By Jim Bender
A pair of Oak Park grads made the difference on offence for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Winnipeg running back Andrew Harris rushed for 150 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries to lead the Bombers to a 30-3 trouncing of the Edmonton Elks in a Canadian Football League game before 27,388 fully-vaccinated fans at IG Field on Friday night.
Fellow Oak Park grad Nic Demski caught five passes for 79 yards, including a 16-yard TD in the first half, to lead the Winnipeg pass catchers.
Winnipeg improves to 8-1 and leads the CFL West while the Elks fell to 2-6.
The Winnipeg offence could only muster an 11-3 lead in the first half, which included Demski’s touchdown and two of three safety touches conceded by Edmonton punter Hugh O’Neill. But the Bombers outscored the Elks 19-0 in the second half.
The Bombers missed a number of opportunities to score more in the opening 30 minutes.
“We came in at half time and offensively, we weren’t really pleased with the way that we were playing,” Harris said. “We definitely left some things out there and obviously, our defence has been lights out all year …
“Offensively, I think we were kind of displeased with how we were playing. But especially in the fourth, but in some of the third, our O-line just put it together and started to open some big holes there. We really wore that defence down, so able to accumulate some big yardage and have them test the run.”
The defence forced four turnovers and three conceded safeties while the special teams blocked a punt.
“It’s massive what our defence does and how stingy it is, and with the plays they make,” Harris said. “It’s incredible. But, as an offence, we can’t rely on them all the time. We’ve just got to be more keen and better with our assignments and focus and whatever it may be that’s stopping us from getting more touchdowns.”
Bombers middle linebacker Adam Bighill led the defence with five defensive tackles and a number of huge hits that didn’t appear on the stats sheet. But he denied that the defence was determined to pick it up when the offence was off in the first half.
“It’s always important that all phases be clicking but, at the end of the day, as a defence, we’re not gonna rely on offence or special teams to get the energy going, or try to pick us up,” Bighill said. “We’re going to go and do what we do, no matter the situation. So, it’s really irrelevant what any other phase does because we’re gonna go out and do our thing either way.”
Bighill was proud of the way the D played.
“We didn’t want to give them anything,” he said. “We’re not giving away anything, you’re gonna have to come in and earn it. There’s great players in this league that are gonna challenge us, no doubt about it, but they best believe that we’re gonna be full-stop on what we bring to the table and we’ve got to keep pushing the bar higher.”
Elks placekicker Sean Whyte kicked a 32-yard field goal after a 70-yard interception return by safety Jordan Hoover for Edmonton’s only points of the game.
“We got physically manhandled tonight,” said Elks head coach Jaime Elizondo. “We were physically beat in every phase of the game and that’s the truth, so we’re not making any excuses. We got our asses whooped and we need to bone up and be a better team and find some better answers.”
Winnipeg placekicker Ali Mourtada kicked a 24-year-old field goal and added a single on one of three that he missed. He also kicked two converts and had one partially blocked.
It was the first of back-to-back games between the two teams with the Bombers playing in Edmonton next Friday.
HASHMARKS – The Bombers played without their leading receiver, Kenny Lawler, who was suspended one game after being charged for driving under the influence … Both the Bombers and Elks wore orange New Era jerseys for the pre-game warmup to recognize Orange Shirt Day. The jerseys were made available for an online auction after the game. Funds raised will go to each team’s charity of choice (WASAC) and Spirit North).
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