Willy inspires Blue on both sides of the ball

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This article was published 31/07/2015 (3751 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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How monumental was the performance of Winnipeg Blue Bombers QB Drew Willy Thursday night in a 23-13 Bombers win over the B.C. Lions at Investors Group Field?

Put it to you this way: Bombers receiver Darvin Adams, who had a career game with four catches for 127 yards and a TD, immediately took the game ball he’d been presented and walked it over to Willy’s locker and turned it over to him.

“That was just crazy,” Adams said of a night that saw Willy — hobbled by a knee injury — run for a career-high 72 yards on five carries. “It just shows how tough he is. And that makes everyone around him want to play harder.

“They tried to give me the game ball and I had to give it back to Drew because he’s the man. Coming off injury and coming back tough and running the ball. He was trying to run people over and everything. You have to love that. I play hard for him.”

So how on earth did Willy somehow get more mobile after the knee injury than he was before it — his previous career-best single-game rushing performance was 52 yards? Willy said he had it in him all the time and folks just hadn’t been noticing. “I’ve always been a good athlete — I was an all-state basketball player…

“I’m obviously a drop-back quarterback, but at the same time I try to be athletic out there. I’m going to get yards when I can and fight for my teammates.”

Willy appeared to get emotional as he discussed all the uncertainty that surrounded his status heading into the Lions game. “It was just kind of a special week. A lot of my family is here and they were all asking earlier in the week if I was playing or not. And I just told them I was.”

Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea said he wasn’t surprised by the performance of Willy, who called his own number on two draw plays, improvised on three others and just generally scrambled all night without much concern for his knee — or anything else.

“He’s gritty. He’s got grit. Everybody loves that. I trust him, his teammates trust him. Is it always going to look like that? Maybe not. But when it doesn’t look like that, let’s not forget this. He’s a tough guy and he went out there and I love the way he silenced some people,” said O’Shea. “He rushed for 72 yards… pretty darn good against that defence. They’ve got some pretty talented personnel. He gives it all for his guys.”

While all the attention was on Willy’s running on this night simply because it was so unexpected, he was also very good through the air, finishing 17-for-25 for 269 yards and two TDs.

While Willy doesn’t play on defence, a Bombers defence that had its best night of the 2015 season said it was as though he did on this evening.

“Seeing our quarterback like that, running and playing tough football, it just ignited us even more,” said safety Maurice Leggett. “We knew Drew was tough. And it was great to have him back playing. He knows what it takes to win and he finds a way, no matter what it takes, to do that.”

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @PaulWiecek

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