Saskatchewan Roughriders 20 Edmonton Eskimos 21 (July 20, 2007)
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0 commentsSean Fleming's 47-yard field goal with just 2:07 remaining gave the Edmonton Eskimos a thrilling 21-20 come from behind win over the visiting Saskatchewan Roughriders on Friday night in front of a crowd of 46,704 at Commonwealth Stadium.
The Eskimos, who trailed 20-1 at the half and looked completely lost at times, turned the game entirely around and dominated the second half to earn the victory.
With their second win in a row the Eskimos went over the .500 mark for the first time this season with a record of 2-1-1. The Riders fell to 2-2.
Riders kicker Luca Congi provided the only scoring early on with a 36-yard field goal midway through the first and a 16-yarder to start the second to give Saskatchewan the 6-0 lead.
Edmonton got a punt single back before the Roughriders added to their lead midway through the second frame as QB Kerry Joseph rifled a bullet of a pass 19 yards to D.J. Flick in the end-zone to put Saskatchewan up 13-1.
And they would hold a 20-1 advantage at the half as Saskatchewan's Jason Armstead came up big, finding a seam on a punt return with a minute and half remaining and turning on the jets for a 90 yard TD.
Congi had an opportunity to pad the lead even further with a field goal attempt on the final play of the first half, but he rang the ball off the post.
The Eskimos didn't help their own cause much in the first 30 minutes, taking nine penalties for 110 yards.
But Edmonton was a completely different team to start the third.
The Esks came out much better to start the second half, engineering a four-play, 72-yard drive that culminated in a five yard touchdown pass from backup QB Stefan LeFors to 279-pound defensive lineman Rob Brown 1:41 into the third, cutting the Riders' lead to 20-8.
And the Eskimos were right back at it on their next possession just four minutes later as they got back into the contest with a five-play, 61-yard march, finished off by a 11-yard pass and run major from starting QB Ricky Ray to Jason Tucker as Edmonton was back to within five points of Saskatchewan.
And that lead was down to just two points on the Esks' third possession in the third as Esks kicker Sean Fleming nailed a 29-yard field goal to close to 20-18 heading into the fourth.
After Fleming's long field goal late in the fourth the Riders got the ball back on their own 42 with 1:13 left following a Rider recovery by Fred Perry on a Ray fumble, but the Eskimo defence came up huge and kept Saskatchewan from getting back into scoring position.
The two teams will have a rematch next Saturday in Regina.
Notes: Recent history favored the Eskimos heading into the contest. The Esks had won four in a row over the Riders and had an eight game regular season winning streak against Saskatchewan at home. In addition, Esks QB Ricky Ray had not lost in his career to the Riders at Commonwealth Stadiuma. Entering the game the Riders had a league-leading 16 sacks, while the Esks were dead last with just three. Eskimo Charles Alston got into his first game of the season on the defensive line. Oddly enough he was replacing his own cousin, Ron Warnera. The usually impeccable grass field at Commonwealth was looking a little worse for wear on Friday, after nine games of the FIFA U-20 World Cup took their toll on the playing surface.
courtesy of cfl.ca
Date
July 20, 2007
