Players did their darndest to hang on to slippery ball

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This article was published 23/09/2017 (2931 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ON a wet, windswept night at Investors Group Field, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers showed they are much more than a fair-weather team.

Winnipeg piled up 361 yards through the air and rumbled for 192 more along the ground as they laid a 29-9 beatdown on the Ottawa Redblacks Friday night.

“It was tough out there, obviously,” said tailback Andrew Harris, who had 83 yards on 11 carries and added 49 more on six catches. “Catching the ball was tough, holding onto the ball was tough at certain points but we found a way to still pass the ball and still be able to grind it out in the run game, so we had couple of drops from myself, that’s expected and it’s going to happen in those type of games…

“There’s certain points where the ball’s super slick, so you do whatever you can to hold onto it.”

The opening kickoff was delayed 20 minutes due to a lightning storm but it seemed to have no effect on the Blue Bombers’ ground attack. Harris and Timothy Flanders, who carried the ball seven times for 55 yards and added 28 through the air, were a devastating one-two punch.

“To put up (521 net) yards of offence, you wouldn’t call it a grinding game but it felt like that,” said Harris. “They were stingy at some points, obviously the footing wasn’t great, the ball wasn’t easy to catch but again, we found a way to get it done.”

Said wide receiver Darvin Adams, who finished the game with a career-high 195 yards on seven catches: “The numbers don’t lie, you know what I mean. Those guys (Harris and Flanders) are tough to play. It just gives defences another thing to worry about and I think, you know, it’s hard to stop. Two guys that can run the ball, catch the ball and block.”

Nichols was quietly efficient and almost mistake-free — the only major miscue came during the second half when he pulled his arm back to throw and lost his handle on the ball — resulting in his lone turnover. Nichols completed 23 of 34 passes.

“I think it’s mental thing,” said Nichols of playing in bad weather. “We played more than a few of them last year, even before the game there was a bit of a lightning delay for us to be able to get out there and warm up.

“The talk around the locker room was laughter and it wouldn’t be a season without the Bombers getting a lightning delay, so it’s just how you approach mentally. For me, I played college football in the Pacific Northwest, played in a lot of rain games and it’s just something that’s mind over matter.”

Ottawa quarterback Ryan Lindley had a miserable time during his first career CFL start.

“It’s an even playing field,” said Lindley. “God doesn’t turn the sprinklers off when Winnipeg goes out on offence, so we’ve both got to deal with it.”

Winnipeg defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat made a pivotal play during the deluge, stripping the ball away from Ottawa tailback William Powell and gathering in the loose ball on the Redblacks’ 30-yard line. Three plays later, Harris rumbled 24 yards for the game’s first major and a 16-2 halftime lead.

“It was wet and slippery but we’re taught to do that all the time, regardless if it’s wet or not,” said Jeffcoat.

“First man goes in to make a tackle and (linebacker) Sam Hurl smacked him, and I was second man in, so I went for the ball. That’s what we’re taught.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @sawa14