Bombers start off on wrong foot

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This article was published 03/07/2009 (5938 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

EDMONTON — As debuts go, the Mike Kelly Era in Winnipeg Blue Bomber football history could best be described by two words:

‘Gritty’ but ‘forgettable.’

The new coaching/management regime opened up the 2009 CFL campaign with a performance that mirrored the conditions at Commonwealth Stadium Thursday night in a sloppy, mistake-filled affair that saw the Edmonton Eskimos emerge with a 19-17 decision in front of 30,650 monsoon-soaked fans.

"Losing is unacceptable," said Kelly. "There’s nothing about losing I like. I hate losing. I can’t stand it and I have to do a better job of getting our team prepared so that I don’t have to feel this way."

And while the defence deserves credit for a ballsy performance minus their best Canadian in Doug Brown — he was a late scratch with flu-like symptoms, causing the club to field a roster one man short — there is no masking the end result: for the sixth straight campaign the Bombers failed to win their season opener.

Yes, the Bombers haven’t kicked off a campaign with a win since 2003 and are 0-5-1 over that span.

As much as the Bombers coughed and sputtered all night offensively — they managed just 317 yards total offence — they were in a position to send the game into overtime on the last play of the game, but Alexis Serna’s 47-yard field-goal attempt was wide left. Ironically, Serna’s first attempt was good, but the play was ruled dead before the snap when the Eskimos called a time out in a successful attempt to ‘ice’ him.

Also worth noting here is the first attempt would have been from 42 yards away, but guard Brendon LaBatte was called on an illegal procedure, pushing the ball five yards further back.

"I can’t do anything about it, I can’t change it now," said Serna. "I hit the first one, it went in and I just told myself to do it on the second one, but it didn’t happen. You never want to start the season off like that. I’m just hoping for my next opportunity."

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Trailing 19-16 and looking to force extra time, the Bombers took possession with 40 seconds remaining and moved the ball 55 yards before the Serna miss as quarterback Stefan LeFors connected with Adarius Bowman twice and Fred Reid once while Reid and Giles also rumbled for 18 yards. The Bombers also benefitted from a 10-yard tripping penalty on Eskimo defensive tackle Dario Romero.

The Eskimos led 9-2 at the intermission after a snoozefest in the first half that would have made watching paint dry seem like a Stanley Cup seventh game. Edmonton essentially put together just two drives in between eight two-and-out possessions in the half, but took the lead into halftime when Ricky Ray connected with Andrew Nowacki on a 19-yard TD with just 24 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

LeFors, meanwhile, finished the night just 14 of 31 for 174 yards. The Bombers did rush the ball for 162 yards on the night with Reid finishing with 92 yards on 13 carries, including the Bombers lone offensive TD. The other Bomber TD came courtesy of pecial-teams ace Shawn Gallant, who scooped up a Tristan Jackson fumble after a vicious hit from Joe Lobendahn and raced 20 yards to the end zone.

BLUE NOTES: WR Derick Armstrong dressed, but unofficially did not see the field. Kelly refused to comment on that decision afterward… Lobendahn, who was spectacular, left the game in the second half with an injury and was replaced by Canadian Pierre-Luc Labbe… Eskimo RB Jesse Lumsden exited the game in the first quarter after taking a hit on the shoulder from Siddeeq Shabazz. He was taken to hospital where the surgically-repaired joint was to be x-rayed.

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca