CALGARY - Down by three points late in the fourth quarter, the Edmonton Eskimos squandered a great opportunity against the Calgary Stampeders.

Trailing 24-21 in the West Division semifinal Sunday, Edmonton quarterback Ricky Ray completed a 21-yard pass to receiver Fred Stamps to give the Eskimos a first down on the Calgary 47-yard line.

"We drove the ball down, then we shot ourselves in the foot with penalties," said Edmonton coach Richie Hall in regards to two straight holding penalties that put the Eskimos right back to where they started the drive.

Stampeder defensive lineman DeVone Claybrooks sacked Ray for a 10-yard loss before the Edmonton quarterback completed a six-yard pass to Stamps to put the Esks in a third-and-34 situation, ending the drive.

"Stuff like that usually only happens on video games," said Stamps in regards to the back-to-back costly penalties. "You can't expect to do that in a playoff game and win."

When Calgary got the ball back, Edmonton defensive back Jason Goss made a great tackle to limit Calgary running back Joffrey Reynolds to an eight-yard gain.

"Just after that play, they were able to do what they needed to do to run the clock out," Goss said. "We didn't make the stops that we needed, especially down the stretch run."

Hall credited Reynolds and the Stampeder offence for extending the drive and holding on for the 24-21 victory.

"They ran the ball and shoved it up our throats there at the end when we had to have a stop," Hall said. "We couldn't make a play in the fourth quarter there at the end."

Despite the three-point loss, Goss commended his teammates for battling right down to the final whistle.

"Every guy in this locker-room gave it their all because we knew the last two times we'd been in this stadium it was a horrible showing," said Goss, referring to 32-8 and 30-7 losses to the Stamps at McMahon Stadium during the regular season.

"It sucks that our season had to end now. I'm around a great bunch of guys that left it out there on the field."

In his post-game press conference, an emotional Hall also gave his players credit for fighting through adversity all season long.

"The thing about the playoffs is that when it's over, when you lose it, it comes to an abrupt ending," Hall said. "The thing I said to those guys is that I'm very proud of them. We gave ourselves a chance. Things didn't work out, but the thing that they did, they persevered and they fought all year long.

"It didn't happen for us today, but we've got a great start for next year."

After being held to just 50 yards rushing, Edmonton running back Arkee Whitlock gave his teammates a vote of confidence.

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but right here, right now," Whitlock said. "Even though it's a loss, I'm able to keep my chin up because I'm proud of what we've got going here as a team. We've been through a lot going through this season."

Whitlock said the Eskimos, who finished 9-9 in the regular season, proved to both their fans and detractors that they're a quality opponent.

"Nobody expected us to make it this far," he said. "It's not like we got blown out. The game could have gone either way."