Written by: Andrew Parker
Still riding the high of their come-from-behind victory last week, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will welcome the Toronto Argonauts tomorrow for their second home game in a row. The win over Montreal put Winnipeg at 10-6 on the season and tied them for first place in the East. Since the Argos loss last week to Edmonton, Winnipeg will be looking to help them stretch their losing streak a little further.
The Argos on the other hand, already knocked from playoff participation, will be trying to preserve their dignity and go out swinging, repeating a performance that saw a one point win over Winnipeg in their last meeting. Not only does this game give Winnipeg a chance to right that wrong, it’s also the last season game that will be played at Canad Inns Stadium, a monument that isn’t lost on Head Coach Paul LaPolice.
“There’s a lot of history in this organization and in this stadium so to be a part of the final game at Canad Inns Stadium certainly is special and we want to make sure we send this place out properly. The players love playing here in front of these fans and have really fed off all the energy they bring all season long. Toronto will be looking to spoil our party and we’re going to be ready for them,” said LaPolice.
Toronto is currently at 4-12; a record you’ll notice is getting awfully close to the Bombers’ performance from last year. The Bombers would like nothing more to keep Toronto this low as they rise out of last year’s ashes, and on paper it’s well within their reach. But for Marcellus Bowman, the Boatmen still have some wind in their sails.
“Just because the Argos won’t be playing in the playoffs this year doesn’t mean we can take them lightly. They beat Calgary a couple of weeks ago and came away with the victory against us a few weeks back too so we have to be ready for them. They’ve got a lot of weapons and if they get those guys rolling, they’re tough to play against,” said the linebacker.
Bowman’s fellow defensive linebacker Jason Vega had a stellar game last week, putting up 4 tackles and 2 sacks that added up to a Defensive Player of the Week award. Everyone is looking forward to more defensive action like we saw last week, with solid play and precision all around. On the offensive end, quarterback Buck Pierce looks to lead the Bombers to a win tomorrow, and keep pressing on after that.
“Right now, we’re only concentrating on beating Toronto. We can’t worry about the standings just yet because there’s still two games to go that mean a lot. We’re in a great situation where if we take care of our business, then we’ll be right where we want to be at the end of the year and that’s the most important thing,” said Pierce.
The last season game at Canad Inns Stadium starts tomorrow at 7 PM.
