Denmark ripe and ready

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/08/2011 (5204 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Clarence DENMARK spends most of his time looking over his shoulder.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers receiver did that and more in the 28-16 win over the previously undefeated Edmonton Eskimos at a sold-out Canad Inns Stadium Friday night. The rookie hauled in five passes for 101 yards, but his biggest play of the game came in the third quarter when he looked over his shoulder and found himself in a tough spot.

Seeing Eskimos defensive back Chris Thompson with an opportunity to grab the Buck Pierce pass, Denmark was forced to play a little defence. He picked Thompson’s pocket as the two players fell to the turf, ripping the ball out of the defender’s hand for a Bombers completion — not an Eskimos interception.

“It was all concentration — that’s all that was,” the Bombers receiver said after the game. “I saw he had it and I saw he was bobbling it a bit. I knew if I could get my hands in there, I might be able to take it from him.”

It was a 39-yard “grab” for Denmark and the longest passing play for the Bombers on Friday. Two plays later, Winnipeg scored a touchdown, which gave them a 10-point lead and pretty much iced things with the way the Bombers defence was playing.

Denmark’s night marks his best game as a pro and helps take some of the heat off him in regard to his current status. Second-year import receiver Greg Carr is back, healthy and ready to go, but with the effort Denmark is putting in — he also had a nice run for 15 yards Friday — it might be hard to take him out of a winning hand the club has at receiver right now.

BUCK AND THE BIKE: Thankfully, the Bombers won’t be adding “exercise bike” to the list of things that have forced QB Buck Pierce from a football game.

It almost happened, though.

A Pierce scramble to his right early in the game ended with the oft-injured pivot colliding with the stationary bike on the Eskimos sideline. Pierce hit it full bore and looked like he dinged his throwing shoulder on the play.

“I honestly thought to myself, ‘Really? A bike now?’ ” he said afterward. “I hit the bike and got a pretty good shot on the shoulder, but I was able to get through it.”

This will make the cycling community happy: Pierce was wearing a helmet.

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INJURY REPORT: Already without the services of DT Doug Brown, the Bombers played most of the game without DT Dorian Smith, who left the game with a leg injury in the second quarter.

STAMPS SHUT DOWN: Finally, here’s Bombers DB Jonathan Hefney on the work the Winnipeg secondary did on Eskimos SB Fred Stamps, the CFL’s top receiver.

Stamps had just three catches for 41 yards and no TDs.

“That means we did our thing, right? That works for me,” Hefney said. “I kind of wanted him to have none.”

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca