Edmonton wins Grey Cup in OT

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Former Wyoming kicker Sean Fleming made a 36-yard field goal in the second round of overtime to help the Edmonton Eskimos beat the Montreal Alouettes 38-35 on Sunday night in the 93rd Grey Cup.

“We persevered. We fought back. I absolutely love these guys,” said Eskimos coach Danny Maciocia, the seventh coach in CFL history to win the Grey Cup in his first season. “This is the best football team I’ve ever been associated with.”

In the first round of only the second overtime game in Grey Cup history, Montreal’s Anthony Calvillo threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Dave Stala on the first possession, and Edmonton’s Ricky Ray countered with an 11-yarder to Jason Tucker.

Fleming then kicked his field goal, putting the pressure on Montreal to score.

After a bizarre play in which Calvillo was penalized for an illegal pass, Charles Alston pushed the Als back to the Montreal 54 with an 11-yard sack. Calvillo threw an incomplete pass on second-and-31, then scrambled and punted on third down only to have Edmonton recover for its second Grey Cup title in three years and 13th overall.

After Ray’s 1-yard TD run and 2-point conversion pass to Tucker put Edmonton up 28-25 with 1:03 left in the fourth quarter, the Alouettes tied it on Damon Duval’s 27-yard field goal on the final play of regulation.

Edmonton’s Tony Tompkins set a Grey Cup record with a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the third quarter. Tompkins played at Stephen F. Austin.

Ray, selected the MVP, set a Grey Cup record with 35 completions in 45 attempts. The former Sacramento State star finished with 367 yards and two TDs.

In the only other Grey Cup decided in overtime, Winnipeg beat Hamilton 21-14 in 1961.