Written by: Andrew Parker
The Bombers have done it again. With a magical second half, Winnipeg defeated the Lions in Vancouver tonight 30-17, going 6-1 on the season for the first time since 1984. This game improves Winnipeg’s streak to four wins, and moves them alone into first place in the league.
In what’s sadly becoming a regular occurrence, Winnipeg got off to another slow start, scoring only 13 in the first half. Bryant Turner filled in admirably for the injured Doug Brown, stopping BC on second down which forced them to punt on their first drive.
Unfortunately, Winnipeg’s offence only earned one first down in the opening quarter, contrasting with a BC offence that was consistently gaining yards. Steady yardage led to a touchdown from BC’s Tim Brown on an easy six yard run midway through the first quarter.
Since Winnipeg was unable to gain a first down with conventional offence, a big break came when Pierre-Luc Labbé recovered a Winnipeg punt to move the Bombers downfield. It was the start they needed to set up Justin Palardy to knock down his first field goal attempt, catching them up at bit, 7-3.
Strong defence continued with another fumble recovery, this time forced by a tackle on Arland Bruce by Jason Vega, and recovered by Joe Lobandahn.
Fred Reid opened the quarter with an explosive catch and run for 43 yards, getting the Blue onto the 2 yard line. The Bombers brought out backup quarterback Alex Brink to punch it in for the score, giving the Bombers their first lead of the game, up 10-7 after the convert.
A close call came when a giant BC touchdown run was called back due to penalty, but Winnipeg had a bad moment of its own when Terence Jeffers-Harris fumbled and Lobendahn was called for unnecessary roughness. BC was able to capitalize and tie the game with a field goal.
Winnipeg got lucky on defence late in the half with BC earning plenty of attention from the officials that slowed them down, but after Palardy hit another field goal, the defence tightened up from both teams. Neither team was able to get far on offence, a stretch featuring an impressive knockdown and near interception by Jonathon Hefney while he focused his talents on BC’s Geroy Simon.
The third quarter has been Winnipeg’s best this season, and tonight they attacked it with gusto. Buck Pierce had increased options in the second half, starting with a scoring drive that featured big catches from Cory Watson and Jeffers-Harris, finishing with a handoff to Reid for the touchdown.
Back on defence, Swaggerville’s Alex Suber recovered another BC fumble, giving Pierce a chance to show more of his consistent leadership. He was able to drive the Bombers to the one yard line, when Brink returned to the field to score his second short-yard touchdown of the game. Palardy added another field goal, putting the Bomber scoring at 17-0 in the quarter.
BC tried to improve their situation by replacing Travis Lulay with Jarious Jackson at quarterback, but that didn’t stop Hefney from getting his interception to stop the Lions’ offence in its tracks.
The fourth quarter continued almost as well, with plenty of sacks by Swaggerville balancing out an interception thrown by Pierce. BC’s Jackson was able to land a huge bomb in the hands of Akeem Foster, a 54 yard touchdown pass to end the game 30-17.
