Vega a good bet on either side of the ball

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/10/2011 (5162 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

EDMONTON — There weren’t many bright spots for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in what was a dominating 24-10 victory for the Edmonton Eskimos at Commonwealth Stadium Saturday night.

But one of them was definitely the play of defensive lineman Jason Vega.

With fellow lineman Kenny Mainor absent because of a death in the family last week, Vega got a lot more action against the Eskimos Saturday night and took full advantage of the extra snaps, registering five tackles, two sacks and putting heat on Edmonton QB Ricky Ray like no one else.

But for all his exploits on defence, Vega’s performance will probably be best remembered for his 19-yard catch and run on a second-and-one play in the first quarter that caught everyone by surprise when he lined up as a tight end.

Vega coughed up the ball while rumbling with it, but slotback Terrence Edwards made the save, knocking it out of bounds.

“I think high school was the last time I touched the football,” Vega said. “It felt pretty good… I should have tucked that ball away, though. But I guess that should be expected when you pass the ball to a defensive lineman.”

Vega took snaps at both defensive end and tackle on Saturday and seemed to be an equal pass-rush threat from both positions.

“With Kenny sitting out, I just wanted to do whatever I could to help the team win. But it didn’t work.”

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Odell Willis was unhappy and sore but more or less healthy after the game. Willis was hit low in the Eskimos backfield in the third quarter and lay on the field for several minutes before hobbling off in what looked like a great deal of pain.

Willis returned to finish the game and said afterward he was struck in the kneecap on the play.

“The game’s not going to stop just because you get hurt,” Willis said. “You got to suck it up or sit on the sidelines. You have to make that choice.”

— — —

Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Buck Pierce was roughed twice and face-masked twice — in addition to being sacked five times.

Pierce has been the victim of some late hits, particularly early in the season, and there has been concern that he was being deliberately targeted because of his long history of injury.

But neither Pierce nor head coach Paul LaPolice thought that was the case last night. “They were getting after it and they were playing hard,” Pierce said “I don’t think it was by any means intentional. They were just getting after us.”

— — —

Bombers kick returner Jovon Johnson had a couple of huge returns off missed field goals, running two back for a total of 101 yards.

After the game, Johnson explained his rather unique philosophy on being the returner on missed field goals.

“I hate conceding points on missed field goals,” Johnson said, “because I feel like every time a team misses a field goal, we should score a touchdown. Because if you think about it, we have more athletes on the field than they do. If we all block and do our job, I will score every time.”

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So kickers aren’t athletes? “No, kickers aren’t athletes.”

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Commonwealth Stadium has been a graveyard for the Bombers in recent years.

With last night’s loss, the Bombers are now 1-9-1 in the last 11 trips to the Alberta capital. They have not won in Edmonton since 2006.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca