defence after losing eight of their last nine games. Starters Jon

EDMONTON -- Its two games into the 2014 season and the Edmonton Eskimos have already racked up half of their wins from the entire 2013 campaign. But as Edmontons first-year head coach Chris Jones sees it, it wasnt easy. Grant Shaw made a pair of field goals in the final two minutes of play and the defence came up with a dramatic final stand as the Eskimos equalled their home win total from last season in just one game, defeating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 28-24 in their home opener on Friday. Shaw had previously missed on two other fourth-quarter three-point attempts. "We were fortunate to get out of there with a win because of many things that we did wrong," said Jones. The Eskimos, who went 1-8 at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton in 2013, improved to 2-0 in total this year. Edmonton also eclipsed its win total from its first 10 games last season when it got off to a 1-9 start before finishing with just four wins. "It was a team effort," said Eskimos defensive end Odell Willis. "We just had to pick it up. Our offence was struggling a bit. We had to come out there are do what had to be done." Shaw went from being the goat to earning the winning points, which made his earlier misses easier to swallow. "He made enough for us to win the football game," Jones said. "And thats what were worried about. He did a good job." The Tiger-Cats dropped to 0-2. "The turnovers at the end of the game just killed us," said a visibly upset Hamilton head coach Kent Austin, who was seen booting a water bottle in the hallways shortly after the game. "Its an extremely tough way to lose a football game. Our guys had a good opportunity to win, even with the three turnovers at the end of the game. We just didnt get it done. We didnt deserve it." The Edmonton defence set the tone on just the second play of the game, as Aaron Grymes sacked Hamilton quarterback Zach Collaros. Grymes then picked off a Collaros pass on the Ticats next possession, giving the Eskimos the ball on the Hamilton 14. The play eventually led to a three-yard touchdown pass from QB Mike Reilly to Nate Coehoorn to put Edmonton up 7-0 midway through the first quarter. Hamilton caught a big break with five minutes left in the first, as Edmonton receiver Adarius Bowman, who had dropped a sure TD pass the play before, fumbled the ball away to Erik Harris. Harris brought the ball back 48 yards into Edmonton territory. The big turnover ended up turning it into a tie game, as backup QB Dan LeFevour came in to run for a two-yard touchdown strike. Edmonton regained the lead seven minutes into the second as a 43-yard pass to Fred Stamps set up a Shaw field goal to put the Esks ahead 10-7. Moments later, Collaros was flattened by a helmet hit to the chin by Edmontons Odell Willis and was taken out of the game. He did not return. A series of bad penalties by the Eskimos put Hamilton deep in Edmonton territory and allowed them to tie the game again on a 22-yard Justin Medlock field goal for a 10-10 score at the half. The Tiger-Cats jumped in front early in the third as a 46-yard passing play from third-string QB Jeremiah Masoli to Cary Koch led to a seven-yard touchdown run by C.J. Gable. The Eskimos responded with a 32-yard Shaw field goal on the next series to make it 17-13, a score that stood up heading into the fourth. Hamilton took an 11-point lead three minutes into the final frame as a 39-yard passing play to Luke Tasker set up a 10-yard TD catch by Gable to make it 24-13 for the Tabbies. Edmonton was unable to capitalize on a 62-yard kickoff return by Patrick Robertson to the 40, and ended up with just a single point on a missed Shaw field goal attempt. However, the Eskimos would still make a game out of it with just under nine minutes left as Masoli took off on a QB keeper, only to have the ball ripped out of his hands by Edmonton defender Patrick Watkins and taken 50 yards into the end zone to make it 24-21 for the Ticats. "That was really the turning point of the ball game," Jones said. "From then on we regained the momentum and knew we were going to win the ball game." A minute later Masoli fumbled a snap and then held up Edmontons Marcus Howard in his attempt to recover it, earning a loose ball interference call and turning the ball over to the Eskimos on the Hamilton 33. Once again, though, the Esks squandered the opportunity as Shaw missed a 38-yard attempt. Edmonton got back into field goal territory one more time with 1:30 left to play and this time Shaw was good from 43 yards out to put the Eskimos up 25-24. Hamilton got the ball back one more time, but LeFevour was picked off by Joe Burnett who took the ball down to the Tiger-Cats 17, leading to another Shaw field goal, this one from the 15-yard-line. However, the fireworks continued as the Tiger-Cats got the ball back and marched down field in the final minute all the way to the Edmonton five-yard-line, but the Eskimos defence was able to come up with a pair of big stops to earn the win. "There are positives we can take from the game," Austin said. "Our effort was unbelievable and we got better as a football team this week. That said, we arent good enough to win because we are making too many mistakes. We have to get those corrected and then we will get on a winning track" The Eskimos return to action next Friday when they host the expansion Ottawa Redblacks. The Tiger-Cats have a bye before visiting Calgary on July 18. Notes: The defending Eastern Conference champion Tiger-Cats had a tough start on the offensive line in their opening week 31-10 loss to Saskatchewan, allowing 10 quarterback sacksa The Eskimos started the season as the only team in the CFL to open with a road win, defeating the B.C. Lions 27-20. With that win, the Eskimos remained the leagues greatest all-time season opening club with a 41-26-1 record.a Eskimos starting safety Ryan Hinds missed the game and has been placed on the six-game injured with a lower-body injury. However, Edmonton had some good news as linebacker J.C. Sherritt returned to the lineup for the first time this season. Edmonton was 0-8 last season without Sherritt, who set the CFL single-season record for tackles two years ago with 130a Edmonton came into the game with a league-best 46-17-2 record in home openers. Jason Zucker Jersey .Y. -- AJ Allmendingers journey is almost complete. Joel Eriksson Ek Jersey .C. United to a 4-1 victory over short-handed FC Dallas on Saturday night. http://www.authenticwildpro.com/Zach-parise-wild-jersey/ .Airport spokeswoman Heather Lissner said that all departing flights were back on schedule. However, arriving flights were still trying to catch up.Super Bowl Sunday got off to an inconvenient start for hundreds of passengers trying to get to Phoenix for the game. Eric Staal Wild Jersey . Early in the first period, Stuart pinched in from the blue line, hit Nash and was assessed a minor penalty for elbowing. Nash remained in the game for the rest of the first period, but did not return for the second. Matt Dumba Jersey . PAUL, Minn. CHICAGO -- Theo Epstein was the first person to take a chance on Felix Doubront. Now he is going to give the struggling left-hander another opportunity. The Chicago Cubs acquired Doubront from the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday in exchange for a player to be named. Epstein, the president of baseball operations for the Cubs, was Bostons general manager when Doubront signed with the Red Sox as an undrafted free agent in 2005. Cubs manager Rick Renteria said he didnt know very much about Doubront, and the team said it would announce in the next couple days where he would begin with the organization. Doubront pitched against the Cubs on July 2, allowing three runs and four hits in 1 1-3 innings of relief. "I reserve my right to come to my own judgment on what hes about," Renteria said. The 26-year-old Doubront had grown unhappy with his role in Boston. He was shuttled to the bullpen during the playoffs last year, when the Red Sox won the World Series for the third time in 10 seasons. He made four appearances in the post-season, allowing one run in seven innings. He was again bumped from the rotation this season -- and again expressed his displeasure. But Doubront did little to pitch himself back into a starting role. He recorded just two outs in his final appearance with Boston on Monday, allowing six runs in mop-up duty in a 14-1 loss to Toronto. As the defending World Series champions fell further into last place in the AL East, it became obvious they had little use for a disgruntled and ineffective reliever. Doubront won 11 games in eaach of the previous two seasons.dddddddddddd He struck out 167 in 161 innings in 2012. But he was 2-4 with a 6.07 ERA in 17 games, 10 starts, with the Red Sox this year. The trade is Epsteins fourth deal with his former team since he took over the Cubs in October 2011. It could be the start of a busy week for the plummeting Red Sox, who have conceded their title defence after losing eight of their last nine games. Starters Jon Lester and John Lackey are also on the trading block. The Cubs also could be active ahead of Thursdays non-waiver trade deadline. Utilityman Emilio Bonifacio did not play in Wednesday nights 10-inning loss to Colorado, with Renteria acknowledging the trade talk surrounding the speedy switch hitter. "Im just waiting for whatever is going to happen," said Bonifacio, who is batting.400 (14 for 35) in his last eight games. Also Wednesday, Chicago completed this weeks trade with Los Angeles when it received minor league pitcher Jonathan Martinez from the Dodgers. The Cubs sent second baseman Darwin Barney to the NL West leaders on Monday. Martinez, a 20-year-old right-hander, was 7-5 with a 3.47 ERA in 19 starts for Class A Great Lakes this season. He was signed by the Dodgers as a non-drafted free agent in May 2011 out of Venezuela. The Cubs also recalled left-hander Chris Rusin from Triple-A Iowa and sent right-hander Blake Parker to their top farm club. Parker pitched two innings as the Cubs used eight relievers in Tuesday nights 4-3 victory over Colorado in 16 innings. ' ' '