before Reilly and Walker completed the comeback.
Edmonton added another Whyte field goal with 15 seconds left for insurance.
Both teams return to action next Saturday as the Lions return home to face Saskatchewan and the Eskimos travel to Winnipeg.
Notes: The last time these two teams met, the Lions shut out the Eskimos in the second half on their way to a 26-23 victory. There was a completely different look at the QB position for that game, however, as the Lions had Travis Lulay and the Eskimos started Matt Nichols, who is now in Winnipeg… Jennings got the start with Lulay out with a knee injury and John Beck absent with a pectoral-muscle ailment.
