Blue start early with late heroics

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This article was published 10/06/2022 (1187 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG – For the better part of 60 minutes, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers looked destined to lose. But as fate would have it, with just seconds remaining on the clock and the odds stacked heavily against them, the back-to-back Grey Cup champions found a way to win.

Trailing 17-16, Marc Liegghio connected on a 25-yard field goal to seal a 19-17 victory for the Bombers over the Ottawa Redblacks in front of 26,002 at IG Field. The late-game heroics salvaged a happy ending on a night that began with the unveiling of Winnipeg’s 2021 championship banner.

“I’m just glad I got that shot to give my team the win. That’s a big whole-team win, not just me,” Liegghio said after the game. “It always feels good to kick the game-winner and just see your teammates run on the field to high-five you and everyone giving you a hug. It’s a great feeling.”

To call it a comeback wouldn’t be doing justice for what unfolded late Friday.

The Bombers began the game-winning drive on their own 33-yard line with 1:33 remaining on the clock. After an incomplete pass, quarterback Zach Collaros rushed 10 yards for a first down, where he was delivered a hard hit by Ottawa linebacker Frankie Griffen.

But just as Collaros returned to the huddle, a league injury spotter noted he had suffered head contact on the hit, forcing him to leave the game and enter concussion protocol. That forced No. 2 pivot Dru Brown into action, with Brown completing all three of his passes for 51 yards – connecting with Dalton Schoen for 18 yards, Nic Demski for 14 and Greg Ellingson for 21.

“It’s a critical point in the game and for him to operate the offence like that and move them is awesome,” Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea said. “But that’s why he’s here.”

He added: “You’d like to not rely on that. I don’t think we played particularly well. We managed to win and there’s great lessons in all of that. Certainly, you’d rather have the two points and a lot of hard conversations come up then not get the two points.”

A pair of runs from running back Brady Oliveira set up Liegghio’s game-securing field goal. The Bombers open the season 1-0, the loss dropping the Redblacks to 0-1.

The Bombers opened the scoring late in the first quarter, orchestrating a six-play, 66-yard drive capped off with a five-yard passing touchdown to Ellingson.

Ellingson, who led all Bombers receivers with six catches for 74 yards, had drawn a pass interference call earlier in the series, accounting for a 28-yard gain. And Oliveira helped set up the touchdown with a shovel pass that took the Bombers from the Redblacks’ 27 to inside the five.

Two plays later, Collaros connected with Ellingson to put the home side up 7-0.

“Yeah, it felt nice. At the time, going into half, we were down by one still,” Ellingson said. “But now that we have the W, it feels good to get a touchdown and it’s nice to start Week 1 by getting into the end zone and getting the dub for the team.”

The Redblacks wasted little time answering back. They’d need just three plays to even the score – including a 38-yard strike from Jeremiah Masoli to Nate Behar – with Shaq Johnson reeling in a 20-yard reception that required some fancy footwork to stay in bounds on the right sideline of the end zone.

Not only was the drive an impressive reply to the Bombers series, it also helped ease the pain of a disappointing opening series for Ottawa that should have ended in a touchdown had Jaelon Acklin not dropped a wide-open pass. Masoli dialled up a bomb, the ball flying from Ottawa’s 30 to Winnipeg’s 30, only for Acklin to bobble it uncontested and with a clear lane to score.

Both clubs would threaten to reach the end zone early in the second quarter, but tight defence resulted in the swapping of chip-shot field goals. Liegghio knocked home a 20-yard kick, while the Redblacks had to settle for a 17-yard field goal from Lewis Ward, keeping the game tied, 10-10.

It was a defensive bout the rest of the first half, with only the Redblacks earning a single to take an 11-10 lead at the break.

Ottawa was the better team through two quarters and should have had a bigger lead. But that was prevented by some miserable time management by head coach and former Bombers offensive co-ordinator, Paul LaPolice, who called a passing play on first-and-10 from Winnipeg’s 34 and then didn’t get a chance to call a timeout when Acklin caught the ball at the 11-yard line.

The Bombers were without all-star safety Brandon Alexander (knee), and with defensive back DeAundre Alford (Atlanta Falcons) and dime back Alden Darby (Hamilton Tiger-Cats), another pair of all-stars from last year, finding new homes over the off-season, it was the first test for Winnipeg’s new look secondary. It also didn’t help that all-star defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat was sidelined with an ankle issue.

Simply put, the early reviews weren’t great. The Redblacks completely revamped their team over the winter, particularly on offence, with 17 of 56 players on a different team last season. But you would never know it by how they exposed Winnipeg’s last line of defence.

“There’s a lot of other things that we’ll look at,” added O’Shea. “The focal point will be how did we put ourselves in that position?”

Masoli had 207 passing yards by halftime, making up a significant amount of Ottawa’s 243 total yards. The first-year Redblack pivot finished the game 24-for-34 passing for 380 yards and one touchdown, along with one interception.

But it was Ottawa’s lack of finish that would keep the game close. Case in point: Masoli led a drive that lasted nearly six minutes and 30 seconds, only to settle for another Ward field goal, this one from 38 yards to increase the visitors lead to 14-10 late in the third frame.

Still, the Bombers defence at least managed to keep the game close, forcing a two-and-out, an interception from Nick Taylor and a stuff on third down on the Redblacks next three possessions. They just needed the offence to take advantage.

Instead, the Collaros-led attack stumbled through the third quarter, posting three two-and-outs in four drives. The other ended in Ottawa’s side of the field after Schoen fumbled after taking a hard hit from Ottawa defensive back Justin Howell.

“Just from the top of my head, definitely waggles as a receiver,” Ellingson said when asked what the offence can do better. “I don’t think we hit them really well and really pushed those guys back. They played a lot of zone when they weren’t bringing pressure. But we’ll clean that up in the film room (Saturday) when we do our rundown and kind of clean those things up and put on a better showing next week.”

On the Bombers first drive of the fourth quarter, following the turnover-on-downs, Schoen would do his best to redeem himself. Facing a second-and-10, Collaros evaded a tackle and fired a dart up the middle to Schoen for a 27-yard gain.

Collaros, who finished 18-for-26 for 188 passing yards and one touchdowns, then found Rasheed Bailey with an 11-yard gain, giving Winnipeg life at the Redblacks’ one-yard line. Short-yardage quarterback Dakota Prukop would punch in a QB sneak a couple plays later, giving the Bombers a lead of 16-14 (Liegghio missed the extra convert) with fewer than six minutes remaining.

That lead was short-lived, however, as the Redblacks once again found a way to mark down the field. A third Ward field goal, which sailed through the uprights from 42 yards, put Ottawa back on top, 17-16.

The kick was set up by a deep pass to Llevi Noel, who beat Winston Rose up the right sidelines for a 51-yard gain. It was the third time Rose, who suffered a leg injury last week but was cleared to play, was exposed on a long throw. He was the cover man on the Johnson touchdown and the drop by Acklin.

“Passes kept coming my way. I was being aggressive on a lot of passes that I didn’t have to be, but that’s just in my nature,” Rose said. “My teammates came talking to me, my brothers letting me know that I’m still one of the best in the league. And just keeping my head in the game and staying composed.”

But while those mistakes will be reviewed over the weekend, the pain of watching the tape is eased by the victory. Even if it didn’t always look that way.

The Bombers and Redblacks meet next week, Friday night at TD Place.

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton