Sask-quash sighting confirmed

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/09/2010 (5537 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Maybe it was hearing Brendon LaBatte serenaded with a very baritone version of Happy Birthday by his Winnipeg Blue Bomber teammates.

Might have been the volume on the stereo in the locker-room seemingly pumped up to 11.

Or perhaps it was when head coach Paul LaPolice interrupted the raucous party to announce to his beleaguered troops — fresh from a 31-2 Banjo Bowl spanking of the Saskatchewan Roughriders Sunday afternoon — that they had just earned the next two days off for their work.

Oh yeah, so this is what a locker-room looks like after a victory…

"We were confused at first, man," began Bomber defensive tackle Doug Brown.

"It was like, ‘What do we do? We won a game?!’ I had my ‘mope’ face on. It’s like we were allowed to smile and different muscles in our faces were working again.

"Guys are saying, ‘What are you doing afterward?’ and I’m thinking, ‘What, we don’t have to hide after this game? We can go out in the city and hold our heads up for a night?! Really?!’ I don’t know, it had become like a lost art around here, knowing how to celebrate a win."

Indeed, Sunday’s decisive decision not only stopped a five-game losing skid for the Bombers — the longest in a decade — and thrilled a sold-out crowd of 29,833 at Canad Inns Stadium, it breathed some life back into a 2010 season that was precariously close to flat-lining.

And so, suddenly this occasionally confounding 3-7 squad is back in the playoff fight and trailing the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats — both 5-5 — while remaining in the race for a possible crossover playoff spot with the B.C. Lions, also 3-7.

The Bombers are in Toronto this week and have a home-and-home against B.C. on the horizon after facing Montreal here in 11 days. The Riders, meanwhile, have lost two of their last three and fall to 6-4.

"It’s good times right now after that one," said LaBatte, now 24. "Hopefully now we can keep the good times rolling against Toronto next week.

"How am I going to celebrate? I’ve got some friends in town and we’ll probably pop a couple tops."

Among the important developments for the Bombers in the victory:

— QB Steven Jyles improved to 2-3 as a starter with an efficient, turnover-free game. In his first game as the clear-cut starter, Jyles completed 19 of 23 passes for 169 yards and a 40-yard TD to Chris Davis while rushing five times for 32 yards.

— Running back Fred Reid was superb, rushing for 148 yards on just 17 carries (8.7 yards a pop) and two TDs, including a 61-yard gallop. Reid now has two 100-yard efforts in his last three games.

— Davis stepped up to provide the attack with a receiving threat other than Terrence Edwards and Adarius Bowman, pulling in six passes for 88 yards and the score.

— Left tackle Andre Douglas returned from injury, which allowed LaBatte to shift back inside to left guard. The O-line was solid as the Bombers racked up 206 yards along the ground and did not surrender a sack.

— But most of all this victory was about the defence as the Bombers surrendered the fewest points in a game since a 29-0 shutout of the Ticats on July 28, 2006.

As part of that, the Riders were held to just 180 yards total offence, including just 31 along the ground while Winnipeg managed three sacks and forced two turnovers while pounding their Prairie rivals.

"We believe in physical football here. We believe in bringing pressure and making sure that we control the tempo on defence," said LaPolice.

"This helps get two points and continue being in the playoff hunt. I think teams are going to have concerns playing us. We’re a good football team.

"This confirms what you believe in, that our process is right and we do things the right way. There’s been a few games that haven’t gone our way, but like I told the players, a sign of good teams is you’re always going to get hit and knocked down, but you’ve got to continue to fight and get back up. That’s what this team has done. Now, we have to now be consistent and get more wins."

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

reid’s performance ‘sick’ c2 turner: where’d this come from? C3