Edmonton Eskimos: Grey Cup champions

The Edmonton Eskimos captured the 103rd Grey Cup on Sunday with a 26-20 victory over the Ottawa RedBlacks, winning their first championship since 2005 and their 14th all time with a thrilling finish.

Trailing in the fourth quarter, Edmonton benefited from a 37-yard pass interference call against Ottawa to put the Eskimos within striking distance with four minutes remaining. Backup quarterback Jordan Lynch would register a one-yard touchdown run before Edmonton successfully executed a two-point conversion to go up 26-20 and effectively seal the victory. Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly was named most valuable player.

Third quarter, 19-18 RedBlacks

Chris Milo kicked a field goal to reinstate a two-point Ottawa lead, but the Eskimos added another single to make it 19-18 with just under five minutes to go in the quarter. Sean Whyte had a chance to give the Eskimos a lead but he knocked a field goal off the upright.

Half time

American emo band Fall Out Boy took the stage for the halftime show.

Second quarter, 17-16 Eskimos

The second quarter was a less lively affair than the first, but the Eskimos were able to take their first lead of the game. Reilly hooked up with Akeem Shavers

with 12 seconds left in the half for the score to make it a 17-16 game for Edmonton.

-The Eskimos responded with a single after the RedBlacks extended their lead thanks to a field goal midway through the second quarter, making it a 16-11 game. That was all the scoring

First quarter, 13-10 RedBlacks

Ottawa surged to an early 13-0 lead thanks to a strong opening drive and a forced fumble that led to their second touchdown in the opening minutes of Grey Cup 103. But Edmonton stormed back with a field goal before converting a touchdown of their own to make it a three-point game after the first quarter.

-Edmonton began to climb back in the game and went on the offensive when Pat Watkins picked off an under-thrown by Henry Burris. Reilly connected with Adarius Bowman for a 23-yard touchdown strike, plus and extra point, to make it 13-10 with under two minutes remaining in the first quarter.

-The Eskimos caught a break on their first actual possession when the RedBlacks were charged with a 33-yard pass interference call, putting Edmonton within field goal range. Whyte then booted one through the uprights to get the Eskimos on the board, 13-3.

-After scoring on its opening drive, Ottawa forced a fumble on the ensuing kick-off and immediately went back to work on offence. The RedBlacks went up 13-0 when Burris hooked up with Earnest Jackson for a seven-yard touchdown pass. The extra point was wide.

-The RedBlacks completed four first downs on the opening drive before opening the score when Burris completed a short touchdown pass to fullback Patrick Lavoie. The extra point was good and Ottawa took an early 7-0 lead.

Pregame show

Dean Brody and his band pumped out country tunes from the back of pickup trucks ahead of kick-off, while the Grey Cup got a police escort to centre stage.

Taking the snaps

The RedBlacks are riding the hot hand of Burris, who's enjoying a career resurgence. The 40-year-old led Ottawa to a 12-6 record to top the East Division in regular season before helping his team knock off Hamilton in the division final. Burris, a two-time Grey Cup champion, earned the league's most outstanding player award earlier in the week.

Ottawa starting QB

Henry Burris

Age:

Born:

Height:

Weight:

40

Spiro, OK

6-foot-1

190 lbs.

2015

As the league's outstanding player, Burris had an excellent season for the RedBlacks, registering a CFL record for completions and a career-high in passing yards.

Passing Stats

Completions: 481/678 --- Yards: 5, 703 --- Touchdowns: 26 --- Interceptions: 13 Rating: 101

Reilly will face the RedBlacks for the first time this season. A knee injury forced Reilly to miss a pair of meetings between the two sides in the regular season. Once he returned to the lineup, Edmonton became unbeatable, as evidenced by their current run. Reilly threw three touchdown passes to propel the Eskimos past the Calgary Stampeders in the West Division final.

Edmonton starting qb

Mike Reilly

Age:

Born:

Height:

Weight:

30

Kennewick, WA

6-foot-3

230 lbs.

2015

Reilly suffered a knee injury in the season-opener and didn't return to action until Sept. 7. Since then, he's led the Eskimos on a 9-1 run.

Passing Stats

Completions: 214/329 --- Yards: 2, 449 --- Touchdowns: 15 --- Interceptions: 10 Rating: 89.1

History 34 years in the making

Ottawa and Edmonton have met in the Grey Cup three times before, the most recent being in the 1981 final in Montreal. The Eskimos took that game 26-23 against the Rough Riders, a previous iteration of Ottawa's CFL team. Overall, Ottawa holds a 2-1 advantage, having won championships over Edmonton in 1973 and 1960.

Historically, Ottawa teams have won the Grey Cup on 10 different occasions, and lost on six. Their most recent victory came in 1976 in a win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The '81 finals loss to Edmonton was Ottawa's last Cup appearance.

The last time the Eskimos played for the championship was a decade ago, when they topped the Montreal Alouettes 38-35 at BC Place in Vancouver to take the 2005 final. Edmonton teams are 13-11 in Grey Cup games.

The week that was

Grey Cup fever took hold of Winnipeg early in the week as both teams arrived in the city on Tuesday to prepare for Sunday's contest, which will be a sellout after all 36,634 tickets were reportedly sold.

Festivities got underway Wednesday with the arrival of the Grey Cup, which got a police escort to the Manitoba legislative building to officially kick off the 103rd Grey Cup Festival.

Thursday brought the annual CFL Awards banquet, which honours the league's greatest performances during the regular season. Burris and the RedBlacks were the big winners that night. Burris took home the most outstanding player award and the Tom Pate Memorial Award, which is given to a player who displays qualities that distinguish him from his peers. Teammates SirVicent Rogers (most outstanding offensive lineman) and Brad Sinopol (most outstanding Canadian) also took home awards, as did Rick Campbell, who was named coach of the year.

Derel Walker earned the Eskimos their only award of the evening. He was named the league's most outstanding rookie.