The Canadian Press
WINNIPEG—Receiver Kenny Stafford banged two cans of beer together and shook them as he stood by the door to the Edmonton Eskimos’ locker-room.
When Mike Reilly came through to join his teammates to celebrate Edmonton’s 26-20 Grey Cup win over Ottawa last night, Stafford sprayed the beer over the quarterback’s head.
Reilly laughed and began hugging his beer-soaked teammates, who had been spraying each other and chugging the brew while he was doing a press conference as the game’s most valuable player.
Eskimos’ defensive lineman Odell Willis found Reilly and they bent down to give each other a low hand slap and some bear hugs.
The often-brash Willis then cheekily anointed Reilly with an award that had been given out earlier in the week to Redblacks’ quarterback Henry Burris.
“You’re looking at the real MOP [most outstanding player],” yelled Willis inside the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ borrowed dressing room at Investors Group Field.
Willis, a former Bomber, also chanted “10-and-0, 10-and-0,” referring to the winning streak Edmonton now has after claiming the franchise’s 14th championship in its CFL-record 25th Grey Cup appearance.
Ottawa had jumped out a 13-0 lead by 6:09 of the first quarter.
But Edmonton climbed back and went ahead 17-16 at halftime on a two-yard touchdown catch by rookie running back Akeem Shavers, who had five catches for 26 yards and eight carries for 37 yards.
The Texas native was signed as a free agent in August and didn’t make his CFL debut until Week 18.
The 103rd championship game was just his fourth three-down game.
After hoisting the Cup on the field as green-and-yellow confetti rained down on he and his teammates, Shavers was asked how he liked the way Canadians celebrated their football championship.
“Just being a part of this all running 103 years, I can’t even put into words,” he replied with a big grin on his face.
“This is crazy. I love the experience,” Shavers added. “This has been a great experience.
“You guys celebrate nice so I like it!”
Edmonton kicker Sean Whyte, who joined the team in September after almost retiring, missed a 45-yard field goal and also hit the upright on a 35-yard attempt.
But he still was smiling on the field.
The nine-year veteran and his Ottawa counterpart, Chris Milo, had wondered before the game if a different set of footballs being used by the kickers would affect their performance.
“I’m not going to complain about that,” Whyte said of the balls that seemed a bit slick.
“It was just an unlucky night for me. That’s all it was.”
The Redblacks had a 19-18 edge after the third quarter, then added another point on a Milo single.
But Eskimos’ back-up QB Jordan Lynch clinched the victory with a one-yard TD plunge.
Shavers added a two-point convert catch with 3:17 left.
“Kudos to Edmonton. They made plays and we didn’t, and that’s the reason why they won the game,” said Burris.
“We had opportunities there at the end to make plays both offensively and defensively,” echoed Redblacks’ coach Rick Campbell.
“We weren’t able to do that.”
The game-deciding drive came with two huge pass interference penalties.
First Abdul Kanneh was penalized—a 28-yard gain for the Eskimos.
Then on the next play, after a successful Edmonton challenge, Brandon Sermons was flagged for a 37-yard Edmonton gain.
That brought the ball to the Ottawa 10-yard line. Two plays later, Lynch ran in for a one-yard TD.
“I just find it heart-breaking to lose a Grey Cup on two . . . PI calls that were very questionable,” said Milo.
He noted other Redblack players “absolutely” shared his view.
“I think they got the call right on the field, which is why they didn’t call a PI,” Milo said of the play that was changed after review.
“The first one was uncatchable,” he added.
