Turner, Matthews only bright spots

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/07/2012 (4830 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom during the Carnage at Commonwealth.

Two Bombers — defensive tackle Bryant Turner and receiver Chris Matthews — continued their fine CFL seasons with another burst of production at their respective positions. Turner added two more sacks to his season’s totals, giving him five on the year and a commanding lead in the House of Blue.

In fact, the sack race is barely a competition for the 24-year-old. After three games, he’s the only Bombers defender to get his hands on a quarterback who is still holding the ball behind the line of scrimmage.

“It’s like you can’t celebrate for it, you know what I’m saying?” he told reporters after the 42-10 drubbing the Bombers took in Edmonton Friday night. “A sack, you get it, but it’s just a sack. We still got a loss. It’s nothing to be excited about. If we were 3-0 I would be the happiest guy in the CFL, I promise you that.

“We have to figure out how to change this thing around.”

One of the more discouraging aspects of the Bombers defence this year has been the defensive line. With Odell Willis no longer around, they have struggled to find energy and the D-line as a whole has not been able to impact games the way Bomber fans are used to.

Turner defended his partners on the line, believing that his five sacks are part of a community effort.

“The sacks I have are because of the other guys,” he said.

Rookie puts up 171 yards

MEANWHILE, on offence, Chris Matthews continues to put up big numbers catching the ball.

The rookie out of Kentucky pulled down seven passes for 171 yards and another touchdown against the Eskimos, giving him 20 catches, 350 yards receiving and three TDs on the year.

That moves him into top spot among CFL receivers (heading into Saturday’s action), and has no doubt commanded the attention of opposition defensive co-ordinators when they seen the Blue and Gold come up on the schedule next.

Against Edmonton, he made two big grabs. The first a 40-yard catch on a jump ball from quarterback Buck Pierce and the second, a season-high 72-yard catch and run through the Eskimos defence in the fourth quarter that gave Winnipeg its only touchdown.

Matthews, unimpressed with his club’s effort, wasn’t too interested in dissecting either catch with reporters after the game.

“It was just a play,” he said. “I just made a play. That’s what I’m here for. They pay me to make these plays. There’s nothing really special to me… and that’s just how I feel right now.”

How former Bombers fared

HERE’S a look at how a few of the former Bombers — who now reside in the land of Green and Yellow — fared against their old mates Friday night:

Wide receiver Greg Carr: two catches for nine yards; was never a factor in the game.

Linebacker Clint Kent: 29-yard fumble return for a touchdown; two defensive tackles; one pass knockdown.

Defensive lineman Donny Oramasionwu: one defensive tackle and one sack.

Above all that, those players got the win against their former employer. The Bombers and Eskimos tangle again July 26 at Canad Inns Stadium.

Big Blue travel woes

THIS current four-game road trip could have been made a little easier on the Bombers if the league would have moved the last two games into the same province (or even the same time zone).

Like Calgary did this past week, staying out east to play Montreal after a weekend game in Toronto, head coach Paul LaPolice would have welcomed this relative break in the schedule to settle into a middle spot between two cities and cut the travel down that way.

If you can believe it, the club did consider staying in Edmonton before heading to Southern Ontario.

“We looked at doing that, but we just felt it was best to go back home and have one (full) day of practice, and go back out,” LaPolice said prior to Friday’s game. “If we had two teams out west, we would probably stay, or two teams out east, we would probably stay.”

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @wazoowazny