Ray perfect in first half, better yet in final seconds
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/09/2009 (6152 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
REGINA — Despite a perfect first half, Ricky Ray needed late-game heroics to lead the Edmonton Eskimos to a 31-27 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Sunday.
Ray found wide receiver Maurice Mann in behind the Saskatchewan defence for a 68-yard touchdown pass with 69 seconds left to win the game for Edmonton.
His performance earlier in the game was even more impressive, although it wasn’t as flashy. The Eskimos quarterback started the game red-hot, completing all 16 of his first-half passes while leading Edmonton on three touchdown drives and a 21-10 lead at the break.
“We did a lot of shorter passes, but we were in good position the whole half,” said Ray, who finished the day 25-of-34 for 315 yards and two touchdowns.
“We ran the ball great. We didn’t have to really pick up lots of yardage. I was just trying to get the ball out quick. They have a good front four that can get a lot of pressure and we just tried to frustrate them and get the ball out quick and keep them off balance.”
Ray continued his dominance of the Riders defence in the third quarter, throwing four more completions before a ball slipped out of the hands of Jamaica Rector, leaving Ray two shy of Jason Maas’s CFL record of 22 straight completions.
That drop, along with Omarr Morgan’s CFL-record 108-yard fumble return for a touchdown for Saskatchewan on Edmonton’s previous series, killed Edmonton’s momentum. Edmonton receivers appeared to get a case of butterfingers for most of the second half and the team only managed a safety and a Noel Prefontaine single off a missed field goal until late in the fourth quarter.
Darian Durant, who finished 23-of-35 for 234 yards, got Saskatchewan’s offence moving after Edmonton’s lone turnover of the afternoon. The Riders pivot hooked up with Chris Getzlaf for a 20-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 24 before Luca Congi booted the Riders into the lead a few minutes later with a 21-yard field goal.
Both defences held their opposition in check until Mann, who caught seven passes for 128 yards, ran a stop-and-go route past Morgan that culminated in an Eskimo victory.
The game was bittersweet for Morgan. The Rider defensive back was glad to have set the record, but was disappointed his team came up short.
“You don’t care about no record. You want to win the game,” said Morgan.
— The Canadian Press