Run-run-run-run runaway

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This article was published 20/10/2012 (4745 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO — They ran the ball, then ran it some more and by the time the Toronto Argonauts were tired of chasing them, running backs Chad Simpson and Will Ford had run the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to a 44-32 victory Friday night at Rogers Centre.

Simpson crashed through the 1,000-yard mark on the season in just 13 games with his 136-yard performance on 20 carries and Ford added 85 more rushing yards.

They sparked a ground attack that added up to 260 yards on the night, the best single game by any team in the CFL this season.

“A lot of this doesn’t have to do with me, it has to do with God and my offensive line,” said Simpson, who had one touchdown. His second 100-yard-plus game of the season bumped his season total to 1,003 yards. “I’m just the lucky guy. I just try to work hard and follow my big guys up front of me and they led the way tonight.

“Will Ford did a good job. They had to guess between both of us. You can’t prepare for a guy you haven’t seen all year and they didn’t know which way we were going to go, what we were going to do.”

Simpson is the third CFL running back to pass the 1,000-yard mark this season.

Jon Cornish and Kory Sheets, both ahead of Simpson, have played two more games.

“Chad’s one of the best,” said Bombers quarterback Buck Pierce. “It’s his professionalism and his attitude that has really surprised me. He’s at the top of his game and the top of his profession and still wanting to get better.

“He still feels like he can do more and it’s an inspiration to everybody in that locker-room.”

In the first quarter, Simpson had seven carries for 46 yards. Both drives ended in touchdowns, giving Winnipeg a 14-0 lead.

Simpson rambled for a 14-yard touchdown later in the second quarter.

“I’m just thinking in my head, ‘Just run. No matter what, every play, every down, don’t let ’em tackle you. You let no one bring you down,'” Simpson, the 27-year-old from Miami, Fla., said of his early success on Friday. “I’m fighting for a whole bunch of reasons. I’m fighting for my team, I’m fighting for my family. I’m fighting for everything, for the chances I never got. That’s the passion I run with every game.

“That’s what helps me not get down. I won’t let these guys take me down. I have so much riding on it.”

Ford, the 25-year-old from Travelers Rest, S.C., had his best game of the season with 10 carries for the 85 yards, including a late five-yard touchdown that sealed the deal for the Bombers.

“It starts up front,” Ford said. “Those guys came out to play. I’m just happy to be here. We establish the run, it makes things a lot smoother.”

Ford said he’s loving what Simpson has done for the Bombers offence.

“Chad’s an awesome player,” he said. “Since I’ve been here, he’s welcomed me in and he’s just been great, on and off the field helping me out. He’s a great football player, man, a small football player but he’s doing what he’s got to do to help this team win.”

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca