If there was such a thing as Canadian Football League Jeopardy – naturally, Sudbury’s own Alex Trebek would still host – then this would be a dandy game-ending question.
In last Friday’s 56-10 stomping of the Montreal Alouettes, Winnipeggers Andrew Harris, Nic Demski and Kienan LaFrance all scored touchdowns.
And the last time that happened, if ever, for the Bombers?
According to @Stats_Junkie, you must go all the way back to October 24, 1955 and a game between the Bombers and B.C. Lions in which Gerry James (born in Regina, but a product of Kelvin High School), Elton Taylor and Lorne ‘Boom-Boom’ Benson all scored on runs, with James scoring twice.
“Did you just make that up? That’s cool,” said LaFrance with a grin when asked during a media scrum following practice on Monday. “I’m really just glad to be a part of it. Everybody on the field worked really hard to be there, coaches as well, and it shows we’re all really starting to come together as a team. It’s positive.”
Just for the record – and again, according to @Stats_Junkie – Winnipeggers James, Len Meltzer and Keith Pearce, the latter two on passes from Jack Jacobs, also scored in the same game on November 14, 1953 in Game 3 of the Western Interprovincial Football Union West Final.
And on October 13, 1951 Keith Pearce, Bud Korchak and Ron Vaccher all scored in a game in Saskatchewan.
“It’s a good feeling. Obviously, it’s a good sign of the kind of hometown talent we have here,” said Demski. “We’re just going to keep trying to do it every game and see if we can keep this streak going.
“Whenever the boys get together and just talk about football, it’s something we all want to do. We want to keep scoring touchdowns and keep making plays. To see it come into reality… it’s a good feeling and a good sign.”
Harris (who did not practice after being banged up in Friday’s win and wasn’t available to the media on Monday) and Demski are products of Oak Park, while LaFrance played for Sturgeon Heights. Both Demski and LaFrance stayed home to play for the University of Manitoba, while Harris cut his teeth with the junior Vancouver Island Raiders.
“It says a lot. Football is big here in Winnipeg, probably a lot bigger than people around Canada think,” added Demski. “So, to see three of us (score) on one team and go out there and do it and hopefully continue to do it consecutively and making plays consecutively week in, week out is going to say a lot, especially for kids in high school who want to get a scholarship. Or kids who don’t think they can make it to this level and score touchdowns at this level.
“It just gives everybody a little bit of help and lets the community see what kind of players we have and what kind of talent we have on this team.”
More on some of the news and notes on the Bombers first day back at work in this week’s installment of Need to Know…
ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER SCRUM WITH CHRIS STREVELER:
The Bombers QB, coming off a spectacular second start in which he helped the Bombers to victory by completing 22 of 28 passes for 246 yards with three passing TDs while rushing for 98 yards and another score, was a popular man when the team returned to work on Monday.
Streveler is in high demand these days as awareness of his game grows. His six passing TDs through two games leads the league and his 94.9 QUAR rating is second only to Trevor Harris (98.7).
Here are a couple of the best nuggets from Streveler’s eight-minutes-plus segment with the media:
On what he has enjoyed the most about being a pro:
“I love the preparation that goes into it. It’s long days here. It’s your job now. It’s your job to be as prepared as possible and that’s something that I always enjoyed doing at the college level, but now especially at the professional level.
“I just really enjoy the daily grind of going through meetings and being out here at practice and going back and watching more film and coming in early and watching film. That’s just fun. It’s rewarding when you see guys doing well and picking things up. That’s been the most fun about this whole thing… you don’t have to worry about school or anything like that. You can put all your time and energy into doing the best you can to help the team out.”
And when asked if it has been suggested he slide more when running rather than take on tacklers:
“No. It’s just a matter of being smart. I’ve kind of had that issue throughout my entire playing career. I’ve made coaches mad since high school, running the way I do sometimes. I understand it’s a physical game and up here it’s a different level. I’ve got to continue to get better about being smart and taking care of myself. It’s a really long season up here, but I don’t know if I’m going to be able to change who I am and sometimes my mentality out there. It’s something I’ve got to work on, but I don’t think I’m ever going to fully change.”
OUCH UPDATE:
DB Anthony Gaitor, who was injured after picking off a pass on Friday, could be out ‘a week, at least’ said head coach Mike O’Shea. Maurice Leggett spent some time in his spot with the starting defence on Monday, but Tyniel Cooper or Marcus Sayles could also be possibilities.
Also not practising on Monday were RB Andrew Harris, OL Pat Neufeld, LB Jovan Santos-Knox, DE Trent Corney, RB Timothy Flanders, OL Qadr Spooner, QB Matt Nichols and QB Alex Ross.
Michael Couture worked in Neufeld’s spot along the O-line while Kienan LaFrance was lining up in the backfield with the starting offence.
QUOTABLE:
“It was a lot of fun. I haven’t had that much fun in a while. I haven’t had that big of a whupping in a while. It was good to actually get out there, get it done and be a big part of it. I just want to keep this thing going. We have a lot of fun over here in Winnipeg. I just want to keep winning more games and keep kicking more butt… I was about to say the wrong word there.” – Bombers slotback Nic Demski on last week’s win.
