Rookie safety has dream debut for Bombers in pre-season win

Nothing was going to wipe the smile from Cam Allen’s face.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers rookie safety had plenty to smile about after a dream debut as a professional football player.

Not only did the Bombers win in a 15-9 decision over the Saskatchewan Roughriders before 27,913 fans at Princess Auto Stadium in Saturday’s preseason opener, but Allen was also responsible for one of the biggest plays in the contest.

In his first series as a CFLer — and first game in 18 months — Allen read and jumped an in-breaking route perfectly for an interception that he returned into Roughrider territory in the second quarter.

The 25-year-old has put together an outstanding camp this spring and received the praises of head coach Mike O’Shea for his intelligence and play-making ability, and in the team’s first pre-season game, he made a strong case for his place on the Bombers’ roster.

“Doing what the coaches say, man. They gonna put you in the right spot, and it’s all about me executing. I read my keys, and then I saw the ball coming. I had to grab it for the first one, man. Had to,” said Allen. “It just feels good to get it out the way, and the most important thing is we got the dub.”

In the next series, he showcased his makeup speed. Allen sat on a route as receiver Tommy Neild blew past him, but quarterback Jake Maier’s pass hung in the air just long enough for a perfectly timed break-up from the young defensive back.

Plays like that are what pre-season football is all about.

“It’s hard to take the coaching hat off sometimes, but I said, ‘Good job, tuck in your shirt,’ because he got tracked from behind because the guy got his undershirt— maybe he scores,” O’Shea said of Allen’s interception.

“It was a good play. Sometimes those footballs will come right to you, and sometimes they’re a little harder to catch… but you do have to be in the right position.”

There we no touchdowns in the contest. The only points came from legs, as Bombers kicker Sergio Castillo made good on all five of his attempts, connecting from 19, 50, 41, 18 and 21 yards. Roughriders kicker Brett Lauther was successful on attempts from 31 and 26 yards, while Brian Garrity connected on an 18-yard attempt.

Still, plenty of plays were made, and cases for a roster spot were strengthened along the way.

Let’s dive deeper into this one.

Promising offensive outing

Winnipeg dressed almost everyone for this one, as it looks to build momentum heading into a regular season that won’t begin until after a Week 1 bye. The only players who didn’t dress for the game were receivers Nic Demski, Dalton Schoen and Cody Kase, and right tackle Eric Lofton.

It was particularly critical that as many offensive players as possible played, with the acclimation to offensive coordinator Jason Hogan’s system still in process and the quarterbacks adjusting to several new faces at receiver.

The starting unit, which included Keric Wheatfall, Jaylen Hall, Myron Mitchell, Kevens Clercius and Reggie White Jr. as the receiving options, recorded 105 yards of net offence on 16 plays (6.6 per play) across three possessions.

The last series was their best, as gains of 13, 11, 19 and 14 yards highlighted an eight-play, 66-yard drive that was capped with a field goal by Castillo.

“It felt good. We want to go out there and try to get adjusted against game speed stuff,” said Zach Collaros, who tossed for 93 yards while completing 10 of his 13 attempts.

“Things didn’t seem to be moving too fast, which is good, that’s what you want. I thought for all four quarters we did a good job of getting lined up and then knowing our assignments and executing.”

Mitchell was Collaros’ favourite target when they were on the field together, targeted four times and hauled in two passes.

Collaros looked nimble in the pocket on the few occasions he needed to evade pressure. One of his better throws came as he slid right then up in the pocket, breaking free from pressure, before finding Hall on a 25-yard gain.

Brady Oliveira’s day included two carries for 11 yards, but his biggest play came on a 14-yard rumble after catching a screen pass on the same drive.

“You want to score a touchdown every single drive, but I thought it was encouraging. The little things… it’s not always about the result of the play, it’s the execution of the entire thing,” Collaros said. “We accomplished some things, but it’ll be good to have some film of things we can clean up and teach.”

Quarterback battle

Chris Streveler is preparing to lead the Bombers when they host the B.C. Lions in their Week 2 season opener, but an opening remains for the third quarterback on the roster between Terry Wilson and Chase Artopoeus.

Streveler tossed for 49 yards while completing six of 10 passes in less than two quarters of action.

Terry Wilson took over at the end of the third quarter and looked comfortable across three series, despite a hiccup at the start of his game. On his third play, after completing an 11-yard pass to Kehlani Harris, Wilson was strip-sacked by Riders defensive end Benoit Marion. The play was hardly on Wilson, who barely hit the top of his drop before being hit.

The second-year pivot finished with 72 passing yards while completing six of eight attempts, which included a 25-yard gain to running back Quinton Cooley on a screen and a 12-yard completion to Dillon Mitchell.

Artopoeus entered the contest with a tick over three minutes remaining and looked poised, going five-for-six with 43 passing yards and even showing off the wheels as he beat several pursuing defenders to the edge on a 10-yard pickup.

The rookie pivot saw just one series in the contest, but it was a critical situation with the Bombers up by a field goal and looking to bleed the clock.

“You just try to take it one play at a time,” said Artopoeus. “You think about the situation, obviously, because context matters in that standpoint, but at the same time you can’t let it overwhelm you.

“Thankfully, I had a lot of good teammates helping me out out there… so it wasn’t very difficult when I had those guys out there with me and helping me out a lot. It was awesome.”

Two catch kicks

Returner is a position that the Bombers need to get right this season.

The club ranked seventh in average field position, dead-last in total kick return yards and were one of three teams without a return touchdown last season, as it flipped through four different options looking for a spark.

The obvious solution figures to be running back Peyton Logan, who signed with the Bombers in free agency during the winter, but he is on the one-game injured-list and won’t be an option to start the season.

The Bombers have had a handful of players catch kicks in camp, but only two made it to the box score on Saturday.

Trey Vaval fielded two kickoffs for 37 yards in the first half. The rookie defensive back also caught three punts for 24 yards.

Myron Mitchell took over in the second half, fielding a punt return for 14 yards, a kickoff for 20 yards and a missed field goal for eight.

Michael Chris-Ike and Matthew Peterson also lined up to receive kicks but did not field any.

Left guard battle gets murky

Advantage Vanterpool?

Tui Eli and Gabe Wallace have received the vast majority of reps with the starting offence in camp, but after two series of Eli playing, it was second-year lineman Micah Vanterpool who spelled him in the third series.

That leaves more questions than answers about the battle for the starting left guard job after one game.

Eli was dinged for a holding penalty on the second play of the game and had a high snap in the third quarter while serving as the centre for Streveler. All three players appeared to play well, otherwise.

Left guard remains one of the most intriguing positions for the club.

“We’ve got a lot of good players. We’ve got a lot of good offensive lineman,” said O’Shea. “It’s our job to put the best group out there, the guys that play the best out there and play the way we want to play, but they’re all capable. They really are. Tui, Gabe, Micah — they’re all capable. (Rookie) Ethan Vibert was good, too.”

POINT-AFTER

The most exciting play that never counted came in the first quarter when a pass-knockdown by Willie Jefferson was scooped up by James Vaughters and returned 60 yards for a touchdown. It had looked like Winnipeg’s new pass-rush duo was already making its presence known until officials correctly reversed the call to an incomplete pass.

The Bombers and Roughriders will meet again on Friday, May 30, in Regina for a final tune-up before the regular season. Kick-off is 8 p.m. CT.

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca