Bombers beat Esks 27-17

By: Randy Turner Posted: 10:16 PM CDT Friday, Oct. 2, 2009

Don’t look now, but the Winnipeg Blue Bombers may be coming back from the dead.

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Don’t look now, but the Winnipeg Blue Bombers may be coming back from the dead.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/10/2009 (5846 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Don’t look now, but the Winnipeg Blue Bombers may be coming back from the dead.

The Bombers, not long ago considered a lost playoff cause, improved to 5-8 Friday night with a 27-17 victory over the visiting Edmonton Eskimos at Canad Inns Stadium.

The victory – which resulted in the Bombers first two-game winning streak of an otherwise tumultuous season – was highlighted by a game-breaking 118-yard TD run by Winnipeg kick-returner Jovon Johnson after a missed Edmonton field goal attempt midway through the third quarter.

JOE.BRYKSA@FREEPRESS.MB.CA
Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive co-ordinator Mark Nelson celebrates his defence stopping the Edmonton Eskimos on a third-down gamble to win the game 27-17 at Canad Inns Stadium Friday night. — JOE.BRYKSA@FREEPRESS.MB.CA Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive co-ordinator Mark Nelson celebrates his defence stopping the Edmonton Eskimos on a third-down gamble to win the game 27-17 at Canad Inns Stadium Friday night.

Johnson’s spectacular dash vaulted the Bombers into a 20-10 lead, which the home team never relinquished.

The win couldn’t have come soon enough for the once-moribound Bombers, as Friday night’s crowd drew just 21,965 paying customers, even though the game was blacked out locally.

Bombers quarterback Michael Bishop, although not prolific, finished a respectable 20-of-34 for 184 yards, with one TD pass – a one-yard lob to receiver Adarius Bowman with just 17 seconds left in the first half – and one interception.

Winnipeg runningback Fred Reid added 83 yards on 16 carries.

Given the Bombers disastrous start – both on and off the field – the victory pulled Winnipeg to within one win of the 6-6 Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the CFL’s East division. The Tiger-Cats will meet the Calgary Saturday night in Alberta.

So it’s possible, if the Tiger-Cats fall to the Stampeders, that the Bombers could pull into a second-place tie with a win in Hamilton next Monday.

Bombers place-kicker Alexis Serna continued his solid sophomore season with three field goals of 24, 32 and 41 yards.

The Eskimos only touchdown against a staunch Winnipeg defence was a three-yard TD pass from veteran quarterback Ricky Ray to Maurice Mann. Ray finished 24-of-39 for 188 yards, also throwing one interception.

Randy Turner
Reporter

Randy Turner spent much of his journalistic career on the road. A lot of roads. Dirt roads, snow-packed roads, U.S. interstates and foreign highways. In other words, he got a lot of kilometres on the odometer, if you know what we mean.

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