Edmonton gets 1st win of the year!! Rally to win 18-14 over Stamps!EDMONTON (CP) - Jason Tucker reeled in a pair of 35-yard touchdown passes to complete two long second-half drives to lead the Edmonton Eskimos to a come from behind 18-14 victory over the Calgary Stampeders.
The win left both clubs with 1-1 records after splitting the home and home series.
Calgary struck first when kicker Sandro DeAngelis hit for a 43-yard field goal just 1:49 in, the 3-0 lead holding up through the first quarter.
The Stamps looked to have put the first major on the board early in the second when running back Joffrey Reynolds crossed into the endzone on a great second effort, but the play was called back on a holding call and Calgary was forced to settle for a 12-yard DeAngelis field goal.
The scoring kept coming in dribs and drabs for the Stampeders as they followed a big 46 yard reception by Jeremaine Copeland with another DeAngelis three-pointer, this one from 37 yards with five minutes remaining in the quarter.
The crowd of 40,491 was short of the 43,927 needed to push overall Eskimo attendance at Commonwealth Stadium over the 9,000,000 mark.
The Eskimos looked to finally have their offence going with a drive late in the second quarter but Ed Hervey was determined to have fumbled after a video review challenge by the Stamps, who recovered the ball and went in to the dressing room with a 9-0 lead at the half.
The Eskimos had a stronger start to the second half but didn't get much out of their initial drive as Sean Fleming's 25-yard field goal attempt was wide for a single.
But the Esks would manage the first major of the match with 8:12 remaining in the third as QB Ricky Ray engineered a three-play, 83-yard drive, finished off with a 35-yard TD strike to Jason Tucker to cut Calgary's lead to a point.
DeAngelis put his fourth field goal through the uprights 4:33 into the fourth to put the Stamps ahead 12-8.
But the Eskimos air attack would answer again with another long drive, going six plays for 79 yards in just over two minutes as Ray hit Tucker for another 35 yard TD pass to put Edmonton ahead for the first time in the game, 15-12.
Tucker almost had a third TD with just over three minutes remaining but was ruled out of bounds, leading to an 11 yard field goal by Fleming, giving the Esks an 18-12 lead.
The Stamps had one last glorious chance to regain the lead as QB Henry Burris hit Copeland with a 42-yard pass down to the Edmonton five-yard line. But on the very next play Burris was picked off by Shannon Garrett in the endzone, securing the Eskimo victory. The Eks conceded a late safety.
The two teams met last Saturday in Calgary with the Stamps coming out on top 24-14. The clubs will play another back-to-back series in September when they meet for the annual Labour Day Classic and rematch.
The Stamps host Hamilton next Thursday while the Eskimos travel to Winnipeg to face the Blue Bombers next Saturday.
Notes: Since interlocking league play began in 1961, the Eskimos and Stampeders had never opened the season with back-to-back home-home games against each other until this year. . . Eskimos greats Warren Moon and Brian Kelly were at the game representing Edmonton as the best quarterback-receiver combo in CFL history.
Over the next nine weeks passing tandems from each CFL team will be revealed and fans can vote online at cfl.ca for their favourites.Check it out! (I can't find it on the site
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And good job Bombers!! Stuffing Ricky Williams again. Charles Roberts IS the best RB in the league