Bomber hits just kept on coming

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/09/2010 (5536 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was a punch in the mouth that stunned the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and it came from an unlikely fist.

At the tail end of the first quarter in Winnipeg’s 31-2 beat-down in Sunday’s Banjo Bowl, Bombers DB Jovon Johnson — all 5-foot-9, 182 pounds of him — stepped through a vulnerable Chris Getzlaf after a short reception. It was a thunderous hit that stirred most of the 29,833 at Canad Inns Stadium into party mode and set the mood for the rest of the day.

The Riders were going to have a rough one out there.

“If that set a tone — it set a good tone because guys were just laying (it on the line) and knocking people out,” Johnson said in a rather upbeat Bombers locker-room afterward. “If I get that opportunity I’ll take it but I’m really not that type of player.”

That was one of several big uppercuts the Bomb Squad fed the visitors Sunday, as the tenacious Winnipeg ‘D’ continues to dial up its physical play.

“If we continue like this, I think we’ll start to get some serious recognition around the league,” said defensive line coach Richard Harris

One of those guys who should see more face time is rookie LB Marcellus Bowman, whose ability to chase guys down and deliver a load of football force was never more apparent than when he crushed Saskatchewan fullback Chris Szarka with a shot right under the chin in the third quarter.

The hit forced a fumble and an apparent touchdown return by fellow LB Joe Lobendahn (called back due to off-setting penalties), and essentially put the game on ice.

“I bit on the play action, so I ran back to where I was supposed to be,” said Bowman, who missed four games with a hand injury. “Then I see (QB Darian Durant) float the ball in the air towards (Szarka), and my eyes just lit up. We wanted to make a statement.”

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca