Stellar defence lifts Blue Bombers

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This article was published 11/11/2023 (934 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Adam Bighill was right.

He told the media on Friday that the Blue Bombers defence was going to put the Western Final on their shoulders, and that’s exactly what happened.

Winnipeg suffocated B.C. Lions quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. and all his weapons en route to a 24-13 victory in front of a sold-out IG Field to punch their ticket to a fourth straight Grey Cup.

The only thing that no one could’ve seen coming was that the Bombers had to mostly do it without Bighill — one of their most respected leaders.

With 1:37 left in the first half, the Bombers sent the 35-year-old linebacker on a blitz. Adams quickly got rid of the ball, and Bighill slowed down before pulling up lame with a non-contact injury.

It looked like nothing — a routine play — but Bighill sat down and hit the turf with his fist in frustration. He couldn’t put any weight on his right leg as he limped to the sideline, refusing to lean on the team trainers for assistance.

Often non-contact injuries tend to be season-enders.

“I’m hurt. That’s my captain, that’s my leader,” said defensive end Willie Jefferson. “Ever since I came here in 2019, I’ve not necessarily been following Adam, but he’s a key voice in my ear every play. He’s a big piece to our defence and seeing him go down really hurt me and everyone on the defence.”

Since joining the Blue and Gold in 2018, Bighill has only missed three games due to injury. Wide receiver Rasheed Bailey — who was battling an injury himself as he was a game-time decision for Saturday — said the play put a damper on the team’s post-game celebration.

“It definitely does. He was one of the first people I went to see when I came in the locker room after we won,” said Bailey.

“I gave him the biggest hug and he told me what it was. He’s a fighter, though. He’s the definition of what playing for Winnipeg is. He is a Winnipegger. He lives here, his family’s here, it’s sad in those moments. But he’s gonna fight to get back and hopefully we can get him back for the cup.”

Bighill spent some time on the bench before getting carted to the locker room. His replacement, Malik Clements, stepped up and recorded two sacks.

“He’s what it is to be a Bomber. He plays the game the way it’s supposed to be played… His talent speaks for itself, but the intangible stuff is what’s hard to put into words for Adam,” said quarterback Zach Collaros.

“I probably text him once a month to thank him for being my teammate and just being the kind of leader not just on the field, but off the field as well. I know we’re the same age, but he’s someone you can always draw something from and look up to, so to speak. When something like that happens, anytime it’s a teammate it’s tough, but obviously a guy like him, you just know how dedicated he is and how much he puts into it every single day. He lives it. So, I’m hoping for the best for him there.”

Head coach Mike O’Shea was asked for an injury update after the game.

“Don’t count him out. Don’t count that guy out. I wouldn’t rule any of our guys out, but I wouldn’t rule Biggie out,” said O’Shea. “… Until 30 minutes before (kickoff), we don’t rule anybody out. You always give them the opportunity to be great.”

Even without their star middle linebacker, the Bombers defence was great. They held the Lions to 189 yards of net offence and sacked Adams a whopping nine times. Adams — who ripped the Calgary Stampeders to shreds in the West semifinal with over 400 passing yards and five total touchdowns — went 13-of-26 for 221 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.

“They were playing lights out. We needed them tonight. We’ve been hurting on offence all week dealing with injuries, but the defence came up big time tonight, man,” said Bailey, who had zero catches on the night. Nic Demski (three catches for 37 yards) was also playing through an injury while star receiver Dalton Schoen was out with an ankle ailment.

“They held an offence that’s been firing all year to under 200 yards. I mean, that’s championship football. It gives me chills, man. I couldn’t be who I wanted to be tonight, but watching them do what they did, it gave me so much joy.”

B.C. couldn’t get anything going on the ground with running back Taquan Mizzell and Adams combining for 44 rushing yards.

The only big play the Lions made was a 45-yard Hail Mary pass on the final play of the half that was deflected and caught by Justin McInnis to cut Winnipeg’s lead to 18-10. Two plays earlier, McInnis caught a 25-yarder, giving B.C. a shot at the end zone.

“We kind of knew they had the momentum… So, going into the locker room, we were like ‘That’s only one drive, two plays. Let’s just focus on doing what we do and contain them,’ ” said dimeback Redha Kramdi.

“It is what it is. It’s part of the game. We just got to learn from it, not let it happen again and move on.”

It was a one-score game for most of the fourth quarter, but the Lions couldn’t drive the ball down the field to take control.

“We put this game on our shoulders, and it shows that defence wins championships,” said Jefferson.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

X: @taylorallen31