2008 Edmonton Eskimos season

The 2008 Edmonton Eskimos season was the 51st season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 60th overall. The Eskimos finished 4th in the West Division, but made the playoffs because of the "crossover" rule. Edmonton became the first West team to win the East Semi-Final. The Eskimos attempted to win their 14th Grey Cup championship, but they lost the East Final to the Montreal Alouettes.

2008 Edmonton Eskimos season
Head coach	Danny Maciocia
General manager	Danny Maciocia
Home field	Commonwealth Stadium
Results
Record	10–8
Division place	4th, West
Playoff finish	Lost East Final
Team MOP	Ricky Ray, QB
Team MOC	Kamau Peterson, WR
Team MOR	Tristan Jackson, KR/DB
Uniform

Offseason

CFL Draft

In the 2008 CFL Draft, 48 players were chosen from among 752 eligible players[1] from Canadian universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA. The first two rounds were broadcast on TSN.ca with host Rod Black.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/club team
2	11 (via Calgary)	Greg Wojt	OL	Central Michigan
3	19 (via Calgary)	Tim St. Pierre	LB	Saint Mary's
3	23 (via BC Lions via Winnipeg)	Justin Cooper	DL	Manitoba
4	25 (via Hamilton)	Sammy Okpro	DB	Concordia
4	26	Jonathan Hood	DB	St.FX
5	34	Dante Luciani	REC	Laurier

Transactions

Date	Type	Incoming	Outgoing	Team
February 8, 2008	Trade	Fred Perry (DE) *2nd-round pick in 2008 CFL Draft – Fernand Kashama (DE)	Steven Jyles (QB) 2nd-round pick in 2008 CFL Draft – Jonathan St-Pierre (OL)	Saskatchewan Roughriders
February 13, 2008	Trade	Brock Ralph (WR)	Michael Botterill (LB) Chris Thompson (LB)	Hamilton Tiger-Cats
February 15, 2008	Trade	Jordan Younger (DB)	Tyler Ebell (RB) T. J. Acree (WR)	Toronto Argonauts
March 20, 2008	Trade	Rob Pikula (K/P) 3rd-round pick in 2008 CFL Draft – Justin Cooper (DL)	3rd-round pick in 2008 CFL Draft – Justin Shaw (DL)	British Columbia Lions
April 30, 2008	Trade	John Comiskey (OL) Kevin Challenger (WR) 2nd-round pick in 2008 CFL Draft – Greg Wojt (OL) 3rd-round pick in 2008 CFL Draft – Tim St. Pierre (OL)	1st-round pick in 2008 CFL Draft – Dimitri Tsoumpas (OL) 2nd-round pick in 2008 CFL Draft – Fernand Kashama (DE)	Calgary Stampeders
May 27, 2008[2]	Trade	Duncan O'Mahony (P)	4th-round pick in 2009 CFL Draft – Spencer Armstrong (WR)	Calgary Stampeders
May 31, 2008	Trade	Noel Prefontaine (K/P)	**1st-round pick in 2009 CFL Draft – James Yurichuk (LB) 2nd-round pick in 2010 CFL Draft – Grant Shaw (DB/K)	Toronto Argonauts

• *Later traded to the Calgary Stampeders
• **Later traded to the BC Lions

Preseason

Schedule

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Attendance	Record	Pts
A	June 13	Edmonton Eskimos	14–39	Calgary Stampeders		27,580	0–1	0
B	June 19	Saskatchewan Roughriders	7–37	Edmonton Eskimos		33,508	1–1	2

Regular season

Roster

2008 Edmonton Eskimos roster
Quarterbacks 17 Stefan LeFors 12 Jason Maas 15 Ricky Ray Running backs 30 Mathieu Bertrand FB 22 Chris Ciezki FB 34 A. J. Harris RB 19 Mike Maurer FB 31 Calvin McCarty RB 35 Pierre-Luc Yao RB Receivers 71 Kelly Campbell SB 84 Kevin Challenger WR 86 Maurice Mann SB 88 Andrew Nowacki WR  8 Kamau Peterson SB 82 Greg Prator SB  2 Fred Stamps WR		Offensive linemen 59 Calvin Armstrong G 64 Tim Bakker C 67 Dan Comiskey G 62 John Comiskey C 51 Aaron Fiacconi G 66 Garrick Jones T 56 Patrick Kabongo G Defensive linemen 90 Adrian Baird DE 92 Tyler Clutts DE 97 Justin Cooper DE 42 Brandon Guillory DE 99 Joe Anoa'i DT 41 Fred Perry DE 94 Dario Romero DT 79 Eric Taylor DT 93 Clinton Wayne DT		Linebackers 39 Agustin Barrenechea MLB 24 Scott Coe MLB 23 Shannon Garrett OLB 44 Kenny Onatolu OLB 48 Tim St. Pierre OLB Defensive backs 25 Jonté Buhl CB/HB  4 Jason Goss HB 38 Tristan Jackson CB 16 Bradley Robinson DB 28 Siddeeq Shabazz FS  9 Lenny Williams HB 26 Jordan Younger CB Special teams 52 Taylor Inglis LS  7 Noel Prefontaine K/P 29 Derek Schiavone K/P		Inactive list 32 Damien Anderson RB (9 games) 91 Adam Braidwood DE (9 games) 20 Wale Dada CB (1 game) 96 Jim Davis DE (1 game) 45 Derrick Doggett OLB (1 game) 43 J. R. LaRose DB (9 games) 63 Joe McGrath T (1 game) 80 Brock Ralph WR (9 games) 83 Jason Tucker WR (9 games) Practice roster 57 Thaddeus Coleman OL 27 Airabin Justin DB 89 Dante Luciani WR 5 Ron McClendon RB 95 Montez Murphy DE 10 Sammy Okpro DB 85 Jamaica Rector WR Italics indicate import player. Roster updated 2008-10-11 Depth Chart • Transactions 46 active, 10 inactive, 7 PS.

Season standings

West Division
Team	GP	W	L	T	PF	PA	Pts
Calgary Stampeders	18	13	5	0	595	420	26	Details
Saskatchewan Roughriders	18	12	6	0	500	471	24	Details
BC Lions	18	11	7	0	559	479	22	Details
Edmonton Eskimos	18	10	8	0	512	536	20	Details

Season schedule

Week	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Attendance	Record	Pts
1	June 28	Edmonton Eskimos	13–34	Saskatchewan Roughriders		28,800	0–1–0	0
2	July 3	Calgary Stampeders	31–34	Edmonton Eskimos		32,706	1–1–0	2
3	July 10	Toronto Argonauts	28–47	Edmonton Eskimos		31,707	2–1–0	4
4	July 20	Edmonton Eskimos	31–35	Toronto Argonauts		28,522	2–2–0	4
5	July 25	Edmonton Eskimos	19–13	Hamilton Tiger-Cats		21,402	3–2–0	6
6	July 31	BC Lions	24–35	Edmonton Eskimos		35,008	4–2–0	8
7	August 8	Edmonton Eskimos	34–40	BC Lions		30,863	4–3–0	8
8	Bye						4–3–0	8
9	August 21	Saskatchewan Roughriders	10–27	Edmonton Eskimos		48,808	5–3–0	10
10	September 1	Edmonton Eskimos	37–16	Calgary Stampeders		35,650	6–3–0	12
11	September 5	Calgary Stampeders	38–33	Edmonton Eskimos		46,014	6–4–0	12
12	September 13	Hamilton Tiger-Cats	33–38	Edmonton Eskimos		37,500	7–4–0	14
13	September 21	Edmonton Eskimos	4–40	Montreal Alouettes		20,202	7–5–0	14
14	September 26	Edmonton Eskimos	23–30	Winnipeg Blue Bombers		29,794	7–6–0	14
15	October 4	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	22–36	Edmonton Eskimos		40,453	8–6–0	16
16	October 10	Edmonton Eskimos	27–20	BC Lions		34,778	9–6–0	18
17	October 17	BC Lions	43–28	Edmonton Eskimos		34,342	9–7–0	18
18	October 25	Edmonton Eskimos	9–55	Saskatchewan Roughriders		30,945	9–8–0	18
19	October 31	Montreal Alouettes	14–37	Edmonton Eskimos		29,911	10–8–0	20

Total attendance: 336,449
Average attendance: 37,383 (62.8%)

Ron Lancaster

On Thursday, September 18, Ron Lancaster, 69, died from an apparent heart attack, less than two months after being diagnosed with lung cancer.[3] Despite working in television, Lancaster returned to football as the Eskimos' head coach in 1991.[4] During his seven-season tenure as Edmonton's head coach, the Eskimos won the 1993 Grey Cup.[4] Lancaster resigned as the Eskimos' head coach after the 1997 season to become the Hamilton Tiger-Cats' head coach and director of football operations.

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Passing

Player	GP	Att	Comp	%	Yds	LG	TDs	INT	Rating
Ricky Ray (QB)	18	605	422	69.8	5,661	66	26	17	101.8
Jason Maas (QB)	3	44	26	59.1	340	80	0	1	74.1
Noel Prefontaine (K/P)	1	1	1	100.0	19	19	0	0	158.3
Stefan LeFors (QB)	17	4	1	25.0	9	9	0	1	71.9

[5]

Rushing

Player	GP	Att	Yds	LG	Avg.	TD	Fumbles
A. J. Harris (RB)	11	99	557	36	5.6	6	1
Calvin McCarty (RB)	18	88	490	34	5.6	4	4
Ricky Ray (QB)	18	75	258	15	3.4	5	13
Ronald McClendon (RB)	2	13	64	19	4.9	1	0
Damien Anderson (RB)	2	17	57	16	3.4	0	1
Jason Maas (QB)	3	3	30	16	10.0	0	1
Mathieu Bertrand (FB)	17	13	28	4	2.2	4	0
Tristan Jackson (CB)	17	2	18	13	9.0	0	3
Kamau Peterson (SB)	18	1	13	13	13.0	0	0
Noel Prefontaine (K/P)	17	1	10	10	10.0	0	0
Kelly Campbell (WR)	15	1	6	6	6.0	0	0
Stefan LeFors (QB)	1	1	2	2	2.0	0	0
Kamau Peterson (SB)	18	0	0	0	0.0	0	3
Tyler Clutts (DE)	18	0	0	0	0.0	0	1
Jason Goss (HB)	17	0	0	0	0.0	0	3
Noel Prefontaine (K/P)	17	0	0	0	0.0	0	3
Kelly Campbell (WR)	15	0	0	0	0.0	0	3
Andrew Nowacki (WR)	13	0	0	0	0.0	0	1

[6]

Receiving

Player	GP	No.	Yds	Avg.	LG	TD
Kamau Peterson (SB)	18	101	1,315	13.0	66	4
Kelly Campbell (WR)	15	54	1,223	22.6	53	7
Fred Stamps (SB)	14	50	751	15.0	46	6
Calvin McCarty (RB)	18	70	583	8.3	27	1
A. J. Harris (RB)	11	37	422	11.4	39	0
Maurice Mann (SB)	7	31	420	13.5	44	4
Andrew Nowacki (WR)	13	28	369	13.2	31	2
Jason Tucker (WR)	5	14	235	16.8	36	2
Kevin Challenger (WR)	5	8	166	20.8	80	0
Brock Ralph (WR)	6	13	164	12.6	46	0
Mathieu Bertrand (FB)	17	22	161	7.3	29	0
Greg Prator (WR)	3	7	96	13.7	27	0
Ronald McClendon (RB)	2	8	67	8.4	14	0
Damien Anderson (RB)	2	7	57	8.1	15	0

[7]

Defence

Player	GP	TKL	STT	KD	Sacks	Ints	Int Yds	Int LG	Int TD	Fumb R.	Fumb Yds	Fumb LG	Fumb TD	Fumb F.
Agustin Barrenechea (LB)	18	68	2	1	3	2	16	12	0	0	0	0	0	0
Siddeeq Shabazz (LB)	18	63	6	0	3	1	4	4	0	1	3	3	0	2
Kenny Onatolu (LB)	14	60	8	3	3	0	0	0	0	2	3	3	0	1
Jason Goss (HB)	17	52	0	6	1	5	182	94	2	3	55	34	0	0
Jordan Younger (CB)	15	52	0	8	0	1	5	5	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jonté Buhl (CB/HB)	16	49	4	4	1	4	46	27	0	0	0	0	0	0
Shannon Garrett (DB)	18	45	1	4	1	1	30	30	0	1	25	25	1	0
Keith Williams (DB)	6	36	1	1	0	1	9	9	0	1	0	0	0	1
Lenny Williams (HB)	9	35	2	1	0	2	23	16	0	0	0	0	0	3
Dario Romero (DT)	16	30	0	0	6	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
Jim Davis (DE)	14	26	0	3	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Montez Murphy (DE)	12	24	0	4	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Brandon Guillory (DE)	13	21	0	2	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tyler Clutts (DE)	18	21	16	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	2	0	0
Fred Perry (DE)	7	17	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
Eric Taylor (DT)	6	17	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
Bradley Robinson (DB)	7	14	1	2	0	3	52	30	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tristan Jackson (CB)	17	11	1	4	0	2	123	89	1	0	0	0	0	1
Joe Anoa'i (DT)	3	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Scott Coe (LB)	12	6	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Darrell Robertson (LB)	2	6	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Trey Young (LB)	2	5	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Kamau Peterson (SB)	18	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Wale Dada (CB)	3	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Calvin Armstrong (OG)	17	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
A. J. Harris (RB)	11	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Calvin McCarty (RB)	18	3	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Patrick Kabongo (OG)	18	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ricky Ray (QB)	18	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
John Comiskey (OG)	18	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Patrick Kabongo (OG)	18	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kelly Campbell (WR)	15	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Brock Ralph (WR)	6	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Justin Cooper (DE)	18	1	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Pierre-Luc Yao (RB)	18	1	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mathieu Bertrand (FB)	17	1	21	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Andrew Nowacki (WR)	13	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Fred Stamps (SB)	14	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dan Comiskey (C)	8	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Maurice Mann (SB)	7	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jason Tucker (WR)	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jason Maas (QB)	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Chris Ciezki (FB)	18	0	24	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	4	4	0	1
Adrian Baird (DE)	18	0	14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Derrick Doggett (LB)	4	0	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Noel Prefontaine (K/P)	17	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Taylor Inglis (LS)	18	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tim St. Pierre (LB)	18	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mike Maurer (FB)	2	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
J. R. LaRose (DB)	8	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kevin Challenger (WR)	18	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

[8]

Kickoffs

Player	GP	KO Att.	Yds	KO Avg.	LG	Singles
Noel Prefontaine (K/P)	17	77	4,636	60.2	73	0
Derek Schiavone (K/P)	1	5	258	51.6	53	0

Kicking

Player	GP	FG	FG Att.	FG%	LG	SG	XP	XP Att.	XP%	PTS
Noel Prefontaine (K/P)	17	35	46	76.1	54	7	48	48	100.0	160
Derek Schiavone (K/P)	1	3	3	100.0	28	0	4	4	100.0	13
Calvin McCarty (RB)	18	0	1	0.0	0	0	0	0	0.0	1

[9]

Punting

Player	GP	Punts	Yds	Avg.	SG	LG
Noel Prefontaine (K/P)	17	103	4,831	46.9	11	75
Derek Schiavone (K/P)	1	3	109	36.3	0	41

[10]

Returning

Player	GP	K. Ret.	KR Yds	KR Avg.	KR TD	KR LG	P. Ret.	PR Yds	PR Avg.	PR TD	PR LG	MFG Ret.	MFG Yds	MFG Avg.	MFG LG	MFG TD
Tristan Jackson (CB)	17	35	839	24.0	1	94	79	809	10.2	2	67	5	142	28.4	64	0
Fred Stamps (SB)	14	14	297	21.2	0	49	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0
Kelly Campbell (WR)	15	13	291	22.4	0	51	1	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0
Tyler Clutts (DE)	18	6	37	6.2	0	12	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0
Lenny Williams (HB)	9	4	99	24.8	0	39	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0
Bradley Robinson (DB)	7	4	59	14.8	0	24	6	33	5.5	0	9	0	0	0.0	0	0
Damien Anderson (RB)	2	3	56	18.7	0	20	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0
Mathieu Bertrand (FB)	17	3	34	11.3	0	16	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0
Jason Goss (HB)	17	0	0	0.0	0	0	1	5	5.0	0	5	0	0	0.0	0	0

[11]

Awards and records

• Kamau Peterson (WR), Edmonton Eskimos – CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award
• Ricky Ray, Led CFL, Passing Yards (5,861)
• Ricky Ray, Led West Division, Passing Attempts (605)
• Ricky Ray, Led West Division, Passing Completions (422)
• Ricky Ray, Led CFL, Passing Completion (69.8%)[5]

All-Star selections

• Patrick Kabongo, CFL Western All-Star, Offence
• Kamau Peterson, CFL Western All-Star, Offence
• Dario Romero, CFL Western All-Star, Defence

[12]

Milestones

Playoffs

The Eskimos advanced to the East Division playoffs as "crossover" being that they had a better record than Toronto. By defeating Winnipeg, Edmonton became the first crossover team from the West to win an Eastern semi-final.

Week	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Attendance
Division Semi-Final	Nov 8	Edmonton Eskimos	29–21	Winnipeg Blue Bombers		27,493
Division Final	Nov 15	Edmonton Eskimos	26–36	Montreal Alouettes		38,132

East semi-final

Date and time: Saturday, November 8, 12:00 PM Central Standard Time
Venue: Canad Inns Stadium, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total
Edmonton Eskimos	3	18	8	0	29
Winnipeg Blue Bombers	8	7	0	6	21

East final

Date and time: Saturday, November 15, 1:00 PM Eastern Standard Time
Venue: Olympic Stadium, Montreal, Quebec

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total
Edmonton Eskimos	7	6	0	13	26
Montreal Alouettes	3	16	10	7	36

References

1. "Draft List for Year 2008" (PDF). Canadian Football League. 2008-01-28. Retrieved May 6, 2008.
2. Kicked to the curb
3. "CFL fans remember Ron Lancaster". CBC News. September 19, 2008. Archived from the original on September 23, 2008. Retrieved September 23, 2008.
4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-09-19. Retrieved 2008-11-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-09-05. Retrieved 2017-08-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-10-22. Retrieved 2017-08-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-10-20. Retrieved 2017-08-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
8. "CFL Statistics – Sportsnet.ca". Archived from the original on 2009-06-20. Retrieved 2009-06-17.
9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-07-08. Retrieved 2009-06-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-07-08. Retrieved 2009-06-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
11. "CFL Statistics – Sportsnet.ca". Archived from the original on 2009-06-20. Retrieved 2009-06-17.
12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-07-24. Retrieved 2017-08-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)