Seven deadly wins

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This article was published 17/09/2016 (3303 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The stands were still littered with trash, the last of the lingering fans barely out the doors of Investors Group Field Saturday afternoon following a Winnipeg Blue Bombers 46-29 win over the Toronto Argonauts and linebacker Maurice Leggett could already feel the heat his team is in for next week.

It didn’t matter the Bombers had just won their seventh consecutive game — the longest run by Winnipeg since 2001. It didn’t matter the Bombers, now 8-4 on the season, had found another new way to win, rallying in the second half with 27 unanswered points. And it didn’t matter it came against a team that appeared to find its groove under quarterback Dan LeFevour last week in in a 33-21 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

“It’s just the run that we’re on, that we’re hot right now — that’s what everyone is saying,” said Leggett after the game. “And Calgary is the team to beat. Guess what? We have them next week. I’m on to them.”

As hot as the Bombers have been, the Calgary Stampeders remain the talk of the CFL. At a league-best 10-1-1, the Stampeders are undefeated since a season-opening 20-18 loss to the B.C. Lions, in a game they led until the fourth quarter.

The Bombers will play the Stamps Saturday in Calgary. And for the first time in more than a month, it will be Winnipeg who will enter a game as the underdog.

“We feel like we can beat anybody,” added Leggett. “It doesn’t matter, we can go out in the parking lot.”

A STREET-FIGHTIN’ FIRST HALF

Against the Argonauts, who fell to 5-7 with the loss, Leggett’s words were fitting. The first half had a keen resemblance to a street fight, with the Bombers taking a good share of hits on the chin early.

While the Bombers’ offence settled for three-point drives, with Justin Medlock hitting four of his six field goals in the first two quarters, Toronto marched the field scoring touchdowns.

LeFevour set the tone early for the visitors, throwing for three touchdowns on seven possessions in the first half on drives of 70, 62 and 65 yards. He completed passes to seven different receivers, connecting for TD passes with Diontae Spencer, Tori Gurley and Kenny Shaw to give the Argos a 22-19 lead at halftime.

“Their offence, you’ve got to give credit to them,” said defensive back Chris Randle, who returned to the line-up after missing the last six games with a lower-body injury. “Dan LeFevour did a great job of buying time and with us losing contain and them blowing the top on the defence it was hard for us in the first half.”

RETURN TO FORM

The lead for Toronto would have been even greater at halftime had it not been for a 98-yard kick-off return touchdown by Quincy McDuffie.

With the Bombers offence struggling, putting up just 172 yards through the first two quarters and shooting themselves in he foot with bad penalties, the touchdown actually gave the Bombers the lead, 16-14, late in the second quarter.

It was the first kickoff return touchdown for the Bombers in more than two years, dating to when Demond Washington returned a ball to the house against the Ottawa Redblacks July 3, 2014.

For a while it looked as if the Bombers were destined never to return a ball for a touchdown. Earlier in the week, head coach Mike O’Shea lamented the untimely penalties taken by the special teams, particularly the penalties from the return unit that had negated three return touchdowns by Kevin Fogg already this season. He vowed his unit would be better, that they would learn from their mistakes and Saturday they did just that.

“They work really hard, they really do, so it was nice for Quincy,” said O’Shea. “He makes that last cut and he’s gone and they’re not going to catch him. He’s a dynamic returner, but I know they work extremely hard every single rep and in meetings and practice. I’m pretty proud of those guys.”

SECOND-HALF JUMP

For those in attendance hoping for a quick rebound from the Bombers to start the second half, they wouldn’t get it. LeFevour, who finished the game 22 for 34 for 271 yards and four touchdowns and added another 57 yards on 10 carries, opened the third quarter with a 65-yard touchdown drive, finding Shaw in the end zone for the second time with a three-yard dish that put Toronto up 29-19.

Against the Ticats the week before, LeFevour, down four points at halftime, was able to use an opening-drive touchdown to rally his team to victory. On Saturday, it proved to be his final moment of glory as the Bombers offence and defence seemed to simultaneously rise to the occasion.

“I think Toronto was building in that first half, they were building off that last game they had against Hamilton where they were very physical and drove the game their way,” said O’Shea. “To come out and limit the mistakes in the second half is important.

“We managed to get some turnovers and limit the penalties, which is extremely important. In that type of game it’s going to be penalties and turnovers that are going to change the tide of the game.”

The Bombers scored on five of their six possessions in the second half, including rushing touchdowns from quarterback Matt Nichols and Timothy Flanders, who in his first game as the starting running back — in for an injured Andrew Harris — finished with 102 yards on the ground. Nichols also found Clarence Denmark for a 15-yard score that tied the game at 29-29 before the Bombers took the lead for good.

“I always have a chip on my shoulder,” said Denmark, who was last week was a healthy scratch against Saskatchewan. “All I want to do is make plays. We’re playing well and it’s a great team. I just want to be a part of it.”

The drive they didn’t score came at the end of the game when Winnipeg, in short field goal distance and with a healthy lead, opted to run the ball to help run the clock.

As for the Argonauts, they would start a slow descent. After the touchdown to Shaw, LeFevour threw two interceptions — first to Randle and then to Maurice Leggett — with Leggett now leading the CFL in that category with six.

UP NEXT

The focus now shifts to the Stampeders. Saturday’s game will be the biggest test of the year for the Bombers, and perhaps the truest test for those fans who wonder if the Bombers have a legitimate shot at Grey Cup.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.

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