Extra! Extra! REID ALL IT’S ABOUT

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This article was published 23/08/2009 (6132 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Vancouver — There are always lessons to learn in this life and Fred Reid picked up a valuable one prior to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ 37-10 win over the B.C. Lions Friday night.

Reid, who took some shots at the Montreal Alouettes defence through the media the previous week only to be held to under 50 yards in a demoralizing loss, let his play do all the talking this week.

Reid set a Blue Bombers single-game rushing record with 260 yards on 26 carries and was the centrepiece of an offence that finally clicked after failing so many times this season.

"It wasn’t so much about keeping my mouth shut. You know, I was just saying what I felt at the time, but those guys in Montreal, they were able to do some talking in that game," said Reid, who was forced to eat his words after dumping on the Alouettes offensive line.

"It just made things harder for my offensive line because they had to clean up my mess. From now on I’ll just let my play do the talking."

Well, if the results continue to be anything like they were Friday night, Reid will be heard around the league.

"The offensive line did a great job and the coaches called a great game," said Reid, passing around the credit following a game in which he averaged 10 yards per carry with a long of 52 and two touchdowns. "We came out and worked hard from the first quarter to the third quarter. I got worked in this game. I got a little banged up but was able to come back and help pull this one out."

Bombers coach Mike Kelly had been waiting for this type of offensive explosion.

"We felt for a while that our offensive line was ready to establish a new line of scrimmage. Fred was in the secondary all night. We still didn’t have much of a passing game and there is still work to do in that regard," said Kelly. "We’re not going to be able to run the ball like this every game. We still have to find that balance."

"I’m so embarrassed, it hurts," B.C. linebacker JoJuan Armour told the Vancouver Province. "We got our ass kicked."

Added Lions defensive lineman Aaron Hunt: "I’ve never seen a performance like that in my life. To let a guy do what (Reid) did, it’s embarrassing. He made us look like a junior team."

Reid said this was the game of a lifetime.

"Best ever. By far. It felt good. I’m confident right now and hopefully we can keep it going after the bye week and get this thing turned around for good."

Reid eclipsed Blaise Bryant’s 15-year-old club record of 249 yards and came close to catching the league record of 287 set by Ottawa’s Ron Stewart in 1960. George Reed collected 268 yards for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in a 1965 game — so Reid’s monster game is now third all-time.

"I called that game back in 1994 and was able to call this one too," said Kelly. "It was easy to just keep calling Fred’s number. He ran hard and our offensive line controlled the game."

Reid said he became aware he was approaching history late in the game.

"Someone told me in the fourth quarter and that got me even more pumped up," said Reid, who was forced to break the record twice after a mix-up on the Bombers sideline. Reid left the field due to injury and was required to sit out three plays, but re-entered the game after only two and had a touchdown run recalled.

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"There was a timeout and we got a little confused. I thought I’d been out three plays and went back in early. But we were able to go and get it again so it’s all good. I got on my horse and got the record and I feel good about it. I wasn’t worried at all. We had some time on the clock."

Kelly was furious on the sidelines after the penalty, but got over his anger to give Reid some encouragement.

"I can’t do everything," joked Kelly. "I need to rely on some people to help me out and this was a breakdown. But I grabbed Fred before he went back out the second time and asked him if he was OK. He said he was. I said, ‘All right, now go out there and get the record.’ He did and that’s what matters."

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca

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