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Edmonton takes the bite out of Lions

Nov 2, 2014 - 2:28 AM Edmonton, AB (SportsNetwork.com) - Mike Reilly threw for 289 yards and scored twice on the ground as the Edmonton Eskimos crushed the British Columbia Lions, 37-3, at Commonwealth Stadium.

Reilly completed 14 of his 24 pass attempts and was intercepted once on the night. The Eskimos (12-5), who finish off the regular season at Saskatchewan a week from now, produced more than 500 yards of total offense thanks in part to running back John White who ran for 122 yards on 17 carries in the triumph.

The Lions (9-8), losers of three straight, struggled to produce on offense as quarterback Kevin Glenn converted only 9-of-17 for 68 yards and was sacked three times before John Beck came on and hit just one of his seven pass attempts.

The first points of the contest came about four minutes in as Saskatchewan kicker Hugh O`Neill knocked through a 47-yard try.

Reilly engineered the first touchdown drive of the evening, moving the ball 85 yards in just eight plays, culminating with a two-yard surge over the right side of the line and into the end zone to give the hosts a 10-0 advantage. White accounted for a key 30-yard run that put the ball inside the BC 10-yard line.

British Columbia broke through later in the first thanks to a 21-yard field goal by Paul McCallum.

The Esks responded by putting together another long touchdown drive, capped off by a 10-yard run by backup quarterback Pat White, pushing Edmonton out to a 17-3 advantage. A 44-yard field goal by O'Neill moved the lead to 20-3 with just over three minutes left in the half.

Edmonton appeared to be headed for yet another major, but running back John White bobbled a pitch inside the red zone, gathered himself and then lost control of the ball when he cut back up the field, with the fumble being recovered by BC.

The Lions ended up punting the ball back to Edmonton, giving the host another opportunity to put points on the board, but on second down Reilly was forced to scramble out to the right and was knocked out of bounds short of the first- down marker by Solomon Elimimian. With the stop, Elimimian matched the single- season defensive tackles record of 130 set by Edmonton's J.C. Sherritt in 2012.

Elimimian, who finished the contest with a game-high 12 stops and an interception, surpassed Sherritt early in the third, but during that time BC still gave up another 10 points as Reilly scored on a one-yard run and O'Neill contributed a 15-yard field goal. Sherritt led the Edmonton defense with seven tackles, including three sacks, as well as one forced fumble.

With Edmonton ahead by a 30-3 margin late in the third, the Lions turned to John Beck to handle the offense, after Glenn was sacked and lost a fumble.

While Reilly should have been pulled in favor of Matt Nichols, the signal caller remained in the game long enough to move the ball inside the red zone yet again, giving Pat White an opportunity to throw a six-yard major to Calvin McCarty.

Reilly was later seen being tended to by the Edmonton medical staff on the sidelines after falling awkwardly on his ankle during a scramble out of bounds during his last drive.