As expected, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers shut down the BC Lions passing attack with a rookie quarterback making his first career CFL start
But they had no answer for the Lions run game
The Leos rushed for 377 yards, including a 191-yard, three-touchdown performance from running back Zander Horvath, as they stunned the Bombers 35-19 Thursday night for just their second win of the season
Winnipeg lost their second straight game and lost another quarterback to an injury in falling to 4-4 on the season. Adding to Winnipeg’s misery, QB Dru Brown left the game in the fourth quarter and did not return
The Bombers had a six-point lead with just five minutes left before a complete collapse. The Lions scored 22 unanswered points on the back of 206 yards rushing in the fourth quarter alone
“Anytime those massive runs take place, you got more than one error,” said Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea. “It’s not a one-on-one miss, you know. It’s usually a combination of two, probably three errors or a missed tackle and a couple errors
“But yeah, those big runs, especially near the end, we’re just not where we’re supposed to be and a combination, I imagine of guys being tired near the end and also trying too hard which is a bad combination.”
8:24
RAW: Blue Bombers Mike O’Shea Interview – July 30
The Lions had 11 different rushes of 10 yards or more in the victory
“Offence, defence, special teams, it wasn’t good enough,” said Bombers defensive end Willie Jefferson. “The second half came out and couldn’t do it. Got to be better
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“We just got to fix it. We got to come together on the defensive side of the ball, like the front end to the back end, we got to communicate better.”
Brown completed all but three of his passes before getting hurt, going 18 of 21 for 180 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. He was replaced by Taylor Elgersma, who was ineffective after coming in, completing just one pass on four attempts
“You put Taylor in and he really doesn’t have enough reps in practice to execute as well as he wants to,” said O’Shea. “He’s beating himself up right now, but you want to see the young guy do better when he goes in for him you know, to feel good about his effort. He feels, I’m sure that obviously he wanted to do better.”
BC snapped a 2-game losing streak as Buck Pierce beat his former team for the first time since being hired as the Lions head coach
Brady Oliveira went over the hundred yard rushing mark for the second straight game with 107 yards rushing on 19 carries, but he was left frustrated after getting stopped near the goal line in the first quarter
“I think I got to be better,” said Oliveira. “There was definitely some missed opportunities out there. I felt like we could have scored two of the runs. And it starts with me
“I think I let the guys down up front. They played one heck of a game, and I think there’s two runs where I could probably have punched it in the end zone for the boys. So, I got to be better.”
5:24
RAW: Blue Bombers Brady Oliveira Interview – July 30
All four of the Bombers’ losses have come on home field with the club just 1-4 at Princess Auto Stadium this season
Lions rookie quarterback Kaidon Salter served as the Lions other rushing threat, picking up 160 yards on the ground after throwing for just 96 yards
It looked like the Bombers run game was going to be the story of this one early as Oliveira had 48 yards on his first seven carries. But they couldn’t capitalize on great field position in the first quarter getting inside the BC 10-yard-line on back-to-back drives but had to settle for two short Sergio Castillo field-goals
The score would stay that way until the last play of the first half after a BC drive led mainly by the legs of Salter was capped off by a one-yard Horvath touchdown run as the clock hit zero. The extra point put the Lions ahead 7-6 at the half
After the teams traded field goals in the third quarter, the Bombers finally found the endzone as Brown hit Tim White for a two-yard touchdown pass and Winnipeg led by six heading into the final quarter
Each team hit a field goal again before Salter hit his biggest pass of the night, a 24-yard touchdown to Jermaine Jackson, giving the Lions the lead back
And then the Lions run game turned it up a notch to seal the game as Horvath recorded 58 and 35-yard touchdown runs on back-to-back drives, putting this game out of reach
Jefferson recorded a sack for the fourth straight game to tie Doug Brown for third place on the Bombers all-time sack list with 52 sacks
The Bombers will not play a game for more than two weeks, as they head into a bye week before a matchup with the Ottawa Redblacks on Friday, August 14 at Princess Auto Stadium
3:27
RAW: Blue Bombers Willie Jefferson Interview – July 30
