Bombers beat down Eskimos in crucial divisional showdown

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This article was published 30/09/2017 (2923 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

EDMONTON — Chris Randle didn’t harm his reputation as a clutch performer Saturday.

With Winnipeg nursing a two-point lead with 2:34 left in the fourth quarter, the veteran Blue Bombers cornerback stepped in front of Edmonton wide receiver Derel Walker along the sidelines to snatch a Mike Reilly pass away before scampering untouched 37 yards for the touchdown.

Randle’s stunning pick-six slammed the door on the hometown Eskimos and sparked the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to a 28-19 CFL triumph over the Edmonton Eskimos in a crucial divisional showdown in front of 30,524 fans at Commonwealth Stadium Saturday night.

“It’s a play, right? It’s an interception, it’s a pick-six – I haven’t had one of those this year, so yeah, it’s a pretty big play man,” said Randle outside a jubliant Winnipeg locker room.

“We had some keys that I anticipated in that situation. They loaded the box, max protection in that situation and a situation where I felt they needed to pass the ball… It was a situation where (quarterback Mike Reilly) could’ve ran it and then T.J. (Bombers halfback Heath) would’ve been in a bad position but he passed it and I was able to play hard and aggressive on outside routes. He throwed it to the out route and I was able to make a play.”

Randle’s performance was no surprise for Winnipeg head coach Mike O’Shea.

“It’s not just late in the game like that,” said O’Shea. “He’s a guy that comes to work every day in practice. He practises like he plays. He expects to make those plays out in the game because he works on that stuff and puts in a lot of time in the film room every week. He’s been doing that for a number of years for us, so it’s nothing new. You know what, I love watching him out there. He’s so professional.”

The Blue Bombers, who got a combined 134 yards rushing and receiving from tailback Andrew Harris, had lost eight of their previous nine visits to Commonwealth Stadium but were coming off a 30-23 win in 2016. 

The victory improved Winnipeg’s record to 10-3 and only two more wins in the remaining five regular-season games will clinch second place in the CFL’s West Division.

The Eskimos, meanwhile, lost their sixth consecutive game and fell to 7-6 overall. 

Winnipeg quarterback Matt Nichols, who completed 24 of 32 passes for 238 yards and two touchdowns, admitted his high-powered offence wasn’t at its best.

“It was a real grind it out game,” said Nichols. “Both defences played extremely well. Low scoring in the first half. We kinda matched some of their scoring in the second half. A full team win and offensively, I feel we did some good things. We put together a few drives, finished some off with a few touchdowns but overall, I felt like we didn’t play our best game. And I think it shows the type of team we have here where our defence can play that way and kinda pick us up and have our backs tonight.”

Two of the CFL’s most potent offences struggled mightily to score in the opening half.

Even when Winnipeg did move within range of Justin Medlock, he proceeded to miss on field goal attempts of 54, 40 and 33 yards. It was small consolation for the man widely regarded as the league’s best kicker when his third attempt sailed wide left and went through the end zone to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

Edmonton kicker Swayze Waters fared no better, clanking a 51-yard field goal attempt off the upright late in the second quarter.

It was still 1-0 when Winnipeg finally broke through in the final minute of the first half.  Nichols hooked up with Clarence Denmark on a six-yard completion for his seventh TD of the season. 

The scoring play was preceded by a strange sequence in which Nichols lost his grip on the football while attempting to hand the ball to Harris. The ball caromed off Harris’s leg and the Winnipeg tailback lunged forward to retain possession of the ball on the Edmonton six-yard line, but was injured in the pileup. Harris, who was helped off the field with what appeared to be a lower-body injury, returned to the game in the second half.

Harris pronounced himself “fine” after the game while O’Shea was unable to update reporters on the status of linebacker Mo Leggett, who left the game early in the second half and did not return. He appeared to have suffered an upper-body injury.

Medlock converted the major and the Bombers took an 8-0 lead to the locker room at halftime. Nichols finished the opening half competed 14 of 18 passes in the first half for 99 yards while Reilly went 10-for-13 for 57 yards passing in the opening 30 minutes.

Reilly finished the game with 311 yards passing after competing 31 of 46 with two TDs. Most of the damage was done by receiver Brandon Zylstra, who caught nine passes for 152 yards.

The hosts struck on their first possession of the second half, driving 67 yards in eight plays, capped by tailback Calvin McCarty’s superb one-handed catch on a five-yard run to paydirt. A two-point convert attempt was snuffed out by a fierce Winnipeg pass rush as Reilly was unable to find an open receiver.

Winnipeg responded immediately, driving 68 yards on six plays, culminating with Harris’s two-yard plunge for a TD. Medlock’s convert pushed Winnipeg’s lead to 15-6.

On Edmonton’s next possession, Reilly was able to move the ball again but the drive stalled and Waters responded with a 31-yard field goal. The visitors led 15-9 after the third quarter.

The Blue Bombers were back at it on the next possession, pushing the ball into Eskimos territory again before Darvin Adams made perhaps the nicest play of the game, going high to make a one-handed catch on a 13-yard TD pass deep in the end zone. Officials originally ruled Adams had stepped out of bounds but then reversed themselves, calling a touchdown. A review by CFL control confirmed the call.

Medlock, who was already having a miserable night, hit the upright on the convert to miss his first conversion as a member of the Blue Bombers.

Waters hit a field goal from 42 yards and Derel Walker hauled in a 21-yard TD strike from Reilly midway through the fourth quarter to bring the Eskimos to within two at 21-19. 

NOTEWORTHY: While members of the Saskatchewan Roughriders locked arms during the singing of the national anthem prior to a Sept. 24 game against the Calgary Stampeders, neither the Eskimos nor Blue Bombers made any public displays of unity Saturday. The Roughriders were showing their support to NFL players who had been criticized by U.S. President Donald Trump for kneeling during anthems… Blue Bombers wide receiver Julian Feoli-Gudino left the game in the opening half with an upper-body injury… Edmonton linebacker Blair Smith, meanwhile, left the game with lower-body injury and did not return.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14