REGINA – It was a massive and important step for a franchise thirsty for a championship and simply starving for a playoff win. Yes, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers slayed some serious dragons in a 23-18 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Canadian Football League’s West Division Semi-Final Sunday afternoon at Mosaic Stadium, smack dab in the heart of enemy territory.
“You should see my phone right now,” said Andrew Harris after the win, when asked on its importance. ”I mean, it’s huge to everyone. My friends and family, I’m getting e-mails from business people. Everyone is excited.”
But there was also a very real sense after the victory – Winnipeg’s first postseason ‘W’ in seven years – that it was just the first step in their quest to be playing on the last Sunday of this month. That’s every team’s goal, after all, and there is much more heavy lifting to do.
“Our goal was to be 1-0 after this week and that’s what we are,” said quarterback Matt Nichols, who was a solid 16-of-22 for 169 yards with one TD and no interceptions. “It won’t change this week. We’re going into this next week with the mindset to be 1-0 again. That’s the way we’ve truly approached this the back half of the season.”
“We can enjoy this now, but again, we’ve got to flush it and move on to Calgary,” added Harris. “As exciting as it is to win this game and go to the Western Final, we’ve really got to flush it and keep moving.”
The playoff victory Sunday was the Bombers first dating back to the East Division Final in 2011, a 19-3 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. It also sends the Bombers to a divisional final next Sunday in Calgary against the Stampeders for the first time since that game against the Ticats in 2011, and to a West Final for the first time since a 33-30 loss in Edmonton in 2002.
The Bombers rallied from a 6-0 deficit, as the Riders cranked out two Brett Lauther field goals on their first two possessions to take a 13-9 lead into the intermission. Playing mistake-free football, the Bombers turned a Kevin Fogg interception into points with three minutes left in the first half, as Nichols fired a perfect strike to Drew Wolitarsky for a 20-yard touchdown.
The second half featured some good, old-fashioned smash-mouth football as the Bombers pounded Andrew Harris behind their dominant offensive line. Harris had just 27 yards rushing in the first half, but finished the afternoon with 153 yards, including a dominant stretch with under five minutes remaining in which he capped off a drive that saw him rumble for 53 yards, including a two-yard TD in which he fumbled as he broke the plane, but managed to scoop up the ball.
“We just stuck with it,” said Harris. “The run game is usually hard to get going right away. If you can, that’s good. But it’s usually in the second half when you get things going and start wearing teams down. I feel like our offensive line thrives for those situations where we’re wearing them down. That touchdown.. I was exhausted and I know that the five or six guys that were out there with me blocking were exhausted, too. But they just have that second gear and that love to want to get it done. That’s where they were able to keep pushing and get the (Riders) defensive line into the end zone. The O-line are just dogs out there. I really just tip my hat to the team for sticking with it and LaPo (offensive coordinator Paul LaPolice) for calling the plays.”
Brandon Bridge started the game for the Riders, confirming news reports Saturday night that Zach Collaros would not be able to suit up. Saskatchewan head coach Chris Jones said afterward Collaros passed concussion protocol, but just wasn’t ‘feeling right’ during the week of practice.
Bridge was most effective with his legs, rushing five times for 86 yards, but was just 12 of 22 for 100 yards through the air. And in a controversial play that will be part of the fallout this week and discussed in Saskatchewan all offseason, Bridge was not able to finish the game after taking a shot to the head from Jackson Jeffcoat on the second-last play of the game. The league acknowledged the call was missed after the game in a statement and it’s very likely Jeffcoat will receive some sort of discipline this week.
A statement from @CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie: pic.twitter.com/3dzxF9gMyl
— CFL Communications (@CFL_PR) November 12, 2018
“It’s unfortunate,” said Jones after the game. “It seems like it’s a part of football. Physical plays happen… it’s two times in the last two weeks (Collaros was knocked out of a win over B.C. in a play the officials also missed). There are a lot of things we could have done better as a football team. You can’t take anything away from what they have in Winnipeg. They’ve got a good football team.”
THE BIG STAT
2: The Bombers forced two turnovers, both interceptions. The first, by Kevin Fogg, led to the Wolitarsky TD. And the second came on the final play of the game, when Anthony Gaitor intercepted a Hail-Mary attempt by David Watford.
FYI
The Bombers two inactives were LB Jovan Santos-Knox and WR Ryan Lankford… Ian Wild and Kyrie Wilson split up working in Santos-Knox’s spot; Wild finished with six tackles, while Wilson registered four tackles and added a sack… Bridge became the first Canadian QB to start a playoff game since Gerry Dattillio for Montreal in 1984.
NOTABLE
The Bombers and Stamps split the season series; Calgary winning 39-26 in Southern Alberta on August 25th, with the Bombers wrapping up their home regular season with a 29-21 victory on October 26th.
NUMBERS GAME
205: The Bombers surrendered just 205 yards offence, but were also penalized five times for 96 yards.
68: Receiving yards for Drew Wolitarsky, on five catches, to lead the Bombers.
201: Rushing yards for the Bombers – 153 for Andrew Harris, 41 for Chris Streveler, five from Matt Nichols and two from Nic Demski.
96: Penalty yards for the Bombers, on five infractions.
