Smith’s weird TD reception catches everyone by surprise

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This article was published 08/07/2016 (3358 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HAMILTON — The look on Ryan Smith’s face said it all.

The Bombers receiver had just recorded his first touchdown as a member of the Blue and Gold — an eight-yard strike from Drew Willy late in the second quarter of Thursday’s 28-24 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Tim Hortons Field — on one of the more bizarre plays you’ll ever see.

After the score, Smith, who signed in the off-season after spending the last two campaigns with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, stood on the sidelines in awe, as dumbfounded by what he had just done as the rest of his teammates. It appeared he wasn’t expecting the pass and didn’t even realize he had caught it until he had a run a few more steps.

“No, never done something like that before,” Smith said after the game.

The play involved a no-look grab by Smith, the ball first hitting his right hip before rolling up and into his hand. Watching the replay, it’s impossible to understand how Smith was able to keep control of the ball — he also had to dodge a hit shortly the catch — and Smith himself had little to offer in way of explanation.

“To be honest I don’t know what to tell you,” he said. “It just happened.”

It wasn’t the only unusual thing to occur in the first half. In similar fashion to last week’s brain-fart against the Stampeders, when the Bombers squandered the chance of kicking a late first-half field goal by running a play that ran out the clock, this time Weston Dressler forgot to take the field to hold the ball for what would have been a 46-yard attempt for kicker Justin Medlock.

The mishap resulted in a time-count violation, moving the ball back another five yards to make it a 51-yard attempt. Things would only get worse, as Medlock missed the kick, resulting in a 120-yard return for a touchdown by Brandon Banks.

“It’s a miscommunication on my part,” said head coach Mike O’Shea, who is in charge of the Bombers special teams. “I got to make sure that I make the call to the bench and make sure guys are out there.”

As was the case last week, O’Shea could have called a timeout to stop the clock. But Dressler, who returned to the lineup after missing last week’s game with a head injury, wasn’t about to let his coach bail him out.

“That’s 100 per cent my fault,” said Dressler. “It’s unacceptable; can’t happen. It’s a terrible football play by me.”

● EXTRA POINTS: The Bombers were outscored a combined 32-7 in the first half against Montreal and Calgary in the first two weeks. Against Hamilton, they put up 22 points, compared to 10 against… The Bombers defence forced six turnovers against the Ticats, including four fumble recoveries by four different guys — Ian Wild, Julian Posey, Euclid Cummings and Adrian Hubbard — with Maurice Leggett credited with both interceptions, one of which he returned 50 yards for a touchdown… Wild, Leggett, Hubbard and Jamaal Westerman each finished with a sack, bringing the team’s total to five through three games… Running back Andrew Harris recorded five receptions for 38 yards, all of which were gained after the catch… Jace Davis led all receivers with eight catches for 74 yards.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.catwitter: @jeffkhamilton