Moe knows interceptions

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This article was published 08/07/2016 (3358 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Moe Leggett was asked before the Bombers Week 2 game against the Calgary Stampeders what the ideal performance for the defence would look like. Thinking for a moment before giving his answer, the linebacker said it would “involve making plays.”

Pushed further, Leggett was asked to give a number. He suggested two turnovers would be ideal, enough to get the Bombers a victory. Thursday night, in a 28-24 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the Bombers defence had six, including two interceptions from Leggett, who returned one 50 yards for a touchdown.

“It was just my night I guess,” said a modest Leggett after the game. “We got the W and that’s all that matters.”

Leggett was right, the Bombers needed a win more than anything else. At 0-2, losing three games in a row and then meet with Edmonton next week to play the defending Grey Cup champions was far from ideal. But it was also more than just the points in the standings. It was also a boost to a defensive unit that had struggled through the first two games, victimized both on the ground and the air.

“We pride ourselves on getting the ball,” said Leggett. “We’re not there yet but we showed a lot of high points. We made more plays than mistakes.”

Hamilton’s offence still put up two touchdowns — Ticats QB Jeremiah Masoli threw for two scores, first to Andy Fantuz and another to Chad Owens — but he did so under immense pressure from a Bombers D-line that heading into the game had just one sack, and by a rookie no less. By the end of the night Thursday Masoli had been sacked four times, including a final hit that broke the ball loose and ended the game.

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“We called in a team meeting, the coach expressed his feelings about the team, the guys embraced it and we knew we had to come out and work,” said safety Macho Harris. “It just shows what we did this week with our preparation; we came with it today.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.catwitter: @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.

Every piece of reporting Jeff produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.