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November 10, 2017

O’Leary: Bomber ball hawks aim to keep Reilly’s number

The last time the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Edmonton Eskimos met, Mike Reilly had the ball in his hands facing a two-point deficit at the Bombers’ 48-yard line.

As Hamilton, Montreal, Toronto and BC (twice!) can attest this season, this is not the position that you want Reilly, arguably the most clutch quarterback in the league, in late in a game with a chance to win.

Fortunately for the Bombers, Chris Randle wasn’t intimidated. The cornerback watched Reilly work, saw him target Derel Walker and burst in front of the star receiver. He snagged the ball with both hands and ran it in for the game-sealing touchdown, skirting past a diving Reilly to get into the end zone. The win, back on Sept. 30, was the eighth in the Bombers’ last nine and pushed Edmonton to its sixth loss in a row.

By season’s end, that game was the difference between the Bombers hosting Sunday’s West Division semi-final and playing it back at the scene of Randle’s pick-six crime, in Edmonton.

When these teams meet on Sunday, the script will be much different. The Bombers are dealing with injuries, with Matt Nichols’ left calf issue leaving his coach, Mike O’Shea, hesitant to outright name him the starting quarterback. Star linebacker Mo Leggett is out for the season and receiver Darvin Adams is gone at least for this week, should the Bombers’ season extend past this one.


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With uncertainty around the quarterback spot, a big play or two from the defence could go a long way toward easing the burden on whoever might start at quarterback and to adding another week to the sensational 12-6 season that those healthy bodies put together this year.

“I don’t think we need to outdo ourselves or overstretch our responsibilities,” Randle said on Thursday, after the team’s closed practice wrapped up.

“I think if we take care of what we need to do as far as playing fundamentally sound, communicating our own responsibilities, I think the plays will happen and we’ll be more effective that way.

“I understand in our situation there is a sense of urgency to be as dominant as possible. It being a playoff game, us being at home, it all plays a factor in it. As long as we do what we’re supposed to do as far as playing fundamentally sound ball, we’ll be all right.”

Randle and defensive halfback T.J. Heath both pulled in a team-best five interceptions this season and were named West Division all-stars.

“With or without the offence, that’s how we try to attack the game. Just like (the responsibility) is on our back,” Heath said.

“I can’t really say what’s going on with (the quarterbacks) but we’re just trying to make sure we control what we can control and play the best football we can play. A lot of times we do go out with a mentality that we want to put the game on our shoulders and that’s how we go out and take it.”

The Bombers were the second-best team in the league in terms of giveaways and takeaways, at plus-14 (Calgary finished first, at plus-20). Randle points out that some stats show the defence has given up a lot this season but he maintains that more often than not, they make the plays that they need to.

Two contests, two game-changing defensive plays for Chris Randle who had a pick-six in the last meeting with the team the Bombers battle with on Sunday.

“I think we’re aware of situational football,” he said. “Sometimes we want (the turnovers) more than being effective, we’re not as effective as getting the ball out and that’s where we lose games, I think. Knowing that what our M.O. is, getting the ball out, that’s our focus and that’s what we practice.”

“It’s just trusting each other,” Heath said, thinking back to the almost six-month journey that he and his teammates have been on.

“We know each other and we just have fun, that’s what it really comes down to. The communication is coming a lot easier and the guys know their assignments and everything falls into place. That’s what’s kind of clicked, is everyone comes together and does what they’re supposed to do.”

Like many defensive players around the league, Heath puts more value on stopping a big-name player he’s going against. He cherishes the interceptions he’s gotten against Ricky Ray and Bo Levi Mitchell. He hasn’t gotten Reilly yet, but would love to add that name to his list this weekend.

As he brought the ball out of the Edmonton end zone in that Sept. 30 win, bragging rights in hand, Randle didn’t think about trash talking Reilly.

“I’ve been going against him (the last six years). The respect is there,” he said. “Just keep chugging, that type of thing, no taunting. The respect is mutual.”

If he were to duplicate the feat on Sunday and helped to lift a somewhat hobbled team into the next round of the playoffs for the first time in six years, it would do all of the talking necessary.