REDBLACKS 23 ESKIMOS 20, BURRIS SOUNDS OFF ON TSN PANEL

OTTAWA – The Ottawa Redblacks have their first home win of the season and it came at the expense of the team who beat them in last year’s Grey Cup game.

Chris Milo kicked a 25-yard field goal with 1:34 to play to lift Ottawa to a 23-20 win over the Edmonton Eskimos Saturday night, but it was a 48-yard interception return by Robinson that set up the kicker’s third field goal of the game and gave the Redblacks the two points on home soil.

Robinson’s interception off a Mike Reilly pass came seconds after a Redblacks touchdown that tied the game 20-20 with 2:28 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Prior to that, JC Sherritt intercepted a Henry Burris pass and returned the ball 43 yards for a touchdown.

Burris’s pass hit the foot of intended receiver Chris Williams and bounced high into the air before landing in the arms of Sherritt. The two point conversion put the Eskimos ahead 20-13, their first lead of the game.

The Redblacks followed that up with a drive that ended in a six-yard touchdown pass from Burris to Williams that tied the game at 12:32.

“It was a huge swing in emotion. Football is like a car out of control without rearview mirrors,” Burris said.

“You can’t worry about the past. When it happens you have to learn from it and you move on. As crazy as that play was to bounce off the foot, it was good to see the way guys stayed composed and it was really a true championship moment to see us rally and come back.”

Burris went 26-of-39 passing for 341 yards with two TDs and an interception. Reilly was 25-of-41 passing for 255 yards and one pick.

Sean Whyte booted three field goals for the Eskimos, who also got points from a punt single and a safety.

“Any game is a shootout and every point matters. When I go into a game I’m expecting to go for a field goal every series. We have to stay ready for every opportunity,” said Whyte

The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Redblacks (4-2-1), who now head into a bye week. The Eskimos (2-4) suffered their third consecutive defeat.

During halftime Burris let off some steam during an interview on TSN where he critiqued the CFL on TSN panel for comments about his poor performance last week in a loss to Toronto after missing five weeks with an injured pinky.

“It was at a point where something had to be said. Those guys can say whatever they want and are not being held accountable,” Burris said post-game.

“We played Toronto last week, it was my first game back and we had three days of practice and all I got asked was ‘am I worried?’ Things didn’t go right and I said I would be better this week but all the questions all week were ‘are you worried?’

“If I’m the defending (Most Outstanding Player) of this league, how come a rookie quarterback from Toronto is getting more positive press than the defending MOP? Do these guys know the game? That’s all I’m asking. I know they’ve been attacking me for years regardless of what I’ve done in this league and I just had to say something, and I did, but from this point I’m not going to talk about it. I made my point and I’m leaving it at that.”

(Canadian Press)