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It was the look on Dylan Schrot’s face – a mix of overwhelming joy and utter disbelief – that belied the long-standing notion that Canadian Football League pre-season games are meaningless, tedious affairs.
The rookie Winnipeg Blue Bombers receiver, a proud product of the University of Manitoba Bisons and Sisler High School, scored the only touchdown in Friday night’s 20-3 preseason win over the Edmonton Eskimos Friday night in front of 19,273 at IG Field. And as he stepped in front of a row of cameras and reporters afterward, the impact of that moment was clearly still being digested by the young receiver.
“I’m lost for words right now. I can’t even really describe it,” said Schrot, who connected with Bryan Bennett on a 48-yard TD and also saved a touchdown with a tackle of fellow Bison teammate Shai Ross on a kick return at the Bombers 15-yard line. “It was my first CFL catch and something I’ll remember for the rest of my life, for sure. I had to relocate it in the air and I was bobbling it as I ran into the end zone. I’m just so happy I held on to it.”
Schrot did get some friendly grief from teammates afterward, after he went blank on his TD celebration.
“I actually had a pick-and-roll basketball celebration all lined up,” said Schrot with a grin. “I knew the play was coming and as soon as I got in there I was just overwhelmed with emotion and that celebration went right out the window.”
“That was awesome,” added Bennett. “We had a little bit of time there in the huddle and we were talking about it. We were going to put him on a double move and he said, ‘Someone come and set a pick for me, I’m going to pull up a J (basketball jump shot) if we score.’ And then he got too excited and forgot to do a celebration. It was an awesome experience for him to get to score a touchdown here in front of his family. It was great to be a part of it.”
The Schrot score was one of the few offensive highlights on a night in which the Bombers and Eskimos either left starters at home or limited their work in the game. The two clubs combined for just the 23 points, but also 25 points for 198 yards.
Bennett looked comfortable at the controls, even as the personnel revolved around him, and completed 8-of-15 for 122 yards and the TD strike to Schrot while rushing twice for 10 yards. Sean McGuire was six-of-10 for 69 yards and added one carry for 13 yards while Chris Streveler made the start with Matt Nichols dressing, but not playing, and went 2-of-6 for 15 yards while rushing twice for 34.
“It’s unbelievable just to be able to go out there and get some series and get some rhythm,” said Bennett. “No matter how long you play the game every time you step on the field it’s experience that you get, and once you get that experience nobody can take it away from you. It’s invaluable reps and I was just happy to get them.”
CFL teams don’t have to slice down their rosters until June 8th and while there were mistakes Friday, the Bombers prospects did exactly what they were asked to do by muddling the decision process for the coaches. And make no mistake, game film can trump everything.
“If I had to put a weight to it, a grading-scale to it… I like looking at game play more rigorously than practice, just because the intensity level and the competition,” said head coach Mike O’Shea. “I look at special teams in particular… guys are getting hit now for real and you like to see what their response is.
“Some of our guys got whacked, some of our guys whacked guys. Either way it happened guys jumped back up and were ready to play the next play.”
The Eskimos left a ton of their regulars at home – there were 0 projected defensive starters and just four projected offensive starters on the field – and the Bombers fielded a ton of different players, too.
In addition to Nichols not taking a snap, Andrew Harris played in only a couple of series before he exited. Not suiting up were O-linemen Stanley Bryant, Jermarcus Hardrick, Pat Neufeld, receivers Chris Matthews, Nic Demski and Corey Washington, fullback Mike Miller, linebackers Thomas Miles and DJ Lalama and defensive backs Winston Rose and Chris Humes.
At first glance, some of the Bombers who stood out included:
– Charles Nelson, who returned the opening kickoff 48 yards and finished with 45 yards on three punt returns. Lucky Whitehead, the other main kick-return candidate, returned one kickoff for 14 yards and had 30 yards on three punt returns. Mike Jones unfortunately fumbled a punt-return deep in Bombers territory that led to an Eskimo field goal.
– Kenny Lawler was the most targeted Bombers receiver with seven, and finished with four catches for 52 yards. Daniel Petermann was his usual sure-handed self, and had three catches for 30 yards;
– Mexican kicker Gabriel Amavizca-Ortiz hit his only field goal attempt, from 36 yards, but was up and down on the punting – placing one inside the 10, but also drawing a penalty for a kick out of bounds;
– Defensive end Alex McCalister exploded off the edge to register a sack;
– Malik Boynton broke up a pass in the end zone on a third-down gamble by the Esks;
– Receiver Kenny Walker had three catches for 34 yards.
FYI
The Bombers dressed 10 Winnipeggers for Friday night, including three members of Winnipeg Rifles in Brandon Urciuoli, Cole Sneesby and Troy Wilson along with Brady Oliveira, Andrew Haris, Zach Greenberg, Geoff Gray, Tariq LaChance, Dylan Schrot and Abu Conteh. Oliveira, FYI, rushed four times for 17 yards.
Next:
The Bombers play their final dress rehearsal next Thursday in Regina against the Saskatchewan Roughriders before opening up the regular season on Saturday, June 15th in Vancouver against the B.C. Lions.
