By Jim Bender 

CJOB’s Doug Brown suggested that the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a “dynasty” in the making. 

In the aftermath of the Bombers needing overtime to beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 33-25 in the Grey Cup Game, Brown got caught up in the moment of Winnipeg’s first back-to-back CFL championship since the early 1960s. 

“This is a start of a dynasty,” Brown, a Bombers/CFL Hall-of-Famer, said on CJOB’s post-game show. “When you win two in a row, it’s something that doesn’t happen very often. Winning two in a row is the start of something.” 

The Bombers last won back-to-back Cups in 1961-62 and 1958-59 before that, but have never won three straight. 

The Bombers rebounded from a 22-10 deficit to pull out the victory. They used the strong wind to out-score Hamilton 18-6 in the fourth quarter to send the game into extra time. Winnipeg actually took a 25-22 lead in the fourth quarter but, after the defence held the Ticats offence at their own six, Michael Domagala kicked a 13-yard field goal with four seconds left to force the OT. 

Winnipeg quarterback Zach Collaros, who was named MVP, completed a 13-yard touchdown pass to receiver Darvin Adams in OT, then hit receiver Rasheed Bailey for the two-point convert. Linebacker Kyrie Wilson then salted the game away with an interception after the Hamilton offence got the ball in OT. 

“We went through some adversity,” Collaros, also the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player, told TSN. “I threw some pics that put us in bad spots. But I’ve never been around a team like this. It’s just an amazing group.” 

Collaros completed 21 of 32 passes for 240 yards and two TDs and the two interceptions. 

“What a great game for the fans,” said Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea, who has never lost a Grey Cup Game in six tries (two as head man). “But we never thought of it as a repeat. It was never about back-to-back, it was about 2021.” 

The Bombers posted the best record in the CFL, clinching top spot in the CFL West long before the playoffs. 

“We showed that we were the team to beat and that we were the team that couldn’t be beat,” said Bombers linebacker Adam Bighill, the CFL’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player who had five defensive tackles. 

The Ticats have not won the Cup since 1999, currently the longest drought in the CFL. 

“Super disappointment for everybody in there (locker room), the city, the organization,” said an emotional Hamilton head coach Orlondo Stainauer. “It’s just a tough time.” 

Collaros had also connected on a 29-yard touchdown pass to slotback Nic Demski, the Cup\s top Canadian, in the fourth quarter, which had pulled the Bombers to within 22-20 with Sergio Castillo’s convert. Castillo kicked a single on the ensuing kickoff to make the score 22-21 Hamilton. Castillo followed up with a 44-yard field goal to give Winnipeg a 24-22 lead. Hamilton conceded a single on the following kickoff to give the Bombers a 25-22 lead. 

Castillo had also kicked field goals of 38, 34 and 16 yards while punter Marc Liegghio booted a 70-yard single. 

Hamilton quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, who replaced injured starter Dane Evans, early in the game, completed 20 of 25 passes for 185 yards, including TD tosses of 12 yards to receiver Steven Dunbar and 11 yards to receiver Brandon Banks, and the one game-ending pick. 

“Jeremiah had an unbelievable game,” Collaros said. 

Evans completed four of nine passes for 24 yards and one interception before leaving the game with what appeared to be a neck injury. 

Domagala, who converted both TDs, also had field goals of 13 and 10 yards. The Bombers also conceded a safety touch. 

Now, did anyone say ‘Three-peat’? 

By Jim Bender 

Not many teams can overcome six turnovers in a playoff game and still emerge victorious. 

Meet the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. While six giveaways would have deflated most teams, this is no ordinary outfit. The heavily-favoured Big Blue still managed to eke out a 21-17 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the CFL West Final before 31,160 shivering fans at IG Field on Sunday. 

The Bombers rode on the shoulders of running back Andrew Harris – a game-time decision to play due to a knee injury that kept him sidelined for about three weeks — to carry them to the come-from-behind triumph. 

Harris rushed for 136 yards, including a three-yard touchdown, on 23 carried. 

“I’ve been in this league for a long time and played a lot of snaps,” Harris said. “I know that it’s win-or-go-home in these situations. There’s a certain attitude, a certain stigma, a certain feeling that you get in playoff time. I never want to go home in these situations. I want to give it all that I have. That energy, that enthusiasm, that fire in your belly just elevates and your play kind of comes out after that. 

“It’s a team game. Our O-line was prepared today. No matter who was running the ball, we would have had success today. All five, or seven, guys that were in at O-line were amazing and it really starts with them. You just want to be there and make sure that you’re making the right cuts and keeping that energy up. They did great.” 

Despite five turnovers in the first half, the Bombers did not panic. 

“It means that we’re resilient and we’ve got thick skin,” Harris said. “There’s no quit in our team. We didn’t give up, we didn’t falter. We came in at halftime and really just looked around and said ‘Hey, what are we doing here, guys?’ We were just making small mistakes, little things. We definitely secured our emotions and came out in the second half with a different attitude.” 

It helped that they were only down 10-7 at the half. 

But did Harris give one of his emotional speeches to stir up his teammates? 

“I didn’t need to,” he said. “Everyone else knew what was going on. We had a player on the other team doing dirty shit at the end of the first half, poking guys in the eyes and everyone just said, ‘If that’s what they need to do to get under our skin, that’s all they’ve got.’ We didn’t really need to say much at halftime.” 

Riders receiver Duke Williams poked safety Brandon Alexander in the eye at the end of the half, Harris said. 

The Bombers will head to Hamilton to play the Tiger-Cats in the Grey Cup Game next Sunday. The Ticats had beaten the Toronto Argonauts 27-19 in the East Final. 

Winnipeg quarterback Zach Collaros completed an 11-yard TD toss to Rasheed Bailey and backup quarterback Sean Maguire scored on a one-yard sneak. Plackicker Sergio Castillo converted all three. 

Running back William Powell scored a one-yard touchdown and quarterback Cody Fajardo completed a 67-yard touchdown pass to Williams for Saskatchewan. Placekicker Brett Lauther converted both and kicked a 16-yard field goal. 

Collaros completed 17 of 21 passes for 229 yards and the one TD, with three interceptions. He seemed relieved that the Bombers overcame six turnovers. 

“It says that this is a special group, a group that is going to do whatever it takes to have each other’s backs,” he said. “It was unfortunate the way we started the game off, especially offensively. I feel like we could have had a pretty substantial lead there. Our defence kept us in it all night long, and our special teams. And we were able to come in at halftime and regroup a bit and understand that the plays are there to be made. Special group of people. I can’t say enough about those guys in there and I don’t think I’ve ever been in a locker room like this.” 

Fajardo completed 19 of 27 passes for 265 yards and the TD, with no picks, but was frustrated that the Bombers had beaten the Riders in a second straight West Final. 

“Tough one again,” he said. “Nobody thought we’d have a chance in this game and here we are with the ball with a chance to go down the field and win the game. So, I thought we played a really good game, just not enough.” 

That drive ended when Bombers defensive back Nick Taylor knocked down a Fajardo pass attempt on a third-and-four play in Winnipeg territory late in the game. 

‘KNUCKLES’ HONOURED 

CJOB’s popular Bob (Knuckles) Irving – The Voice of the Bombers – was honoured with an induction into the team’s Ring of Honour in a brief ceremony before the game. Congrats, Knuckles! 

By Jim Bender

Different time, different place. But same two heated rivals determined to get to the CFL’s Holy Grail once again. 

Just two years ago, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers rolled into Saskatchewan as the underdogs in the West Final and beat the Roughriders on their way to winning their first Grey Cup this century. 

Then the pandemic killed the 2020 season and their chance to defend their title. 

This Sunday, the Riders will roll into town to face the Bombers as the decided underdogs in the 2021 West Final. 

“They are going to be well-rested, but we have a chance to go in there and take it from them like they did to us (in 2019),” Saskatchewan quarterback Cody Fajardo told the Regina Leader-Post after the Roughriders edged the Calgary Stampeders 33-30 in overtime in the semifinal. “That’s going to be our motto going forward. 

“The guys are excited about the opportunity … It’s going to be intense, it’s going to be loud, it’s going to be a hostile environment because they have been the best team in the league for a reason.” 

Winnipeg quarterback Zach Collaros, the CFL West Most Outstanding Player, readily admitted that he was jacked up to play – and beat – his former team in 2019. 

“I don’t think those feelings will ever go away,” he said. “But it’s going to be an amazing atmosphere. And if you can’t get up for one of these games, then you shouldn’t be playing. 

“Everybody’s goal is to hold the Grey Cup up at the end. We’ll reflect on the regular season and the post-season when that time comes. But really focused on this week right now.” 

The reigning Grey Cup champs swept the Riders 2-0 in the regular season. 

“Obviously excited for the opportunity,” Collaros said. “Can’t wait to play in front of our fans. It was a long week, waiting around to see who we were going to play. Sask is a great football team. Defensively, they’re very good up front, they really get after the passer and on the back end, they have a lot of veteran players that do a great job with their schemes. It’s going to be a battle, for sure, like the first two were. Really excited to get to work this week and play the game.” 

The Bombers were closing in on a sellout early in the week. 

Most games are won in the trenches and four of Winnipeg’s five offensive linemen were named western all-stars. 

“Obviously, the continuity with those guys, their approach to the game, their ability to make adjustments, adapt, be on the same page (is important),” said offensive coordinator Buck Pierce. “The offensive line is a position group in football that five guys have to work together. You add a running back into the mix and now you get six guys working together on the same page. Those guys, credit to them, credit to (OL) coach, Marty Costello, putting those guys in good positions and letting those guys do what they do well.” 

Both the Winnipeg offence and defence have proven to be better than Saskatchewan’s this year, but Saskatchewan has the edge in special teams. The Bombers have struggled with placekicking and kick returning all season. 

“It’s one of three phases, and you go out to try and win your phase, especially on the kicking side,” said Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea. “On the special-teams side, you want to be the reason why your team wins and not the other way around. So, they’re good. Obviously, they’re well-coached, they’ve got good players and they play that phase hard, like the other phases they play, right? They don’t take that one for granted. I feel we do the same.” 

The Bombers defence, which is chock-full of all-stars has been the key to most of Winnipeg’s 11 victories this season and you can expect them to be dominant once again. 

“You know, we always want to try to seize the moment,” said defensive coordinator Richie Hall. “Seize the moment for us is Sunday, and go out there and play the way that we’re capable of playing. And hopefully, that’s good enough for us to play the next week and get a chance to, to win it all. But, up until then, up until now, we’ve done everything that we have set out to do and that’s put ourselves in a position where we can play until the middle of December. You know, it’s an honour to be in this position and enjoy the moment.”