Saskatchewan Roughriders 18 Edmonton Eskimos 20 (October 27, 2006)
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0 commentsIn the final game of a dissapointing season, the Edmonton Eskimos defeated the Saskatchewan Roughriders at home . The Esks used three pivots in the game to finish out the regular season. The team will watch the playoffs from their homes for the first time in over thirty years.
The Green Riders finished the regular season as the least penalized team of the season.
"Ron McClendon and Jason Tucker each scored touchdowns as the Edmonton Eskimos held off the Saskatchewan Roughriders 20-18 in what amounted to an exhibition game on Friday night.
With the Eskimos out of the CFL playoffs for the first time in 35 years and Saskatchewan already slated to play Calgary in the Western semifinal next Sunday, both teams went with backup-heavy lineups.
The meaningless win marks the first time the Eskimos (7-11) have won back-to-back games this season.
Despite missing out on the CFL post-season, is that the Eskimos actually ended up with the best record against Western teams. The Riders (9-9), meanwhile, haven't won a game in Edmonton since 2000.
The Eskimos struck first blood as Ed Hervey was ruled to have caught a long 46-yard pass from Ricky Ray after a wrestling match for the ball with Rider James Johnson late in the first quarter. Saskatchewan head coach Danny Barrett tried to challenge the play, but was told it was not reviewable. He tried again and was assessed a delay of game penalty, taking the ball down to the Roughrider four-yard line where Ron McClendon was able to punch it in for a 7-0 Eskimos lead. Sean Fleming added a single on a long punt into the end zone.
The Riders were able to cut the lead to one late in the second quarter when Dominique Dorsey ran a punt 49 yards to the Eskimos three, leading to a short TD run by quarterback Marcus Crandell.
Penned in deep at the end of the second quarter, Rider kicker Luca Congi conceded a safety with 12 seconds remaining. Edmonton quickly got back into scoring position as Fleming nailed a 47-yard field goal with no time remaining to put the Eskimos ahead 13-7 at the half.
The Eskimos picked up right where they left off on their first drive of the third quarter as they marched downfield and Ray found Jason Tucker on a 29-yard touchdown pass.
There were a couple of milestones on the play as Ray hit the 5,000 yard passing mark for the season and Tucker moved into a tie with Waddell Smith for third in TD receptions in Eskimos history.
The Riders responded with a 40-yard Congi field goal to close out the scoring in the third. The Saskatchewan kicker added a 42-yarder to start the fourth to pull his team to within seven at 20-13.
With just over five minutes left Fleming conceded a safety and Congi was able to nail another field goal to narrow the score to 20-18, giving the Riders a chance to complete the comeback as they marched into scoring range with just nine seconds to go. But Congi was short on his 49 yard field goal attempt and the Esks held on for the win.
Notes: The game marked the official end of an era as it was Hugh Campbell's final outing as Eskimos CEO. Campbell, who will remain part of the organization as a consultant, announced he was stepping down from the top spot at the Eskimos' Annual Dinner earlier this week. Campbell won 10 Grey Cups over the course of his career, including one as a player ... Eskimo Signor Mobley passed the 600 career CFL tackles mark in the second quarter ... The Riders have clinched a spot in the post-season for the fifth straight year ... By missing the playoffs the Eskimos incredible streak of 34 straight playoff appearances came to an end. It was the longest post-season streak in North American professional sports, followed by a 29-year-in-a-row run by the Boston Bruins from 1967-95 and the Chicago Blackhawks' 28-year run from 1969-96. The longest current consecutive playoff streak now belongs to the Detroit Red Wings at 14 years in a row followed by the New York Yankees at 12 and the Montreal Allouettes at 11.
courtesy of cfl.ca"
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
- EDM - Ron McClendon 4-yard touchdown run. (11:08)
- EDM - Sean Fleming Convert (1). (11:26)
Second Quarter
- EDM - Fleming punt (63 yards) single. (3:47)
- SSK - Marcus Crandell 1-yard touchdown run. (12:38)
- SSK - Luca Congi Convert (1). (12:38)
- EDM - L. Congi 4-yard team loss - Safety Touch (14:48)
- EDM - S. Fleming field goal. (15:00)
Third Quarter
- EDM - Ricky Ray 29-yard touchdown pass to Jason Tucker. (2:32)
- SSK - L. Congi field goal. (9:06)
Fourth Quarter
- SSK - L. Congi field goal. (3:21)
- SSK - S. Fleming 2-yard team loss. Safety Touch. (9:37)
- SSK - L. Congi field goal. (12:27)
Date
October 27, 2006
