The Eskimos began the long and winding road they hope will lead them right back to Edmonton for the 2018 Grey Cup by pitching an end-zone shutout on the way to a 35-12 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Sunday.
The 28,374 in the stands for the Canadian Football League’s pre-season opener might as well have been watching men versus boys on Edmonton’s opening two series, which featured the Eskimos starting offence against the backups on a Saskatchewan squad that didn’t even bother dressing 12 of its starters on either side of the ball.
“You can’t turn the ball over and have as many penalties as we had and expect to win the game,” said Roughriders head coach Chris Jones. “The goal of the offence is to score touchdowns and when you don’t score them and your opponent does, it is not something that you look at very kindly.
“We had one starter, defensively. If we had our A group defence, it would be a different ball game. Still, when you turn the ball over, regardless of who you have playing on defence, and then you extend drives defensively, they are going to win games. You can’t do that.”
Reigning CFL most outstanding player Mike Reilly was behind centre for the game’s opening drive, which was boosted by 33 yards off of five penalties levied against a Roughriders defence that boasted just a single projected starter in coverage linebacker Derrick Moncrief.
Eskimos running back C.J. Gable capped the 4:14 drive by plunging in a one-yard touchdown run to put the home side ahead 7-0.
Edmonton’s first-team offence returned to the field to make it two touchdowns in two drives, as wide receiver Duke Wiliams got in behind halfback Chris Lyles for a 20-yard reception in the end zone, before Reilly and Gable were sat for the afternoon.
Reilly’s afternoon – and most likely his pre-season, considering he isn’t expected to play next week in Winnipeg – ended completing five of six pass attempts for 69 yards and a touchdown, while Gable averaged five yards on each of his four carries to go with his TD.
“It felt good to get back out on the field. It’s pre-season, so I take it with a grain of salt. I just wanted to make sure our guys were lined up properly and doing the right things out there and they were,” said Reilly. “That showed up in a couple of successful drives. I’m glad to see the guys play hard, play fast and come out looking like they weren’t rusty.
“Now, again it’s pre-season and I know Sask left pretty much all their starting defence at home. So they’re going to be a totally different team, but I’m not worried about other teams right now, I’m worried about us and I liked what I saw out of us so far.”
Saskatchewan got on the board with four minutes left in the opening quarter, as Brett Lauther booted a 24-yard field goal, before Kevin Glenn was handed the keys to Edmonton’s offence.
He wasted no time finding Derel Walker for a 38-yard gain down the sideline for his first official snap with his ninth-of-nine CFL teams, only to see the drive fall short on a two-yard QB keeper on third down to turn the ball over on Saskatchewan’s nine yard-line.
All Saskatchewan could manage to turn it into was another three points off Lauther’s leg, this one from 35 yards to trail 14-6 as he finished four-for-four between the uprights, with his longest dialed in from an impressive 54 yards out.
Sean Whyte’s lone attempt from 40 yards out sailed wide right before Roughriders receiver Kyran Moore flashed a little brilliance with a 50 yard return to Saskatchewan’s 42 yard-line.
Shaq Cooper ran in Edmonton’s third touchdown from the one yard-line to take a 21-9 lead into halftime, before the battle of the backups fully took over in the third quarter.
Danny O’Brien had the roughest outing among Eskimos quarterbacks, taking a pair of time-count violations before throwing Edmonton’s only interception of the game to cornerback Nick Marshall, as Saskatchewan closed the gap 21-12.
Following back-to-back sacks by Eskimos defensive end Gerald Rivers that forced the Roughriders to punt, Edmonton running back Jordan Robinson took the next snap and undressed middle linebacker Sam Hurl on the way to a 37-yard run into the end zone to lead 28-12.
The fourth quarter opened with a 25-yard pass by fourth-stringer Zach Kline to rookie draftee Harry McMaster down to the goal-line, before the second-year pivot out of Fresno State finished the drive with a keeper to push their lead to 23 points.
“You’re always pleased with a win, it validates what you’ve been doing in practice week in and week out and what we’ve been seeing out of our group,” Maas said. “All three phases, I thought, played well tonight. There’s a lot of work yet to do and it is the first pre-season game, but to come to camp for one week and to go out and put together a game like this, you’ve got to be happy for the moment.”
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EDMONTON — Questions remain about the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ backup quarterbacks after Sunday’s 35-12 pre-season loss to the host Edmonton Eskimos.
David Watford, Marquise Williams and B.J. Daniels all saw action at Commonwealth Stadium. The Riders’ trio wasn’t able to generate a touchdown as Saskatchewan settled for Brett Lauther field goals of 25, 35, 55 and 33 yards.
Sunday’s game may have been the best chance for the young quarterbacks to step up, because veterans Zach Collaros and Brandon Bridge weren’t dressed.
Collaros and Bridge are both expected to see more action when the Riders play host to the Calgary Stampeders on June 8 in the second game of their pre-season schedule.
Watford played the entire first half, completing eight of 17 pass attempts for 87 yards, and was also intercepted by Johnny Adam. Watford was also going against Edmonton’s starters early in the first quarter, so he faced a more daunting challenge in terms of personnel than did Williams or Daniels.
“There is a lot of film to watch and things to correct because mistakes were made,’’ Daniels said. “There is a lot of stuff that I can go back and correct. It was my first time playing quarterback in three years and I wanted to get those jitters out of the way.’’
Williams took over for Watford in the third quarter and didn’t fare much better against Edmonton’s prospects. He connected on three of seven passes for 32 yards and was intercepted by Josh Woodman.
Daniels played in the fourth quarter and completed nine of 20 passes 133 yards, but without any interceptions.
The Riders have another two weeks of training camp to sort out which of Watford, Williams or Daniels will be third on the depth chart. None of the young quarterbacks did enough on Sunday to differentiate themselves from each other.
“That’s not in my control,’’ Watford said. “My job is to do what I can do and I have a lot of stuff that I need to work on. Whatever the coaches decide, that’s on them.’’
A positive sign was the play of the Riders’ offensive line, which provided all three quarterbacks with time to make their reads before attempting a pass.
“It was a decent first game for the guys who are new around the offensive line,’’ said right tackle Thaddeus Coleman. “The quarterbacks had time and we definitely played their starting defensive line (in the opening portion of the first quarter). (Watford) had a lot of time, but there are some things that we definitely still have to work on.’’
Terran Vaughn started at left tackle and appeared to handle the defensive line pressure in the first half. He gave way to Takoby Cofield in the second half.
Edmonton then recorded back-to-back sacks by Gerald Rivers on the left side of Saskatchewan’s offensive line. Cofield settled down after those sacks.
Chris Jones, the Riders’ head coach and general manager, had hoped for a better overall performance from his team even though it had only a week to prepare for its first pre-season game.
“You would have hoped that we would have come here farther along, but we left about 10-12 veterans, and basically the entire defence, at home,” Jones told reporters on Sunday.
“We left a lot of our defensive leaders at home. Maybe with them in there, a few penalties could have been avoided, but unfortunately we did what we did and we brought the young guys over. I was hoping we would have a stronger performance, but that is where we are. We are not going to hide from it.”
With Tyler Crapigna sidelined by a nagging injury, Lauther has handled the placekicking duties during training camp.
Lauther’s performance eases concerns about Crapigna’s backups. Regardless, Crapigna is expected to be on the active roster when the regular season kicks off on June 15 at Mosaic Stadium against the Toronto Argonauts.
Defensively, the Riders’ prospects struggled early in the first quarter when Edmonton had its starters on the field. Edmonton used its experience to race into 14-0 lead over the Riders after scoring on back-to-back drives.
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EDMONTON — Mike Reilly was nearly perfect while C.J. Gable, Shaq Cooper and Jordan Robinson each rushed for a touchdown, leading the Edmonton Eskimos past the Saskatchewan Roughriders 35-12 in the first game of the pre-season.
The Esks’ starters had a short but efficient day, most of them leaving the game after Duke Williams’ 20-yard touchdown put them ahead 14-0 after just two possessions.
Zach Kline added another major on a quarterback sneak, as the Eskimos took care of a Riders team missing many of its regulars with relative ease on a clear, sunny May afternoon at the Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium.
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Kevin Glenn saw his first action with the Eskimos and also threw the most passes for the team, completing 10 of 13 attempts for 131 yards, while Robinson, with the help of his 37-yard touchdown scamper, had a game-high 47 rushing yards.
With Zach Collaros and Brandon Bridge watching from the sideline, David Watford started for the Riders but completed less than half his attempts, going 8-of-17 for 87 yards and a pick in 30 minutes of action.
While Reilly picked up where he left off after the best season of his career, the Riders’ defence struggled with penalties out of the gate, going offside three times and taking two other infractions for illegal contact and face masking.
The league’s reigning Most Outstanding Player took advantage of the penalty-aided opening drive, completing four of his five passes and eventually setting up a three-yard touchdown run by Gable.
The first drive in nearly three years for Watford, who’s back at quarterback after spending time in the NFL as a receiver, resulted in a quick two-and-out, putting the ball back in the hands of the Eskimos’ offence. And like clockwork, the Eskimos were back in the end zone when Reilly connected with Williams, making it 14-0 Eskimos.
That was all Head Coach Jason Maas needed to see from his franchise quarterback, with Reilly leaving the game after going 5-of-6 for 69 yards and a touchdown.
As the Eskimos turned to some of their backups, with roughly 85 players dressed for the team’s first pre-season game of 2018, the Riders began to chip away at the deficit. Watford mostly held his own through most of the first half, completing roughly half of his passing attempts and setting up three consecutive field goals by Brett Lauther — including a 55-yarder — to make it 14-9.
But after getting away with a couple of close calls, Watford airmailed a second-down passing attempt and was intercepted by Johnny Adams, who returned it to the Saskatchewan 44 with just over a minute left in the half.
The turnover set up the first points of the game for Glenn, whose 29-yard completion to slippery return-man Jamill Smith set up an impressive 11-yard touchdown run by Cooper, extending the Eskimos’ lead t0 21-9 heading into the break.
With Marquise Williams in the game for the Riders, former NFL back Zac Stacy made his first impression, running for 18 yards and then adding another 20 through the air on back-to-back gains. The drive would stall, leading to Lauther’s fourth field goal of the game and cutting the deficit to 21-12.
In a game with so many new names, Eskimos linebacker Gerald Rivers made sure his was well-known after recording back-to-back sacks on Williams deep in the Riders’ end. That set up the longest run of the game, as Robinson found a crease and sprinted 37 yards to cushion the Eskimos’ lead.
After Danny O’Brien handled the third quarter for the Esks, Kline stepped in for the fourth. On the heels of a Stacy fumble, Kline connected with 2018 draft pick Harry McMaster for a 25-year pickup to the one, eventually setting up a quarterback sneak to make it 35-12.
O’Brien, who’s battling to be the third-string quarterback behind Reilly and Glenn, completed two of his seven passing attempts in the game.
Derel Walker, the Eskimos’ top receiver coming into 2018 after the departures of Brandon Zylstra and Adarius Bowman, had a game-high 38 yards on just one catch, while the sophomore Williams finished with three grabs for 37 yards.
Cooper, who’s been highly-touted throughout camp for the Eskimos, rushed for 36 yards on four carries and added another 34 through the air for a total of 70 yards on seven touches.
Sean Whyte missed a 40-yard field goal for the Eskimos on his only attempt of the game late in the first half.
Eli Jenkins, the fifth quarterback to enter the game for the Esks, took on mop-up duty with under three minutes remaining.
For the Riders, Head Coach Chris Jones said he’d have a close eye on the quarterbacks on Sunday, with three of them battling for the third-string job behind Collaros and Bridge. But it wasn’t pretty for any of them, with Williams completing just three of his seven attempts for 32 yards and an interception, followed by B.J. Daniels going 9-for-20 for 133 yards.
Aside from the fumble, Stacy made a case for himself to get carries when Marcus Thigpen (suspended) is missing to start the season, finishing with 62 yards from scrimmage on nine touches, including a pair of receptions.
Former Auburn quarterback Nick Williams, who’s vying for a job as a defensive back with the Riders, had an interception on Esks pivot O’Brien.
Duron Carter was held without a reception in a half of action, but did make an impact on defence with a couple of big hits, including one to hold Juron Criner to a three-yard gain late in the first half.
Thigpen, who’s suspended for the first two games of the regular season following a positive drug test, looked as explosive as ever with four touches and 54 yards.
The Esks are back in action on Friday night when they wrap up their pre-season in Winnipeg, while the Riders have to wait until June 8 to finish theirs when they host the Calgary Stampeders.
