REGINA — The Edmonton Eskimos are getting used to come-from-behind victories.
The Eskimos spotted the Saskatchewan Roughriders a 21-3 lead after a little more than one quarter of action Saturday night at Mosaic Stadium. That’s when Mike Reilly and the Edmonton offence had seen enough.
The Eskimos responded with 32 straight points, including a 21-point second quarter, en route to a 35-24 victory over the Riders.
"Going back to the sidelines (after the first drive) there was this feeling that, ‘This isn’t going to happen to us again,"’ Reilly said after his team improved to 13-4. "We’re not going to let this happen. It still took all of the first quarter and part of the second until we got that one drive going and then we rolled. And then we got the second one and third one and we took over."
Reilly was a spark in the Eskimos’ seventh straight victory, completing 29-of-39 pass attempts for 377 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for 36 yards and one touchdown, as well as a two-point convert.
The previous week the Eskimos had to orchestrate another comeback victory in overtime over the B.C Lions. Their offence was inconsistent through much of that contest, and it looked sluggish to start on Saturday in Regina. A holding penalty and an interception on the opening offensive drive brought back feelings of a week ago.
And then it clicked.
Reilly capped a drive with a five-yard touchdown run to get Edmonton on the board early in the second quarter. He then hooked up with Adarius Bowman on a 50-yard touchdown pass with less than two minutes remaining in the first half. Edmonton took the lead with 17 seconds to go before halftime when Reilly found Derel Walker for a 10-yard touchdown to go up 24-21.
"That second quarter should be an eye-opener to everybody on our offence of what we’re capable of doing when we get out of our own way," Reilly said. "Hopefully that momentum carries over to the next game because Montreal has a good defence and that’s a game we need to win."
Bowman followed up his 198-yard receiving game from a week ago with another monster effort. He posted 12 catches for 208 yards on Saturday against a Riders defence that was starting some young and inexperienced players.
Saskatchewan’s interim head coach Bob Dyce credited Edmonton with solid play, but added his team could have put up stronger resistance.
"We missed some opportunities to make tackles that would have either stopped some big plays or at least make Edmonton work a little harder for their touchdowns," said Riders interim head coach Dyce.
The Riders (2-14), already eliminated from playoff contention, opened the game with two touchdowns on their first five offensive plays. Rob Bagg took an end-around handoff two yards for a touchdown. A 50-yard pass from Brett Smith to Naaman Roosevelt set up the first Riders score.
After a Sean Whyte extra point made it 7-3, Smith found Ryan Smith on a quick slant route, and the speedy slotback raced 65 yards to the end zone and the Riders went up 14-3 after the opening 15 minutes.
Saskatchewan increased its lead on the first play of the second quarter when Keith Price tossed a 29-yard touchdown strike to Roosevelt. It was Price’s first CFL pass attempt.
Roosevelt, one of the rookies hoping to catch on next season, led the Riders with five catches and 101 yards receiving. Smith had 191 yards passing on 11-for-15 attempts.
Edmonton’s seven-game winning streak is the longest such streak since their 1995 season. They’ll host the Montreal Alouettes next weekend, while the Riders will travel to take on the Calgary Stampeders.
Reilly said his team had better be ready to take on a desperate Montreal team.
"I would like to think we’re more like the team that come out and played in the second quarter, but we need to maintain that consistency," he said. "The rest of the games we play this season are going to be difficult games, so we can’t be getting down early and thinking we can just turn it on whenever we want and we’ll come back."
EXTRAS: Edmonton running back Shakir Bell was carted off the field in the third quarter with a right leg injury. Head coach Chris Jones said the injury wasn’t as severe as first anticipated… Saskatchewan linebacker Jeff Knox Jr., registered six tackles, which gave him 101 tackles on the season. He’s the first Riders player since Jerrell Freeman in 2011 to surpass the 100-tackle mark.
