Eskimos erase 22-point deficit, beat Roughriders

Jul 26, 2009 - 12:29 AM Arkee Whitlock's 18-yard touchdown run with 8:17 to play helped the Edmonton Eskimos rally from an early 22-point deficit and defeat the Saskatchewan Roughriders 38-33 on Saturday.

Calvin McCarty rushed for two scores and Tristan Jackson returned a punt 75 yards for a touchdown as Edmonton (2-2) snapped a four-game losing streak in Saskatchewan (2-2) and won for only the second time in its last 11 visits.

The Roughriders jumped out to their big lead on a scoring pass and run by Darian Durant, a 70-yard interception return by Lance Frazier and a single from Jamie Boreham.

McCarty's 37-yard TD run got Edmonton on the scoreboard. The Roughriders' Luca Congi and the Eskimos' Noel Prefontaine traded field goals as Saskatchewan led 25-10 at the break.

Edmonton tallied 17 third-quarter points to take the lead. Prefontaine kicked a 34-yard field goal before Jackson's long return and a 2-yard TD run by McCarty.

The Roughriders went ahead 33-30 on a 1-yard score by Chris Szarka and Durant's 2-point conversion to Andy Fantuz. Boreham conceded a safety to the Eskimos before Whitlock found the end zone.

Ricky Ray was 23 of 32 for 247 yards for Edmonton. Durant was 20 of 36 with 238 yards for Saskatchewan.

The Eskimos, who ranked last in the CFL by allowing 417 yards per game coming in, held the Roughriders to 294.