Medlock puts the boot to Als

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/08/2017 (3135 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MONTREAL – Justin Medlock waited in his stance as the game lay in the balance. Medlock, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers kicker, then stepped forward, his left foot driving into the ball as it sailed 38 yards through the air.

There is a special confidence the Bombers have in Medlock, who is the league’s most accurate kicker. But the confidence they have in one another is much greater. And that confidence grew even further Thursday, with Medlock’s kick splitting the uprights to clinch a thrilling 34-31 double-overtime win over the Montreal Alouettes at Molson Stadium.

“The resiliency of this team, the mindset of this team… at no point on that sideline did we think we were going to lose the game,” said Bombers veteran defensive Chris Randle, whose two interceptions accounted for half the Bombers turnovers. “That comes from the head coach, and the leaders and all the players. We were focused and determined to win this game, no matter how we had to win it.”

The field goal was Medlock’s fourth of the game – and 32^nd of the season – putting an end to a much-anticipated match that had every expectation of fireworks. The last time these two teams met, in Week 6, the Bombers erased a 12-point deficit in the final minute, scoring two touchdowns, including one on the final play to edge out a 41-40 win.

“It comes down to who makes plays,” added Randle. “That’s what we did and we’ve got to continue to do that.”The Bombers wouldn’t trail at any point in this one, with the game ending in a tie at halftime and by the end of regulation. Both teams scored touchdowns in the first over time – a 10-yard catch by Clarence Denmark for the Bombers, an 11-yard completion by the Alouettes to B.J. Cunningham – and each finished the drive with a successful two-point conversions.

But Randle’s interception on the Alouettes’ second shot in OT put the Bombers in the driver seat. Andrew Harris rushed twice before Medlock delivered the kill shot.

Indeed, the Bombers, who have officially hit the halfway mark of the 2017 season, are not only the hottest team in the CFL right now with five straight wins, but they’re also the most exciting.

With the victory, Winnipeg improved to 7-2 on the season and is currently tied for first place with the 7-1 Edmonton Eskimos, who will have the chance to regain sole possession of top spot when they host the Saskatchewan Roughriders Friday night. The Calgary Stampeders, who are 6-1-1, play the Toronto Argonauts Saturday.

As for the Alouettes, they suffered their second straight loss to fall to 3-6 — the defeat dropping them to 3-2 on home turf. They return to Molson Stadium next week to play the Ottawa Redblacks, who, at a dismal 2-6-1, have a chance to surpass the Alouettes for second spot in a weak East Division with a win.

Matt Nichols finished the game 26-for-38 for 227 yards and three touchdowns. He also threw his first interception in five games, when he sailed a mercy pass into the air with no time left on the clock in the first half in a last-ditch effort to break a 10-10 tie. It was the first pick in 167 attempts for Nichols, the streak – and play – ending with the ball falling into the arms of a waiting Kyries Hebert.

Darvin Adams led all Bombers receivers with five catches for 88 yards. But it was Clarence Denmark that made the greatest impact on this night. His six-yard touchdown nine minutes, 24 seconds into the first quarter gave Winnipeg an early 10-0 lead. The score came after Randle’s first interception against Montreal quarterback Darian Durant – the Bombers forced turnovers on Montreal’s first two drives, with Leggett forcing a fumble and recovering the ball for the other takeaway – as Winnipeg blanked the Montreal offence through 15 minutes.

But the Alouettes would climb their way back before halftime. As Nichols and the offence stalled in the second quarter, earning back-to-back two-and-outs – the first two-and-out for Winnipeg since the Hamilton game in Week 8 – Boris Bede got the Alouettes on the board with a 19-yard field goal just minutes into the second period and then Durant hit George Johnson with a 31-yard TD with 12 seconds left before halftime to even the game.

With the Alouettes seemingly with all the confidence and momentum to start the third quarter, it was the Bombers defence that would once again came up big.

An Alouettes’ attempt to fake punt was spoiled by Christophe Normand, who read the short snap perfectly, bringing linebacker Nicolas Boulay down yards short of the first-down marker. Winnipeg got the ball back in enemy territory, with Nichols then driving down field with a 44-yard pass to Adams before capping the series with a three-yard sweep pass to Julian Feoli-Gudino. Feoli-Gudino muscled his way into the end zone, getting flagged for an excessive celebration. But the Bombers seemed unbothered by the spirited spike of the ball, up 17-10 with 9:30 left in the third quarter.

The Alouettes offence put up 495 yards of net offence in the first meeting of the year, with 183 yards on the ground. On Thursday, Winnipeg wouldn’t fair much better, with Durant still throwing for 316 yards and three TDs and Montreal putting up a combined 446 net yards. The four turnovers, however, helped overshadow the glaring mistakes.

After Bede cut the Bombers lead to 17-13 with another 19-yard boot to close out the scoring in the third quarter, the Bombers put consecutive long drives together in the fourth that milked a combined 14 minutes and 40 seconds. But both ended in field goals by Medlock, who kicked from 11 and 47 yards to give the Bombers a 23-13 lead with 5:07 left in regulation.

It was then that Montreal, in search of redemption from their previous meeting with the Bombers, cued a comeback. They scored 10 points in the final 3:23 of the fourth – beginning with an Ernest Jackson touchdown from 38 yards out that cut the Bombers lead to three points, 23-20. Jackson, who finished with six catches for 79 yards, beat Brandon Alexander in single coverage, falling back to the ball before snatching it just inside the end zone. A 48-yard field goal by Bede with nine seconds then set the game to extra time.

Noteworthy

The Alouettes veteran receiver Nik Lewis moved into first all-time in career receptions, ahead of now retired Geroy Simon. Lewis caught 10 catches – totalling 88 yards – to bring his total to 1,031…Taylor Loffler led all Bombers in tackles with nine…Harris finished the game with 13 carries for 75 yards and caught all four of his targets for another 31 through the air…the Bombers are now 4-1 on the road this year and 11-3 dating back to last year.