Open season on Blue pivots

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This article was published 25/09/2011 (5457 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO — Injuries will be the story in Bomberland this week with seven players unable to finish the game Saturday night in Toronto.

Key among the hurts was starting quarterback Buck Pierce, who left in the second quarter of a 25-24 loss to the Toronto Argos.

Pierce was hit by Toronto defensive tackle Kevin Huntley and aggravated a previous rib injury.

“He played after the hit but I was worried about his mobility. I asked him how he was and he said he was having trouble moving around, so I took him out. I didn’t want him getting hit and something worse happening,” said Bombers coach Paul LaPolice.

LaPolice wouldn’t guess about any of his players’ availability for Friday’s home game against the Montreal Alouettes.

The offence was decimated by injury as backup quarterback Alex Brink also hurt his shoulder and had to leave in the fourth quarter. Running backs Fred Reid and Carl Volny suffered knee injuries and offensive lineman Brendon LaBatte injured his shoulder. Defensive linemen Doug Brown and Rodney Fritz also suffered shoulder injuries.

SAVAGE SINGLE: LaPolice was questioned about a critical play late in the game that saw returner Jovon Johnson surrender a single after a missed field that gave the Argos the winning point.

“We had a return on. But there were missed blocks and he couldn’t get out of the end zone,” explained LaPolice. “You can’t kick the ball back out of the end zone because there was too much time left and they would just be able to try the field goal again.”

Argos kicker Noel Prefontaine made his attempt with 50 seconds left on the clock.

“The coaches called for a return but too many guys were going for the block. They didn’t think he would miss so they wanted to block the kick. So nobody got blocked. I had nowhere to go,” said Johnson, who scrambled around in the end zone before being tackled with 23 seconds left in the game.

The Bombers then moved the ball down the field and had a chance for a field goal of their own, but lost yardage when receiver Greg Carr was called offside, moving the team outside of Justin Palardy’s range.

PROUD PAPA: Offensive lineman Glenn January scored a touchdown in the first half when he recovered an Argos fumble in the end zone.

“All the joy I could take from that is gone after losing the game,” said January, who was mobbed by his teammates after the score and then jogged over to his father in the stands and flipped him the ball. “My dad never missed one of my games right up until the end of college. He hates missing my games and he comes up from Houston whenever he can. It’s great having him here to see me make a play like that. We’ve got a special relationship. I love it when he’s here.”

PUT DOWN THAT CLIPBOARD: Third-stringer Justin Goltz was called into action in the fourth quarter and went 3-for-6 including a touchdown pass, his first in the CFL.

“Usually bad things have to happen for the third quarterback to get it in, but that’s what we prepare for every day. That’s the job of a backup quarterback, to come in and work with what you got when you get the chance and try to do the most you can,” said Goltz. “It’s too bad we couldn’t get the win. That would make this a better moment. As it is, it’s just a loss. It’s bittersweet.”

Goltz drove the Bombers into field-goal range in the dying seconds but saw a completed pass called back due to an offside penalty.

“That’s a heartbreaker right there. I thought we were in field-goal range and we were going to seal the deal.”

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca