THE CANADIAN PRESS
EDMONTON — For a team known for its dangerous passing attack, it was the Eskimos’ ground game that came through in a big way on Friday night.
Shakir Bell got the ball 23 times in a win over the BC Lions at Commonwealth Stadium, rushing for 108 yards and a touchdown while racking up some late-game mileage to give the Eskimos a 27-23 victory.
The Esks went down 14-0 early but stayed persistent with the ground game; as things got moving downhill, that’s when the tide turned for the Eskimos’ offence.
“Our run game started to pick up and that’s when we started to execute a little better,” Reilly told Esks.com. “We were able to get the tough yardage. When it was second and medium to second and short and we ran the ball, we were able to move the line of scrimmage and get the first downs to continue drives.
“That’s huge,” he added. “You’ve got to be able to run the ball and we did it well tonight.”
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Shakir Bell’s late-game running helped the Esks seal the deal (The Canadian Press)
The Eskimos entered Week 14 ranking third in the league in rushing offence, but that aspect of their game has still been a long way off from its Grey Cup-winning form of 2015.
Against a Lions team that ranks tops in the league in rushing the football and second in the league stopping the run, Edmonton held an edge of 137-69 in yards and 30-14 in attempts.
Bell scored one of three touchdowns for the Eskimos’ offence, but his greatest contribution may have come late in the game following a Deon Lacey interception. Bell’s hard-nosed running helped the Eskimos run down the clock, leaving Jonathon Jennings barely any time to mount a comeback for the Lions’ offence.
The 24-year-old Bell, filling in for John White, brings a dynamic to the offence that the more-experienced White might not. While White is better in pass protection, Bell can make cuts like no other.
“He’s gonna watch the film and see some areas he needs to clean up. But for the most part I thought he played a really good game,” said Reilly. “He’s a tough little bugger. He never goes down easy.
“He’s a good asset to have and he’s going to continue to get better as well.”
The win ended a three-game losing streak and put the Esks back in the thick of things in a competitive West Division race, but more importantly gave the team momentum heading into a vital late-season stretch that includes four straight games on the road.
Reilly said the team emphasized the fact that it’s one game at a time from here on out, and Friday’s game is the perfect first step for a team looking to regain last year’s form.
“No question this was a big game,” said the veteran pivot. “We talked about it all week that we were going to wipe the slate clean and play a six-game season.
“We know the situation that we’re in based on how we operated for the first 12 weeks, but we also played well enough in those 12 weeks to give ourselves a chance. We just said ‘hey, it’s six games left, play ‘em one at a time, we do that and take care of business and we’ll be where we want to be when the regular season ends.
“I was proud of how our guys played today. We took care of the first one, now it’s on to Winnipeg.”
With files from Esks.com
