Eskimos end season with 31-23 loss to Roughriders

REGINA — The Edmonton Eskimos didn't get any help and they truly failed to help themselves in attempting to punch their own ticket into the CFL post-season, ultimately getting smacked 31-23 by the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday.

The loss, at Mosaic Stadium, coupled with a last-minute 23-21 B.C. Lions win in Hamilton earlier in the afternoon, leaves the Eskimos on the outside looking in on the playoffs. They finish the year 7-11, one win shy of the 8-10 Leos and ending a 5-1 run in the previous six games.

Edmonton blew a 10-1 first-quarter lead in doing so and will not be returning to Regina next weekend for the West Division semifinal.

"We ran out of gas, we ran out of time," was Eskimos head coach Richie Hall's message to his troops, maybe for the last time. "Other people would have rolled over and died, but we gave ourselves opportunity and gave ourselves hope. I'm proud of them, they should be proud of themselves and they should walk away with their heads held tall."

They looked massive with a 10-1 first-quarter lead and actually dictated play for the first 20-25 minutes, but they let the Riders back in.

"They just made some plays, got some turnovers, started feeding off the crowd. The bottom line was they did what they had to do. ... We did some things that we weren't doing over the last number of weeks," said Hall.

Missed tackles, a shanked punt just before halftime and penalties were costly. Edmonton opened up the 10-1 lead thanks to a 46-yard field goal by Derek Schiavone and a 16-yard touchdown pass from Ricky Ray to Fred Stamps. Sandwiched in between was a single by Warren Kean after he missed a 32-yard field goal attempt.

Ray was making his first start after sitting out twice due to a muscle strain in his throwing shoulder. He took a hard knock from Byron Bullock in the opening quarter, but remained in the game, despite being tended to medically as he suffered a stinger in his left shoulder.

Kean responded with a 25-yard field goal to make it 10-4 just 34 seconds into the second quarter, but that lasted less than three minutes as Schiavone replied with a 40-yarder for a 13-4 advantage.

Eddie Johnson then missed a 40-yard field goal attempt, replacing Kean on longer tries, and missed wide to cut it to 13-5 at 6:26 of second. Kean came back with a 22-yard field goal and Darian Durant cut it to 16-15 Esks on a one-yard naked bootleg with two just seconds remaining in the first half. The late drive was assisted by the shanked punt by Schiavone and a pass interference call on Lawrence Gordon in the end zone.

"We had them down in the first half, we had all the momentum, then right before halftime we went two and out right away and let them score a touchdown, which gave them momentum," said Ray, who was 21 of 33 for 246 yards with a touchdown and two fumbles. The first bobble was costly.

"Coming out (in the second half) they pinned us back a few times and we weren't able to dig it out. The fumble (early in the third) gave them some points, too," he added.

The Riders added to the Eskimos' woes with an opening drive in the second half that ended in a one-yard Wes Cates TD run for their first lead of the game at 22-16. Durant then hit Andy Fantuz for a 27-yard score after the first Ray fumble on his own 34. Schiavone gave up a safety touch late in the third and the slide was out of hand. The Esks pressed with roughly seven minutes left, but Ray fumbled for a second time, this time at the Riders' nine-yard line. Ray did run in from four yards out with 1:24 to go to end the 26-0 run.

Edmonton was attempting to record its greatest comeback effort in club history to qualify for a playoff position, rebounding from a pathetic 2-9 start to earn the berth. In 1999, the team bounced back from a 3-6 start to finish 6-12 to sneak in. In 1967, Edmonton began the year 2-5-1 and also qualified.

An Eskimos win would have also meant a second-straight berth in the West Division, but now leaves them out of the playoffs for the third time in the last five seasons.

Meanwhile, on a bus dubbed "Ridernation East" and then from an airport area hotel room, the Lions were tweeting up a storm as the Riders recorded 26 straight points to grab a 31-16 lead late in the third quarter and never looked back.

"Collective 'YES!' from #BCLions players," tweeted B.C. public relations man Jamie Cartmell during the Saskatchewan run.

A collective sigh fell in the Esks' room at game's end, but with hugs all the way around as Hall held true to his motto: "Touch each player before you leave."