ESKIMOS 41 BOMBERS 9

EDMONTON (CP) – It was one of those games where they could have just shaken hands at the half.

Mike Reilly ran in a pair of quarterback keepers as the Edmonton Eskimos secured a playoff spot, destroying the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 41-9 on Monday.

With the win, the Eskimos improved to 10-5, the 38th 10-plus win season in franchise history.
Reilly said it was nice to get the playoff berth locked down, although it is a home date that the squad is really seeking.

“It was one of our goals, for sure, so we’ve achieved that. But there’s a lot of goals left on that board as well and next week now becomes an even bigger game and they’re all just going to continue to be like that the rest of the year,” he said. “We’re happy that we clinched, but that’s not where the goals for our season end. We’ve got a lot of work left to do, but it’s a lot better feeling than it was about a year ago around here.”

The Eskimos led 37-0 at the half and head coach Chris Jones said it was a fine line between continuing to work on what the team needs to and running up the score.

“I told Mike (Reilly) at halftime, just run the plays like it’s 0-0 because we’re ramping up trying to get into the playoffs and make sure that we’re clicking,” he said. “We weren’t ever trying to run up the score and embarrass an opponent. Especially (Winnipeg head coach) Mike O’Shea, he’s a good friend of mine.”

The Blue Bombers lost their sixth straight and seventh of their last eight games to fall to 6-9 after a 5-1 start to the season.

O’Shea said his team was simply slow off the start, and are in a precarious position as a result.

“I felt that we didn’t have the right stuff, the right plan,” he said. “I thought we were out-coached in the first half. In all three phases, it seemed like nothing we were doing offensively was working.

“The players are frustrated enough to try and make a change. They understand that these are all must-win games for us now. We have to win our next three.”

The Blue Bombers return home to entertain the Calgary Stampeders on Saturday. The Eskimos hit the road to face the Roughriders in Saskatchewan on Sunday.

NOTES: Edmonton won the previous meeting between the two teams 26-3 on July 17 in Winnipeg … The Eskimos came into the game tied with Hamilton for the most wins on Thanksgiving Monday (1957-2013) in league history, each having recorded 17 holiday game victories … Edmonton running back John White missed some practice time during the week due to a hand injury, but was able to start … The Bombers were without one of their top offensive linemen in Glenn January, out with a back injury … Winnipeg also made a couple of key players healthy scratches in an attempt to shake things up, sitting out their top receiver from the past month in Aaron Kelly and the league’s touchdown and yards from scrimmage leader, Nic Grigsby … The Bombers entered the contest having lost six of their last seven, despite having had the lead in 11 of their last 13 games … Eskimos DE Odell Willis played in his 100th career CFL game … The Eskimos honoured a pair of legendary offensive linemen from the five-in-a-row Grey Cup days, enshrining Hector Pothier and the late Bill Stevenson on the wall of honour at Commonwealth Stadium … In attendance for the event were a pair of quarterbacking greats from that era, Warren Moon and Tom Wilkinson.