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B.C. Lions quarterback Mike Reilly (13) is tackled by Edmonton Eskimos Kendal Vickers (97) during second half CFL action in Edmonton, Alta., on June 21, 2019.JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Press

As homecomings go, Mike Reilly’s return to Commonwealth Stadium on Friday night ranks right up there with the worst imaginable.

Spectators booed the BC Lions quarterback when he lined up for his first play. Seconds later, Vontae Diggs, an Edmonton linebacker, dragged him down in the backfield.

It was only the first of seven sacks recorded against the Eskimos former long-time quarterback, a number that undersells just how badly he was mistreated. Reilly was actually sacked four times more, but those were all wiped out by penalties. Twice the Eskimos grabbed his face mask, once they roughed him, another time he was tackled helmet to helmet.

Welcome back, buddy. Thanks for everything.

“We exchanged some words,” Diggs said. “I told him to stop being a baby and to stop complaining to the refs when he got hit. He is a great quarterback and I respect him, but then you step on the field with me I am going to run my mouth.”

Over six previous seasons in Edmonton, Reilly became one of the biggest stars in the Canadian Football League. He led the Eskimos to the Grey Cup in 2015. Fans adored him. Then he signed a multiyear contract with B.C. in the off-season. It wasn’t a nasty parting; he is from Washington State and wanted to play closer to home.

But he left Edmonton and now he was coming home again. It happens, but that doesn’t mean people will treat you nicely.

A welt was forming beneath his left eye after the Eskimos’ 39-23 thumping of the Lions. When he wasn’t pounded into the turf, Reilly was chased all over the field. One pass, made under duress, was intercepted. Three were batted down.

Before the game, he said he had great memories from having played in Edmonton. Afterward, he said there was some fans he had been happy to see, and of course some of his former teammates.

“After that, it is pretty much where all of the enjoyment ended for me,” Reilly said.

He was sacked twice in the first three plays, but had one wiped out by a face-mask infraction. At one point in the fourth quarter, he was dumped on the turf four times in five snaps. Again, one was waved off by a penalty.

It was a classic CFL kind of game: entertaining and remarkably sloppy. The Eskimos were penalized 14 times for 165 yards. The Lions 11 for 134. Reilly only threw for 15 more yards than that.

Edmonton’s pass rush was so fierce and the Lions’ offensive line so porous that Reilly never had much of a chance. He threw for 96 yards in the first quarter – and 53 the rest of the way. That is Buffalo Bills football, not the CFL.

Five Edmonton players had sacks: Nick Usher and Mike Moore had two apiece, while Diggs, Almondo Sewell and Jesse Joseph had one each.

“He has great pocket presence and is one of the better guys at getting away," said Kwaku Boateng, an Edmonton defensive lineman He had a sack, too, but it was taken away by a penalty. "There were times when we had three or five guys on him.

"It’s not easy to get away when five guys are chasing you.”

Despite constant harassment, Reilly had a good first quarter. He threw one touchdown and, after 15 minutes, the Lions had an 11-3 lead. They increased it to 17-3, before Reilly had a pass intercepted and the wheels started to come off.

Suddenly, they trailed 20-17 at halftime, and 30 minutes of misery followed.

Reilly scrambled for his life and B.C. could never get its offence untracked again. Meanwhile, the Eskimos offence directed by Trevor Harris had its second exceptional game.

The quarterback, who signed as a free agent in the off-season after taking the Redblacks to the Grey Cup, threw for 294 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another. In two victories, he has 741 passing yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions. He has also run for two scores and is yet to be sacked.

Greg Ellingson, who had been Harris’s favourite target in Ottawa, caught nine passes for 174 yards, including a 52-yard score. C.J. Gable lugged the ball 23 times for 111 yards.

All in all, for the Eskimos it was a nice way to celebrate the first evening of summer. For Reilly, not so much.

The Lions are 0-2 and face another tough opponent in Calgary next Saturday. It is a long season, of course, but an 0-3 start is undesirable. The Eskimos play next in Winnipeg on Thursday.

Diggs said he has never seen a defensive line manhandle an opponent as badly as the Eskimos did B.C.

Edmonton’s head coach had a similar thought process

“That was a big-boy effort right there,” Jason Maas said. "The guys were aggressive and physical all night.

“It made it awful hard for their offence to operate and for Mike to pull the trigger. Anytime you can do that to a quarterback, it makes life very difficult.”

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