Bombers’ defence no match for Redblacks’ offence

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This article was published 17/08/2018 (2628 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Maybe the Bombers’ defence was due for a bad game. Maybe, the defence was just on the field for too long, as the Blue and Gold had another off night offensively, allowing the Ottawa Redblacks to dominate the time of possession.

Or maybe, as harsh as it may sound, the defence just isn’t as good as everyone thought they were.

Whatever the reason, Redblacks’ quarterback Trevor Harris carved up the Bombers — leading his team to a 44-21 win over the Bombers to improve their East-leading record to 6-3.

Harris finished 29-of-39 passing for 361 yards and a touchdown toss.

“They executed their game plan really well. I told Trevor after the game he had a heck of a game,” said Bombers middle linebacker Adam Bighill. “He played awesome. He threw the ball on point, on time. Especially some of the man-coverage situations, he threw great balls. So, I mean, they played great. A lot of the stuff we did, a lot of the stuff we planned for, they executed really well tonight.”

The Bombers’ defence headed into Friday night’s home tilt with momentum on their side, as in their previous five games their opponents averaged less than 20 points. However, those five contests were played against teams with a combined record of 8-14.

But if the Redblacks were a test, you can bring out your red pens and fill the page with Xs, because the Bombers failed miserably. One of the biggest fails for the Bombers was their 11 penalties for 80 yards, which kept several Ottawa drives alive.

“I think when you have success, it is harder to stay on top of your game to prepare every single day to win, but that doesn’t mean it’s not doable,” said Bighill. “It’s something we talk about in our room where every day we got to win the game on day one, day two, day three. That is a focus, no matter our success, we still got to have the same mindset to be able to perform. But this is a teaching lesson and something we have to learn from.”

Harris was rolling early, as the 32-year-old veteran quarterback completed seven straight passes before former Bombers backup quarterback Dominique Davis snuck in for a one-yard score on their second drive of the game to open the scoring.

The air attack continued in the second quarter, as Harris led his offence on a 10-play drive before Davis once again capped it off with a one-yard sneak. The Redblacks marched downfield on two more occasions before the first-half whistle, with kicker Lewis Ward finishing both drives with field goals to give Ottawa a 22-7 edge at the half. At that point, Harris was 22 of 29 for 241 yards.

The Bombers made things interesting in the third quarter, briefly, before things completely fell off the rails. Andrew Harris rushed for a 13-yard score with just over eight minutes left in the to make it 22-14. But Ottawa answered quickly with a five-play drive, highlighted by a 59-yard catch by Dominique Rhymes, who on the next play caught a five-yard touchdown pass to bump the lead up to 30-14.

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The Redblacks’ defence also chipped in, as on the Bombers’ next drive, Corey Tindal strip-sacked Bombers’ quarterback Matt Nichols, with linebacker Avery Williams scooping up the fumble and taking it 43-yards to the house to make it a 38-14.

In the final quarter, Ottawa running back William Powell had nine carries for 82 yards and a touchdown. Powell finished with 18 carries for 108 yards and a score and Ottawa had 494 yards.

“They ran the ball well when they needed to,” said Bombers defensive back Chris Randle.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @TaylorAllen31

Taylor Allen
Reporter

Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.

Every piece of reporting Taylor 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.