Bombers fall 27-23 to Roughriders

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/09/2010 (5541 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

REGINA — The opponent changes, the score changes and so do some of the minute details.

But the end result painfully remains all the same for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers: another loss and another injury to starting quarterback Buck Pierce.

This time, however, the sting could linger for a spell.

The Bombers fell 27-23 to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the annual Labour Day Classic in front of 30,945 at Taylor Field and may have lost Pierce for the season after he suffered a dislocated elbow with less than three minutes left in the contest and was taken to a local hospital.

“It looked (serious), I’m not sure what it was but it looked it,” said Bomber head coach Paul LaPolice.

Pierce, signed in the offseason despite the obvious risk given his history of injuries, has now been hurt three times in nine games.

The loss was Winnipeg’s fifth straight, making this the franchise’s longest losing skid since dropping seven in a row during the 1999 season. Now 2-7, the Bombers have now lost the last six Labour Day Classics to their prairie rivals and six straight overall dating back to the 2007 Grey Cup.

Saskatchewan, meanwhile, improves to 6-3.

And, as has been the case through much of the season, there was opportunity for the Bombers to upset the Riders and steal one in enemy territory. Winnipeg trailed 11-9 at halftime and 18-17 after three quarters but when it mattered most Rider QB Darian Durant pieced together a brilliant eight-play, 91-yard scoring drive that was capped by an 11-yard TD run by the pivot.

Penalties, turnovers and ineffectiveness in the score zone were critical factors — again — in the Bomber defeat, the fifth consecutive on the road this season. Winnipeg hasn’t won on the road dating back to last Oct. 12th in Hamilton, a streak of six games.

“We’ve seen this before time and time again,” said safety Ian Logan. “We’re right there but we just don’t finish. And that’s what good teams do, they finish those games. We had an opportunity to win this one, but we’ve got to execute. I know, personally, there were some plays out there I wish I had back that could have made a difference in the game.

“There are no moral victories, a loss is a loss. The thing is you can’t quit. It’s not over. We’ve got to come back with an attitude, more intensity and just try to smack them in the mouth again.”

The Riders also got two TDs from Wes Cates, a field goal from Luca Congi and three singles from kicker Eddie Johnson.

Winnipeg got scores from Fred Reid and Adarius Bowman — inside the final minute — and three field goals from Justin Palardy.

“I’ll tell ya, everybody here thought when we pulled close there that we were right where we wanted to be,” said Brendon LaBatte.

“We hung with them all day. Unfortunately, they made a play to score the go-ahead touchdown and we didn’t. I don’t know exactly what it is with us… it’s not a consistent thing. It’s a combination of things that have prevented us from winning games. It’s just so frustrating.”

Winnipeg out-gained the Riders 383-323 in net offensive yardage, sacked Durant three times and forced three turnovers but were also hurt by a Pierce interception and fumble that led to 14 Saskatchewan points.

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“Our defence did a great job creating turnovers and minimizing Darian for a lot of the game,” said LaPolice. “But Darian’s a tremendous quarterback and he had that drive where he just broke tackles and he was able to scramble and hit open guys. That’s when he’s mot dangerous.

“Offensively we need to score more points. I guess Buck missed some throws. He hit some good throws but I guess we were just inconsistent with his first time back. Hat’s off, that’s a great defensive team. But we’ve got to find ways to get better.

“We’re not happy with our record,” added LaPolice, “especially those guys in that (locker) room. They played with great effort today.

Put that loss on me, don’t put it on them. They played with great effort today.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca