Derek Mortensen/Electric Umbrella
Victories have been few and far between for the Riders the last two seasons. For quarterback, Darian Durant, he hasn’t tasted victory since he went down with a season ending elbow injury in Winnipeg on September 7th, 2014.
It would take a monumental effort on Sunday afternoon to knock off the defending Grey Cup champs, Edmonton Eskimos.
The Green and White would be without their top two receivers in Naaman Roosevelt and Ricky Collins Jr. and taking their place would be Ryan Lankford and Armanti Edwards (who was making his first CFL start at receiver).
The elements played a huge part in the game with a constant wind of 40 kmph with gusts of up to 70kmph, all made the battle for field position much more important.
Edmonton held the edge in the first half with 237 yards of total offence, but could only manage a trio of field goals.
The difference for the Riders was a strip and score by Ed Gainey. He stopped Adarius Bowman and wrestled the ball away from the all-star receiver and went 51 yards for the touchdown. Riders missed the two-point conversion and the score was tied at 9-9 heading into the locker room.
The second half saw the offences finally make some big plays, it began on Edmonton’s third play from scrimmage when Mike Reilly connected with Nate Coehorn who broke a couple tackles to finish off the 72-yard catch and run and the 16-9 lead.
Edmonton would add a punt single for the 17-9 lead heading to the fourth quarter.
In the fourth, the Riders had the wind, and they would take advantage.
It began quietly with the Riders, Tyler Crapigna and the Eskimos, Sean Whyte exchanging field goals with Josh Bartel getting into the mix to cut the Edmonton lead to seven late in the fourth quarter.
The offence finally came alive late in the game when Darian Durant led the Rider offence on a seven play, 65-yard drive that was capped by newcomer Armanti Edwards and his 5-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 20-20.
The Green and White had a chance to win the game when Justin Cox intercepted a Mike Reilly pass in Edmonton territory with just over a minute left in the game.
A pair of penalties drove the Riders out of field goal range and had to settle for the punt and overtime.
In overtime, Ed Gainey came alive again. Mike Reilly was looking for Derel Walker in the end zone on their first possession, but Gainey picked up his third knock down of the game, and his team leading 11th of the season to force the field goal.
The Rider offence took over from there. Durant hit Caleb Holley for 15-yards, Ryan Lankford for 13 and finished things off himself with a six-yard TD run and the victory!
It ends a seven game losing streak for the Riders and also deals a blow to the Eskimos playoff chances, dropping the defending champs to 5-and-7 on the season.
Head Coach, Chris Jones, on the ugly victory, “It’s been a long time coming, those guys in that room are well deserving of the win. It certainly wasn’t pretty, but we will never apologize for a win.”
Quarterback, Darian Durant felt the weight of the Rider Nation come off his shoulders with the victory. “We’ve lost a lot of games this year, a lot of close games. A lot of heart break. So when you win one, a tight one, a tough one it tests everything you have in you. You have to let out some type of celebration.”
Next up for the Riders is the Hamilton Tiger Cats next Saturday night. It’s a 7:30 kick-off under the lights at Mosaic Stadium.
Rider Leaders
Passing – Darian Durant: 20/29, 174yds, 1INT, 70.2QBR
Receiving – Armanti Edwards: 6/60
Rushing – Curtis Steele: 13/87
Defence – Ed Gainey: 5 Tackles, 1 Forced Fumble, 1 Fumble Recovery, 1TD, 3 Knock Downs
