The Saskatchewan Roughriders visited the Edmonton Eskimos in Friday Night Football in Week 7 of 2012 Canadian Football League action. The West Division rivals went into the game with identical 3-2 records although the Riders won the opening meeting 17-1 in Week 2 in Regina. Here’s the game log from the broadcast booth:
- The Rider scratches were RB Brandon West, REC Efrem Hill, OT Chris Patrick and DB Paul Woldu.
- The Riders wore their road white jerseys with white pants and helmets while the Eskimos were adorned in their green home uniforms with gold pants and helmets.
- It was a beautiful night for football with 20 degrees Celsius temperatures with a north wind at 6 km/h.
- Edmonton won the toss to open the game. They deferred to the second half. The Riders received to start the game.
- Saskatchewan's opening drive started at their 25-yard line after a Tristan Jackson return. They got to the Edmonton 18-yard line before settling for a 25-yard Sandro Deangelis field goal. Deangelis was making his Rider debut in his 7th CFL season. It was a 6:28 drive.
- The Eskimos took the ball at their 35 for their first possession. They capped the drive with a 23-yard Grant Shaw field goal making it 3-3 with 4:15 to go in the first period.
- On the Riders' second drive quarterback Darian Durant sacked for the first time of the game for a 9-yard loss at Saskatchewan's 45-yard line forcing a punt.
RIDERS 3 ESKIMOS 3 AFTER ONE
- Riders' first sack came from Shomari Williams taking down Steven Jyles 1:11 into the second quarter. However on the next play Jyles threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Cary Koch giving Edmonton a 10-3 lead at the 1:28 mark.
- Kerry Joseph replaced Jyles with 3:00 to go in the half as Jyles hurt his shoulder. Edmonton went 2-and-out in Kerry's series.
- With 16 seconds to go in the half backup Rider QB Drew Willy plunged in for a one-yard TD to tie the game at 10-10.
RIDERS 10 ESKIMOS 10 AT THE BREAK
- Edmonton got the ball to start the second half starting at their 32-yard line with Jyles back behind centre. They went 2-and-out.
- Saskatchewan started at their 32 for their opening drive of the second half. On the drive Eskimo DB Ronnie Prude was taken off on a stretcher after a lengthy delay. They ended the drive with a 27-yard Darian Durant touchdown drive to give them a 17-10 lead at the 6:29 mark.
- On Edmonton's second series they got a 17-yard Grant Shaw field goal making it 17-13 Riders with 5:07 to go in the third quarter.
- Edmonton took the lead on a 43-yard fumble return TD by CB Joe Burnett. He scooped and scored on a Weston Dressler fumble making it 20-17 Edmonton with 3:49 to go in the third.
- The attendance was announced at 43,178. That's the largest crowd in the CFL this season.
ESKIMOS 20 RIDERS 17 AFTER THREE
- Edmonton's Burke Dales nailed a 64-yard punt single in the opening minute of the fourth to make it 21-17 Esks.
- Edmonton went up 28-17 with 5:54 to go courtesy of a 6-yard TD run by Calvin McCarty.
- With 3:40 left it appeared Durant threw a TD to Weston Dressler but it was waved off as officials said he was out of bounds. Replays showed he was in. The Riders finished the drive with a 17-yard Deangelis field goal. 28-20 Edmonton with 3:26 left.
- Riders held the Esks to 2-and-out on their next drive and got it back at their 35-yard line with 2:07 to go. However with 1:42 to go Durant was picked off by J.C. Sherritt who returned it to the Rider 38. That sent 'em to the exits.
- Riders got the ball back at their 4-yard line with 1:01 to go. The Riders got to the Edmonton 33 but Darian Durant was picked off in the endzone by Chris Thompson with 0:00 on the clock.
GAME OVER: ESKIMOS 28 RIDERS 20
POSTGAME COMMENTS FROM RIDER COACH COREY CHAMBLIN
- They threw some deep balls and completed them. Everything they threw they pretty much completed. If the ball's in the air, you'd better be better.
- That's not the Saskatchewan Roughriders. There were a lot of penalties, turnovers and big plays against our defense. That was a very undisciplined showing by our team.
- We had some good individual showings but it's about the whole team. Everybody has to assess themselves.
- We're a .500 team right now. It's a new season. We finished the first six games at .500 and now we need to refocus and decide what type of game we're gonna be.
- We thought that Darian wasn't over the line. When you're in the moment you just think about the next play. That was just the kind of night it was.
- The biggest thing I told them was not to lose faith in yourselves, your teammates or your coaches. We'll find a way to come out of this and get it done.
- Jyles did a good job tonight and good for him. We can't have all ups. We've had some downs and we need to get back at it in the morning.
