Reilly too hot for Bombers

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This article was published 01/10/2016 (3351 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers will have to wait at least one more week to punch their ticket to the CFL playoffs.

The Bombers needed a win over the Edmonton Eskimos Friday night and a Toronto loss over Montreal Sunday afternoon to clinch their first playoff berth since 2011 but were unable to live up to their end of the deal.

The end result was a 40-26 loss for the Blue and Gold, a second straight defeat and the first time Winnipeg has fallen at Investors Group Field since July 21.

“We’re all just disappointed,” said Bombers defensive lineman Euclid Cummings. “We’re discouraged but we still have four more games to go to close this thing out.”

With the loss, the Bombers fall to 8-6 on the season. The win improves the Eskimos to 7-7 and moves them to within two points of Winnipeg for third place in the West Division, while also owning the tiebreaker (2-1 season series win).

LOPSIDED BATTLE

Predictably, both coaches praised the need to be good in all three phases of the game. But if history was any indication, it was if the Bombers were to leave with the win it would start and end with stopping quarterback Mike Reilly and the Eskimos’ offence.

Reilly, the Eskimos starting quarterback, had averaged 406 yards through the air in two games against the Bombers this season and held a 6-1 record over his career. Friday, he completed 84 per cent of his passes for 355 yards and two touchdowns – to Adarius Bowman in the second quarter and Derel Walker in the fourth.

“They had some playmakers and those playmakers made plays,” said defensive back Chris Randle, who also lamented the Bombers undisciplined play. Winnipeg took 15 penalties in the game, totalling 166 yards, including an illegal block that negated a return TD for Kevin Fogg for the fourth time this season.

When Reilly didn’t make it to the end zone, he got close to it. From there, running back John White took over, punching in two touchdowns with runs of three and five yards, respectively, in the first half to help build a 24-10 lead for the Eskimos after two quarters.

“That was a big focus of ours throughout the week, coming out and start fast,” said receiver Weston Dressler, who had a costly fumble on the Esks’ one-yard line in the second quarter. “Obviously, we weren’t quite able to do it throughout the entire first half and put ourselves in a hole. They just made more plays than we did tonight.”

White, who returned from injury for the first time since Week 12, finished the game with 104 yards on 19 carries to go with his two scores. Timothy Flanders, who made his third start at running back in relief for Andrew Harris, had averaged 95 yards in his last two games. Friday, he carried the ball 12 times for 65 yards.

HEARTBREAK… AGAIN

After rallying down 24-0 to Calgary last week, the Bombers came close to mounting another comeback – and they’d almost do it, too. After gaining just one point in the third quarter – Justin Medlock hit his second of four fields goal on the night but the Bombers also surrendered a safety – Winnipeg finally seemed to gain some momentum in the final frame.

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Down 26-13 heading into the fourth quarter, Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea gathered the team by the sidelines and gave a passionate speech. The move seemed to spark a fire for the Bombers, who went out and put together their longest touchdown drive of the night – a three-play, 75-yard drive – that ended with a 36-yard catch to Clarence Denmark for the score.

It was the second touchdown pass for Matt Nichols, who also hit Dressler with a 49-yard strike on the Bombers second drive of the game. Nichols, who finished the game 26 for 41 for 330 yards and one interception to go with his two scores, has now lost two straight starts after going 7-0 since replacing Drew Willy in Week 6.

A 54-yard field goal from Medlock would cut Edmonton’s lead to just six points, 32-26. But when the Bombers needed a stop the most, they just couldn’t get it as Reilly marched down the field on the ensuing drive, issuing a final dagger in the form of a 61-yard touchdown to Derel Walker to put the Esks back up by two scores.

UP NEXT

With four games left on the schedule, things don’t get any easier for the Bombers. They welcome the B.C. Lions, the team that they’re currently chasing in the West Division, to IGF next Saturday for the first of back-to-back games. Once that concludes in Vancouver Oct. 14, Winnipeg will have a bye week before doing the same thing against the Ottawa Redblacks for the final two games of the year.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca twitter: @jeffkhamilton

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.

Every piece of reporting Jeff produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.