Milo field goal lifts Ottawa over Edmonton for first home win of season

OTTAWA — Jermaine Robinson made the right read on defence, and the Ottawa Redblacks have their first home win of the season. 

Chris Milo kicked a 25-yard field goal with 1:34 to play to lift Ottawa to a 23-20 win over the Edmonton Eskimos, but it was a 48-yard interception return by Robinson that set up the kicker’s third field goal of the game and gave the Redblacks the two points on home soil.

“I just recognized that they were running a certain play but what really helped me was that (Antoine) Pruneau had good coverage (on the receiver) and I was just able to fall off and get that route.

“We had to make that play,” Robinson said.

Robinson’s interception off a Mike Reilly pass came seconds after a Redblacks touchdown that tied the game 20-20 with 2:28 remaining in the fourth quarter.

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Prior to that, JC Sherritt intercepted a Henry Burris pass and returned the ball 43 yards for a touchdown.

Burris’s pass hit the foot of intended receiver Chris Williams and bounced high into the air before landing in the arms of Sherritt. The two point conversion put the Eskimos ahead 20-13, their first lead of the game.

The Redblacks followed that up with a drive that ended in a six-yard touchdown pass from Burris to Williams that tied the game at 12:32.

“It was a huge swing in emotion. Football is like a car out of control without rearview mirrors,” Burris said.

“You can’t worry about the past. When it happens you have to learn from it and you move on. As crazy as that play was to bounce off the foot, it was good to see the way guys stayed composed and it was really a true championship moment to see us rally and come back.”

Burris went 26-of-39 passing for 341 yards with two TDs and an interception. Reilly was 25-of-41 passing for 255 yards and one pick.

Sean Whyte booted three field goals for the Eskimos, who also got points from a punt single and a safety.

“Any game is a shootout and every point matters. When I go into a game I’m expecting to go for a field goal every series. We have to stay ready for every opportunity,” said Whyte

The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Redblacks (4-2-1), who now head into a bye week. The Eskimos (2-4) suffered their third consecutive defeat.

Burris opened the game with a nice drive that included five completed passes and 74 total yards, but on third and one the Redblacks had to settle for a Milo 17-yard field goal.

That was it for scoring in the first quarter until Ottawa kicker Zackary Medeiros elected to concede a safety on the last play of the quarter rather than punt from his own end zone.

After Whyte missed a 50-yard field goal on the opening drive of the second quarter, the Redblacks took over and Burris marched his team 91 yards down field, ending the drive with the touchdown pass to Jackson five minutes in.

“I didn’t lose confidence. I just lost my technique for that one kick. It doesn’t happen all the time but I knew if I got another opportunity I would make it,” Whyte said.

Milo converted the score for a 10-2 Ottawa lead. Much of the success on the drive came from Greg Ellingson, who had two catches for 65 yards.

A 60-yard single from Grant Shaw and a 33-yard field goal from Whyte gave the Eskimos the final four points of the quarter as they went into the half trailing 10-6.

During the half Burris let off some steam during an interview on TSN where he critiqued those in the media for comments about his poor performance last week in a loss to Toronto after missing five weeks with an injured pinky.

“It was at a point where something had to be said. Those guys can say whatever they want and are not being held accountable,” Burris said post-game.

“We played Toronto last week, it was my first game back and we had three days of practice and all I got asked was ‘am I worried?’ Things didn’t go right and I said I would be better this week but all the questions all week were ‘are you worried?’

“If I’m the defending (Most Outstanding Player) of this league, how come a rookie quarterback from Toronto is getting more positive press than the defending MOP? Do these guys know the game? That’s all I’m asking. I know they’ve been attacking me for years regardless of what I’ve done in this league and I just had to say something, and I did, but from this point I’m not going to talk about it. I made my point and I’m leaving it at that.”

Whyte made up for his earlier miss with a 52-yard field goal at 10:21 of the third quarter but the Redblacks got those points back when Milo connected from 25-yards out on the last play of the quarter to give them a 13-9 lead.

Another promising drive by the Eskimos to start the fourth quarter stalled shy of the end zone, ending with a 27-yard field goal by Whyte three minutes in to cut the Redblacks’ lead to a single point.

Ottawa marched the ball right back down the field on its next possession, but Milo’s 22-yard field-goal attempt hit the upright keeping the score 13-12.

Darren Desaulniers, The Canadian Press