Courtesy Edmonton Journal:

Edmonton Eskimos fans didn’t need those brooms, after all.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders battled back from a 20-15 deficit early in the fourth quarter to score a 23-20 CFL victory over the Eskimos, nullifying what would have been Edmonton’s second season sweep of the Riders in the last four years.z

The loss came in front of a regular-season record attendance of 62,517 on a cool, blustery Saturday afternoon at Commonwealth Stadium. The crowd count broke the Eskimos’ old mark of 62,444, set back in 2003 against the Calgary Stampeders. Edmonton’s playoff record is 62,531, established at the 2002 Grey Cup.

It also blew yet another chance for the Eskimos to stay atop the West Division standings. Edmonton falls to 6-6, while Saskatchewan jumps back into a tie for first place with Calgary at 7-5.

The bottom line is the Eskimos just can’t stand prosperity.

“I bring up that word a lot,” said Eskimos head coach Richie Hall. “I think we’re a great team dealing with adversity, but we’re an average team –at best–dealing with prosperity, as far as trying to better ourselves.

“This was another opportunity we let slip through. At some point in time, for us to get where we want to be, we have to embrace prosperity. That means taking it and making it ours.”

With just three first downs in the opening half and 10 overall, it was the Eskimos offence that let the crowd down.

“We were sloppy offensively and on special teams. I thought we were good defensively,” said Kamau Peterson, who finished with two catches for 70 yards and surpassed 3,000 yards in receptions as an Eskimo.

“Maybe we just like to make it interesting. I don’t know,” he added. “There’s a lot of football left. It’s a shame we haven’t seized those types of moments, or we haven’t yet. It’s getting to that point in the year where those are kind of important and will dictate what the rest of your season will look like.”

Peterson and running back Arkee Whitlock provided most of the Eskimos offence, which was non-existent for the most part.

Whitlock gave the Esks a five-point advantage on a 55-yard touchdown scamper 1:05 into the final quarter before Saskatchewan backup quarterback Steven Jyles replied with a one-yard keeper 4:22 later.

Riders starting QB Darian Durant capped the scoring, connecting with Andy Fantuz for a two-point conversion to make it 23-20.

Weather conditions played a huge role as both teams struggled with or without the 50-km/h wind.

“We had trouble substituting our packages during the game. We threw a couple of interceptions in the first half, but we still had the lead,” said Riders head coach Ken Miller. “Then it was 30 minutes of hard football in the second half. We were determined we were going to play with an attitude and got the job done.”

Edmonton managed just three first downs and 122 yards of net offence in the first 30 minutes, but opened the scoring as linebacker T. J. Hill picked off a Durant pass and rambled 59 yards for a touchdown 8:16 into the opening quarter as the Esks offence battled a stiff headwind.

Hill finished with two interceptions and Bradley Robinson added one as the Esks increased their totals to 10 picks in the last five games after playing the first seven games without one.

Hill also had a pair of sacks as he stood out on defence. Edmonton finished with five sacks in the game.

The Riders used a bobbled punt return by Robinson to score its only major of the first half as Rey Williams jumped on the loose ball in the Esks end zone in the second quarter.

A 26-yard field goal by Luca Congi and a safety provided the Riders’other points. The Saskatchewan major came after a pair of Eskimos sacks and too many men and time count penalties pushed the Riders out of field-goal position.

Noel Prefontaine was good on a 22-yard field goal in the first half and added a 42-yarder early in the second half to make it 13-12 Edmonton. Congi came right back at 11:42 of the third with a 36-yard effort for a 15-13 Saskatchewan lead.

Strangely enough, both Edmonton majors came against the wind. But the loss eventually took the gale out of the Eskimos’ sails.

The Eskimos are back in action on Friday in Winnipeg.

“We’re not that far away. We’ve got the Kool-Aid, we just don’t have any sugar yet,” said Eskimos defensive end Kai Ellis.

POINTS AFTER: The Esks lost a pair of defensive backs to injuries as Lenny Williams (left knee) left the game late in the first quarter and Kelly Malveaux hurt his left hamstring in the second quarter. Defensive end Dario Romero may also have suffered an injury to his biceps.

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