Montreal Alouettes Patrick Lavoie is taken down by Winnipeg Blue Bombers defence during 2nd half CFL action in Montreal Friday, June 22, 2018. (CFL PHOTO - Peter McCabe)
The visitor’s locker room at Percival Molson Stadium is a cramped, dank space with narrow passageways and tight spaces that seem better suited for a badminton team than the 50 or so large men who make up a professional football team.
Then again, not a soul associated with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers was complaining after Friday’s 56-10 mauling of the Montreal Alouettes for their first win of 2018. It was a complete and thorough thrashing in which everyone who pulled on a jersey played a role.
And in a room full of laughter and life where the defensive side posed for an awesome photo, it could be argued no one was enjoying the moment more than Maurice Leggett.
We’re just out here having fun! #sqaud #darkside pic.twitter.com/V7Su6QVvNh
— Adam Bighill (@Bighill44) June 23, 2018
“It’s a great feeling. It’s a great feeling being out there,” began Leggett. “It felt like I was a little rusty at the beginning, but in due time, it just started to flow.”
Just to briefly recap, Friday night was Leggett’s 2018 debut after he didn’t dress in the season-opening loss. He suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in a win over B.C. last October 14th and while his recovery was swift – he was dunking a basketball in January – both Leggett and the team didn’t want to rush their playmaker back on the field until he was more than ripe.
His numbers from Friday night – he returned two kickoffs for 28 yards and had one tackle on special teams and one on defence – are really the side story. What is remarkable is that the 31-year-old – even with all the medical advancements to help with an Achilles injury – is back on the field contributing. That, coupled with his work ethic and drive, is what made stepping onto the field in Montreal, and then back into that cramped space afterward, so special.
And all of that is not lost on Leggett.
“It’s always a long road,” he said. “The best part about it is I had time in the offseason to do it, all training camp, to get back into form. We did a good job of keeping it bottled in and fresh.”
It would be overly dramatic to suggest Leggett simply willed himself to get back on the field this offseason, but his internal drive played a massive role in his return.
Asked Friday what was driving him when he was working out on a frigid January morning in Winnipeg, Leggett offered this:
“The biggest thing was my family, my household: Christin (his fiancée), Malik (his son) and my daughter Malia… they drive me each and every day,” said Leggett. “If I slack off, then they’re worse than you guys (the media). They will get on me.”
“On top of that, people were saying I couldn’t come back in a certain amount of time and I’m that person who wants to be the first to do it. I want to be the ‘prove-you-wrong’ guy. So, everything that’s not possible, I think it’s possible when I’m doing it.”
Leggett didn’t have to wait long to get back into the groove – the opening kickoff landed in his hands and he returned it 17 yards, but a penalty pushed the Bombers back to their own 10-yard line.
“I was upset I didn’t score,” said Leggett with a grin. “I know historically it’s been very tough to return one on Montreal and I felt like I was going to be the first one.
“I’m pretty sure I got some text messages about that second one that I got cleaned out on (he was rocked by William Stanback), but it’s all right. After that, the anxiety settled and I just kept playing. It felt good.”
More on the Bombers lopsided victory over Montreal in our weekly installment of UPON FURTHER REVIEW…
IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO COMMENT ON THE BOMBERS RIGHT NOW WITHOUT… mentioning rookie QB Chris Streveler and how quickly he is learning on the job.
The 23-year-old product of Crystal Lake, IL threw for three more touchdowns Friday – he now has six in his first two games as a pro – and rushed for 98 yards and another TD as he efficiently operated a brilliant gameplan from offensive coordinator Paul LaPolice.
“The gameplan was great. I’ve got to give the coaches a lot of credit for setting that up throughout the week,” said Streveler. “Putting up a lot of points tonight we’re happy with how we executed and there are always going to be things that are good. Even then, I was talking to somebody and there were a couple of plays in there I felt we could have executed a bit better and I know we’re going to have to continue to get better.”
Streveler, as is already his custom, also raved about the offensive line, about running back Andrew Harris, and his receivers.
“There’s just so much credit to everyone,” he said. “We really spread the ball around and a lot of guys showed up and had a great game. I’ve talked about the leaders and the veterans on this team and how much they’ve helped me. It’s an everyday thing, it’s an everyday process. Learning and growing with them and then them learning and growing with me is just a process.”
ONE MORE STREVELER-RELATED ITEM… that might help put his accomplishments into perspective. It was just before the rookie’s first start a week ago when yours truly was chatting with Weston Dressler. I made the suggestion to Dressler that with the talent around him, ‘all Streveler had to do was play the point guard.’
It was a poorly-worded statement that came off wrong, because it certainly wasn’t made to insinuate playing QB was simple. Dressler, to his credit, didn’t jump all over me with his answer. But what he said is interesting.
“It can sound simple, the idea to ‘just get the ball into the playmakers’ hands,’” said Dressler. “It’s not easy. For the average fan, if you were to grab one of those wristbands the quarterbacks wear and read it out… half the stuff on there is a bunch of made-up words. Just handling that alone is tough. And he’s handling it really, really well.”
THERE WERE SOME GAUDY NUMBERS FOR THE BOMBERS… in Friday’s win, including the 56 points for, the 588 yards net offence, and the defence limiting Montreal to just 10 first downs and 128 yards.
Let’s review the significance of a few of the meatier totals:
- As we revealed in our game recap, the 56 points is the most by a Bombers squad since a 63-31 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on September 8th, 2001. It is also the 24th time in the franchise’s long history in which over 50 points where scored, and the first cracking the 50 mark since a 51-46 win over the Alouettes on July 22, 2005.
- The 46-point point differential isn’t a record, but isn’t that far off the mark. The Bombers twice won games by 56 points: a 58-2 win over Montreal on August 8, 1981 (the game in which former NFL QB Vince Ferragamo started for the Als) and a 56-0 pasting of the Saskatchewan Roughriders on July 5, 1986.
- The Bombers scored 34 points in the first half on Friday, more than their total in 12 games last season. The club record for points in a half is 42, accomplished three times.
- The Bombers had three drives of 90 yards or more in Friday’s win, two led by Chris Streveler, the third by Bryan Bennett. Last season the club had three drives of that length or more and they all came in the West Semi-Final loss to the Edmonton Eskimos.
- Quarterbacks Streveler (10 carries, 98 yards) and Bennett (one carry, 31 yards) combined to rush for 129 yards. Streveler came just short of becoming the first Bombers QB to crack the 100-yard mark since Buck Pierce had 103 yards rushing on July 9, 2010.
- As impressive as the defence were in limiting Montreal to just 10 first downs and 128 yards, the Bombers defence did hold Calgary to nine first downs in the regular season finale last November 3rd – a game played in frigid conditions and with the Stampeders resting starter Bo Levi Mitchell.
ONE COOL STAT WE HAVE ASKED THE LEAGUE’S STATISICIAN TO CHECK… on for us is this: in Friday’s win three Winnipeggers – Andrew Harris, Nic Demski and Kienan LaFrance – all scored touchdowns. That might be a first. Keep you posted.
THE NIGHT WAS BIG FOR LAFRANCE… for any number of reasons, not the least of which being that he missed most of training camp with an injury before making his debut against the Als.
He replaced Andrew Harris for the fourth quarter after the Bombers star tailback took a low-blow shot right on the knee from Jermaine Robinson, and rushed 10 times for 50 yards and a TD while also catching a pass for 23 yards.
“Oh man… missing games and having injuries is one of the hardest things you have to deal with,” said LaFrance. “It makes getting out there that much sweeter. Just to be back with the guys is huge. Honestly, when you’re injured in camp and during the first introduction period with a new team, you feel like you’re not really part of it. Just being able to be out there and share some blood, sweat and tears with guys is what it’s all about.”
WINNIPEG’S DEFENSIVE DOZEN… made life miserable for Alouettes QB Drew Willy and no one was in his grill more than Tristan Okpalaugo, who had two sacks.
“There’s always room for improvement – there were a few runs that shouldn’t have been there – but as a defence I thought we played pretty good,” said Okpalaugo. “We’ve been working on and preaching getting pressure, getting them off their timing and making the quarterback as uncomfortable as we can.”
Okpalaugo also made a spectacular play in which he tipped a Willy pass and intercepted it himself. But… he was flagged for being offside on the play.
“I messed that up,” he said. “I honestly think, too, that I could have had three sacks because on one of them (Willy) was flagged for intentional grounding. That should have been the third (sack).
AND, FINALLY… it’s worth mentioning that nine different Bombers caught passes in the win, including 2018 draft picks Rashaun Simonise and Daniel Petermann, both of whom registered their first career receptions.
Simonise also blocked a punt and finished with 64 yards on two catches, the first a 53-yard bomb from Bryan Bennett over Tommie Campbell – one of the best corners in the CFL.
“The most important thing is we got the win and I’m happier about that than anything else,” said Simonise. “I’m happy to be out there contributing and making some plays. On my first catch, that was just a great throw by the quarterback. I couldn’t ask for anything better because it was right in the breadbasket. I didn’t have to do much but keep running underneath it. I would have loved to stay up, but at the end of the day it was a catch and that felt really good.
“And the punt block… that’s actually my first time being on the field-goal unit and being out there trying to block punts and everything. The veterans have been doing a great job of helping me out and picking up tendencies on the field goal and punt unit as well. Coach Boudreau does a great job of scheming that stuff and makes it easy.
“It’s a blessing for me to be out on the field with a great group of guys, a group of team guys that are all here for the same reason,” added Simonise. “When you win with a bunch of guys like this instead of a bunch of individuals, it’s very special.”
