Game Balls – Bombers at Roughriders, June 27, 2015

Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Sunday, Jun. 28, 2015

OFFENCE

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/06/2015 (3756 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OFFENCE

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers went with two tailbacks Saturday — Paris Cotton and Cameron Marshall — and both had big games. Marshall had a pair of touchdowns (one on the ground and another through the air) while Cotton romped for 108 yards on 13 carries. But Winnipeg quarterback Drew Willy was the biggest story, going 22-for-25 for 325 yards and three TDs.

DEFENCE

Rick Elvin / The Canadian Press
Paris Cotton romped for 108 yards on 13 carries — Rick Elvin / The Canadian Press Paris Cotton romped for 108 yards on 13 carries

Bombers cornerback Johnny Adams had an interception on the Winnipeg one-yard line in the second half that extinguished a Saskatchewan Roughriders drive and set in motion the events that led to the Bombers’ victory.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Justin Veltung was Winnipeg’s third choice as a kick returner to start the season. But when both Troy Stoudermire and Carlos Anderson came up lame in the pre-season, Veltung was handed the job by default and he performed well Saturday night under the circumstances. A 68-yard punt return for a TD was called back on a Winnipeg penalty, but Veltung was solid on seven returns, including a 12-yarder on a punt and a 34-yarder on a kickoff.

KOHLERT OUT

Wide receiver Rory Kohlert was a game-time scratch for the Blue Bombers.

Kohlert — who had missed the last two days of practice — made the flight to Regina and Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea was saying as late as Friday he was “hopeful” Kohlert would play.

Kohlert did dress Saturday, and he took part in the pre-game warmup, but the Bombers announced a half-hour before game time that Kris Bastien — who Winnipeg acquired last winter from Saskatchewan in the deal that sent Cory Watson to the Riders — would start in place of Kohlert.

NEXT GAME

The Bombers will have little time to gather themselves and get ready for their next opponent: a Hamilton Tiger-Cats squad that promises to be motivated after losing a heartbreaker to the Calgary Stampeders on a last-second field goal Friday night.

The Blue Bombers will play host to the Ticats in their home opener Thursday at Investors Group Field — the first of four times this CFL season Winnipeg will have to play on just four days rest.

The Bombers have struggled mightily in previous seasons when they had to play on just four days rest and the league schedule makers did them no favours this year.

— Wiecek