Brown bombs as Bombers blasted

Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Dru Brown took Friday night’s ‘Christmas in July’ theme a little too seriously.

He wasn’t carrying around a red sack, but he did gift-wrap four interceptions to the Calgary Stampeders in what ended up being a 52-30 loss for the Blue and Gold in front of a sold-out crowd.

The result dropped the Bombers, now 1-3 at home this season, to 4-3. Calgary improved to 3-4 and now have a chance to win the tiebreaker when the two sides meet for a final time on Oct. 10 at Princess Auto Stadium.

“Yeah, not nearly good enough…You certainly don’t want to go get into a track meet against a good offence like that,” said Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea.

“You just gotta really manage the game better and I thought we took too many penalties, too many mistakes, and it adds up to this. They scored 52 on us. All three phases accounted for that score. It’s not on the defence.”

The Stampeders should’ve closed the game out at the end of the third quarter, but they were also feeling overly generous. Leading 39-20 in the final minutes of the third, Calgary defensive back Ben Labrosse picked off Brown in Winnipeg territory.

Instead of sealing the deal, that’s when things got interesting.

As he was being taken down to the turf, Labrosse made arguably the biggest boneheaded play of the season by attempting to toss the ball to a nearby teammate, only for a diving Bombers receiver Ontaria Wilson to snag it out of midair to regain possession.

“It’s just a hustle, effort play. Great vision to understand how this play is going to unfold and how he can make a difference and it was huge for us — absolutely huge,” said O’Shea on Wilson’s highlight.

Four plays later, Bombers running back Brady Oliveira scored a 45-yard rushing touchdown to cut Calgary’s lead to 39-27.

Early in the fourth, the Bombers would make it 39-30 after rookie defensive end Nuer Gatkuoth strip-sacked Stamps pivot Vernon Adams Jr. to set up a Sergio Castillo field goal.

Then, the Stamps turned the ball over on downs near midfield after head coach Dave Dickenson made a head-scratching call to attempt a quarterback sneak on a third and two.

Just when it started to look like the Bombers were going to find a way to once again be the comeback kids, they shot themselves in the foot.

Labrosse made up for his crucial error and intercepted Brown for a third time — the third-year Canadian defensive back also got the best of Brown in the first quarter on an underthrown ball to Wilson in the end zone — with just under 12 minutes remaining in the contest.

Labrosse, a 26-year-old out of McGill, had zero interceptions in 28 career games heading into Friday.

Stamps running back Dedrick Mills added a late rushing touchdown to cement the final score.

“It was tough. I’m disappointed in how I took care of the football tonight, so I’ll wear that. But, yeah, I didn’t feel like I gave us quite a chance there,” said Brown.

“They got good players. They did some things differently, (a) good scheme, but ultimately, we didn’t execute – and that starts with me.”

While Labrosse was the focus of the second half, the opening two quarters belonged to Stamps returner/running back Tyreik McAllister, who was an end zone magnet.

He scored on a 17-yard run on Calgary’s opening drive, then hit pay dirt twice in the second quarter with a 56-yard catch — where he was wide open — and a missed field goal return after Castillo misfired from 58 yards out.

“That dude is dynamic,” said Bombers corner Jonathan Moxey.

“Coach is going to get on us about everything, every minor detail – offence, defence, special teams. No stone left unturned.

“We’re gonna look in the mirror and figure it out.”

The Bombers started the evening stuck in mud by punting on their first three drives before Brown threw his first INT of the game.

Despite the onslaught from McAllister, they managed to hang in there early on thanks to their two local standouts: receiver Nic Demski and Oliveira.

Demski got the crowd on their feet after catching an inaccurate screen pass with one hand before rattling off 37 yards to score Winnipeg’s first touchdown of the evening.

Then with under six minutes to go in the half, Oliveira scampered ahead for a 13-yard score — his first since Week 4 — to make it a 22-14 lead for the visitors.

The two teams traded 50-yard field goals late for it to be 25-17 for Calgary at the break.

A few plays before Castillo drilled a three-pointer, the Bombers lost their best offensive lineman: Jarell Broxton. On a 21-yard rushing play by Oliveira, a Stamps defender rolled up on Broxton from behind and he was down on the field for several minutes before walking gingerly off the field.

Broxton, the highest paid American O-lineman in the CFL, did not return to the game.

The Stamps wasted no time punching the Bombers in the mouth in the third as Adams found Canadian receiver Jalen Philpot for a 69-yard touchdown. Three Bombers got a hand on Philpot, but none were able to take him down.

The beat-down continued minutes later when Bombers punter Jamieson Sheahan had a punt blocked. It would lead to Adams throwing another touchdown — this time a seven-yarder to receiver Tevin Jones to go up 39-20.

Adams was brilliant, completing 18-of-27 attempts for 319 yards and three touchdowns. Dating back to last season, the 33-year-old out of Oregon has thrown 269 passes without an interception. His incredible streak almost came to an end with nine minutes left in the third when Bombers linebacker Kyrie Wilson had a glorious opportunity to pick off a high throw, but he failed to haul it in.

Brown, who was 2-0 in his previous starts this season and owned a career 4-0 record against Calgary, had his worst showing since returning to Winnipeg via trade last month. He completed 24-of-40 throws for 249 yards, one touchdown, and four interceptions.

Brown’s blunders spoiled a top-notch performance by Oliveira, who had 128 rushing yards on 14 attempts and two touchdowns. You’d have to go back to Sept. 21, 2024, against Edmonton to find the last time Oliveira had a pair of rushing scores in a game.

Mills had 60 rushing yards on 10 attempts. Wilson led the Bombers in receiving with 95 on seven grabs. Philpot had 128 on four catches for the Stamps.

“Overall, three-phase football wasn’t there. We didn’t complement each other very well,” said left tackle Stanley Bryant.

“We got to find a way to win and just do our jobs a lot better.”

The Bombers host the B.C. Lions on Thursday.

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