With win over Lions, Bombers clinch playoff berth

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This article was published 14/10/2017 (2940 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The negatives were glaring, even if they didn’t prove costly.

An offence that couldn’t score a touchdown, driving inside the opponent’s 20-yard line just once over four quarters. A defence that, despite playing arguably their best football of the season, faltered down the stretch, allowing two touchdowns in the final minutes to keep it a close game.

But on a night when they weren’t at their best, it was still enough, as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated the B.C. Lions 26-20 in front of 26,434 at Investors Group Field Saturday.

“There’s been times where the offence has bailed the defence out and special teams has bailed us out,” Bombers running back Andrew Harris said after the game. “Tonight showed when one link in the chain is lacking a bit, we can still win games and that’s a positive.”

The Bombers improved to 11-4 with the win and clinched a playoff berth.

The Lions fall to 6-9 with the loss and have now been on the losing end of seven of their last eight games. 

A win by the Edmonton Eskimos against the Toronto Argonauts on Saturday didn’t officially eliminate B.C. from the playoffs, but it put their chances — and 21-year streak of post-season appearances — in serious jeopardy. The Lions had just a 6.3 per cent chance of making the playoffs heading into the game. Now, one more loss by the Lions or a victory by the Saskatchewan Roughriders is enough to end B.C.’s bid at a Grey Cup this season.

The Lions won’t have to wait long to seek redemption against the Bombers, as the two teams will meet again for the final home game of the regular season Oct. 28.

Matt Nichols threw for a season-low 172 passing yards — 52 in the final two quarters — as the offence put up a dismal 232 total yards.

Julian Feoli-Gudino led all Winnipeg receivers with six catches for 48 yards and Harris bested in the ground game, rushing for 52 yards on 16 carries.

It didn’t help that the Bombers’ top receiver, Darvin Adams, exited the game after a vicious — but clean — hit on the third play of the game, only to return with his left arm in a sling.

Winnipeg was already without veteran receiver Weston Dressler and running back Timothy Flanders, and Nichols was wearing a protective glove on his throwing hand after injuring it in last week’s 30-13 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Such is life in football, where injuries don’t hold up as excuses. Nichols wasn’t using it as a crutch, either — he said he felt fine after the game, even if he didn’t attempt a pass beyond 20 yards.

He credited the Lions’ defence for protecting the deep ball and it wasn’t lost on him that his team won despite little help from the offence.

“It’s rare to win a football game and not feel that overjoyed excitement, because as an offence, our unit didn’t play well enough,” he said. “I’m extremely proud of the rest of the team and appreciate those guys for having our backs. I look forward to being better next week.”

While Nichols and the offence have carried the Bombers for much of the year, it was the work of the defence and special teams that deserved the credit Saturday.

Kevin Fogg opened the scoring with an 88-yard punt return touchdown to give the Bombers a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter. The defence would take over from there, forcing the Lions to punt on their first seven possessions until a last-second field goal by kicker Ty Long on the final play of the first half ended the bid for a shutout.

By then, Justin Medlock had already connected on two of his three field goals on the night — from 45 and 37 yards — and added a single on a 58-yard punt to put the Bombers ahead, 14-3, through two quarters.

“We didn’t play a clean enough game,” Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea said. “It just felt like we hurt ourselves a little bit too much to just gloss over everything tomorrow. We’ve got to make sure we correct some of this.”

When Long connected on a 50-yard field goal in the third quarter to cut the Bombers lead to 14-6, the defence made it up with a Tristan Okpalaugo sack that had the Lions elect to take a safety.

When it looked as if B.C. quarterback Jonathan Jennings was starting to find momentum, Fogg stepped up for the first of two interceptions by the Bombers in the fourth quarter.

“We’re all in it together no matter what’s going on, no matter what’s happening we’re all picking up each other,” Fogg said. “No matter what it may seem like to everybody else we know what we have, we know what we can do and when we play Bomber football we’re unstoppable.”

Though Fogg’s interception would lead to a much needed three points for the Bombers — a 55-yarder from Medlock — it was T.J. Heath’s pick later in the frame that provided the final dagger.

Heath stepped in front of Jennings’ pass and returned the ball 64 yards for the score, giving the Bombers a 26-6 lead with five minutes left in the game.

“It feels good, because we work really, really hard. We trust each other to get the job done,” Heath said. “We just continue to have each other’s back and stay together, and just have fun out there. That’s what really wins us games, is us having fun and being who we are.”

The Lions would add a 10-yard touchdown from Jennings to Bryan Burnham on the next drive and the two would connect again for another TD from 13 yards out. But it would be too little too late, with an onside kick attempt by the Lions with 22 seconds remaining recovered by Feoli-Gudino to end the game.

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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