Calgary Stampeders 26 Edmonton Eskimos 35 (September 8, 2006)
| 3
|
| |||
|
0 votes 
0 commentsTrailing 26-22 late in the contest, the Esks were able to mount a 90-yard drive, ending in a three-yard pass from quarterback Ricky Ray to Jason Tucker to put the Esks ahead 29-26 with just six seconds left to play.
The Eskimos added to their lead on the final play of the game when defensive end Adam Braidwood knocked the ball loose from Calgary quarterback Henry Burris and took it five yards into the end zone as the final gun sounded.
The Eskimos improved to 4-8 and kept their playoff hopes alive, while the Stampeders (7-5) had a four game winning streak snapped.
Edmonton got on the board first in the game with a Sean Fleming field goal after Ray narrowly missed Ed Hervey in the end zone on the opening drive of the game.
The third Edmonton possession was another lost leader and Fleming improve his numbers with a third field goal for a 9-0 lead.
With the Eskimos' offence struggling to find the end zone, the defence stepped in to do the job. Calgary quarterback Burris was rocked by a thundering hit from Braidwood and Charles Alston picked the fumble out of the air and rambled 20 yards for the major, giving Edmonton a 16-0 lead and the large Edmonton crowd of 47,965 something to cheer about.
Just past the halfway mark of the second Calgary finally hit the scoreboard when Edmonton opted to conceded a safety rather than give the Stampeders good field possession on a punt out of the end zone. The ploy didn't do them much good however, as on the ensuing kickoff Calgary returner J.R. Ruffin blazed 90 yards for the touchdown as the Stampeders cut into the lead, trailing 16-9.
The Eskimos found themselves hemmed in their own end on their next possession and once again conceded a two-point safety as Calgary closed to 16-11 at the half.
Fleming nailed his fourth field goal from 36 yards early in the third but the Stamps came back again, moving to within one after 96-yard drive culminated in a four-yard pass from Burris to Nikolas Lewis to make it 19-18 after the third.
The Stamps started the fourth by faking a punt while having linebacker Brian Clark pass to sweeping punter Burke Dales for the first down. The gamble paid off nicely later in the possession as Calgary took its first lead in the game on a nine-yard TD pass reception by Elijah Thurmon. A single off a booming kickoff by Sandro DeAngelis put the Stampeders ahead 26-19.
The Eskimos again put themselves into the red zone the next time they had the ball but couldn't get the job done, sending out Fleming to kick his fifth field goal of the night, bringing the Esks to within four before they mounted their last second minute comeback drive.
courtesy of cfl.ca
Date
September 8, 2006
