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October 8, 2016

Game Recap: BC 35, WPG 37

Winnipeg Blue Bombers players raise Weston Dressler (7) after he ran around the end zone burning off precious time in the dying seconds of the second half of CFL action against the B.C. Lions in Winnipeg Saturday, October 8, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

It had all the necessary elements of a Canadian Football League classic, from a fake kick, to a quarterback catching a touchdown, to the scoreboard numbers rolling like the patterns on a slot machine and, of course, the prerequisite dramatic finish.

And the bonus for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers?

All that came with a big, fat ‘W’ at the end in a 37-35 nail-biter over the B.C. Lions Saturday afternoon that positively thrilled the 24,284 in the house at Investors Group Field.

“TSN must love us, man. The ratings are going to go up,” said Bombers defensive end Jamaal Westerman.

“We make everything tough, there’s no easy route, but it’s a four-quarter game and it took every second of the entire game, it took all the men that were on that field, it took three phases to get that ‘W.’”

Jamaal Westerman

The win tightens up the West Division standings considerably as the Bombers improve to 9-6, tied for second with the Lions – now 9-5 – with the two clubs doing it all over again in Vancouver next Friday.

And while it seems elementary now, if Toronto loses to Calgary and Montreal to Edmonton – both games on Monday – the Bombers will officially advance to the playoffs for the first time since 2011.

The game began with the Bombers delivering some killer shots to jump ahead 24-3 with the game just 22 minutes old as Andrew Harris, making his first appearance after missing three games with an ankle injury, Matt Nichols and Timothy Flanders all scored TDs on the club’s first three possessions.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Matt Nichols (15), Travis Bond (60) and Jermarcus Hardrick (51) celebrate Nichols' touchdown against the B.C. Lions during the first half of CFL action in Winnipeg Saturday, October 8, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

There was some flair to two of those three scores as the Nichols TD came on a pass from Rory Kohlert in a perfectly executed ‘special’ play, which came two plays after Weston Dressler scrambled 20-yards on a fake field goal.

The Lions, to their credit, got up off the mat to deliver some punches of their own, as Chris Rainey and Anthony Allen scored on TD runs to narrow the gap to 24-20 at the intermission.

B.C. twice took leads in the second half on a TD plunge by Travis Lulay and with Richie Leone going 4-for-5 in the field-goal department. And with the Bombers protecting a 37-33 advantage with 2:02 left, Lions QB Jonathon Jennings drove his offence to the Winnipeg four-yard line when Maurice Leggett – who had shaken off an injury to return to the field for the final possession – dropped Rainey for a one-yard loss on a third-and-one gamble with 58 seconds left.

“I was ruled out, but me being stubborn I did some agility testing on the sideline and felt ready to go and it was like, ‘We’ll put you back in if we need you,’” said Leggett. “The rest is history.”

Asked who he had to convince to go back into the game after what looked like a leg injury, Leggett grinned before adding:

“Everybody.”

“My motto is past players are willing to chop their fingers off to still play. That’s the same motto I’ve grown up with, so if I’m not getting carted off the field then I’m trying to get out there and play.”

“The first thing I told him,” added defensive back T.J. Heath, “is, ‘Man, you are a ball player.’ We thought he was down. We were picking at him saying, ‘You just can’t miss this because you wanted to be a hero.’ But he is a hero because that was a big play.

“That’s Moe Leggett, man. That’s what he does.”

TJ Heath

The game wasn’t without its warts for the Bombers, however. Not only did they spit up a 24-3 advantage, they were scorched for 422 yards through the air and took 12 penalties for 155 yards – including four penalties for 79 yards by the secondary.

But a win is a win is a win, as the old saying goes. And at the end of this slugfest it was the Bombers who had their arms raised.

“It was a battle. We knew it was going to be a 12-round bout,” said Harris, who carried 12 times for 66 yards and pulled in five passes for 50 more. “They’re a team that puts up a lot of points up. The game plan was to keep their offence off the field and we struggled with that… but at the end of the day that’s the M.O. of this team in the last little bit here, the fight we have and no quit.”

“That,” added head coach Mike O’Shea, “was a good CFL contest right there.”

Winnipeg Blue Bombers players raise Weston Dressler (7) after he ran around the end zone burning off precious time in the dying seconds of the second half of CFL action against the B.C. Lions in Winnipeg Saturday, October 8, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

THE BIG STAT

3: The Bombers generated three more turnovers, picking off Jonathon Jennings twice – those mistakes resulting in 10 points by the home side. But the biggest stop was the turnover on downs inside the final minute that helped seal the win.

THE COACH SAYS:

“I’m very proud of our guys. They fought extremely hard and they did manage the emotions very well. You’re up 24-3, their team claws back and you trade punches back and forth… we’re finding different ways to win.” – O’Shea.

FYI

The Rory Kohlert-to-Matt Nichols pass was the quarterback’s first TD reception since he was a little kid.

“I’m trying to think… when I first started playing I think I played receiver for the first half of the season and then they decided I needed to be the quarterback because the other guy couldn’t handle the ball very well,” said Nichols. “As far as I can remember that’s my first ever catch. It’s crazy because it’s a play we’ve practiced since training camp, we do it every week at least once or twice.

“It’s weird… I kinda saw myself doing that before the game and Lapo (offensive coordinator Paul LaPolice) told me, ‘Get me down to the five on the right hash(mark) and we’ll call it.’ I told him I had a vision of me doing that and then all of a sudden he called it and before I knew it I was in the end zone catching a touchdown.

“Crazy play, but well-dialed up and a great call by coach.”

NUMBERS GAME

9: Wins by the Bombers this season, now at 9-6. This guarantees an end to the run of four straight losing campaigns and, with one more victory, would match the total in 2011 when the club went 10-8.

8-2: Matt Nichols record as the Bomber starter since taking over in late July. Nichols completed 22 of 32 passes on Saturday for 233 yards with TD strikes to Clarence Denmark and Andrew Harris.

7: Touchdowns by Denmark this season, in just eight games played. That’s a career high for the Bomber receiver.

6: Receiving touchdowns caught by the legendary Ken Ploen, most by a Bomber QB.

208: Receiving yards by B.C. slotback Bryan Burnham, on nine catches. Couple that with Emmanuel Arceneaux’s 150 yards on 10 receptions and those two receivers accounted for 358 of the Lions’ 422 passing yards. That’s a whopping 84.1 per cent.