Shocking win for Bombers

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers had to play four of their best quarters of football to even stand a chance.

There was no denying it, because with the powerhouse Montreal Alouettes in town, everyone knew it was going to take that — and then some — to slay the CFL’s top team.

Recent weeks suggested the Bombers weren’t capable of such a performance, but they dug deep at the perfect time and silenced a never-ending list of doubters to prevail 44-28 on Friday night at Princess Auto Stadium.

Where the heck have these Bombers been all year?

“Shit, I don’t know,” said left tackle Stanley Bryant. “We were here tonight, and it was good to see it. It felt good, too.

“This is a great win, man. I think everybody played well, everybody did their job. We had a few mistakes, but that’s part of the game and we played a good enough game to win.”

Thanks to their effort, the Bombers improved to 6-5 and now head into their annual back-to-back with the Saskatchewan Roughriders with a massive confidence booster. The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak for Montreal, who are now 9-2.

The Als could’ve clinched a playoff berth with a win.

“It’s confidence (building), it’s knowing we have that in us, and the marker of greatness is doing that consistently,” said right guard Patrick Neufeld.

“So, we gotta have another great week of practice, watch the Sask game, and get ready for the best two games in the regular season in the CFL.”

The Bombers came ready to play with 24 points through the opening two quarters — the most they’ve had in the first half all season. They came out firing with a nine-play touchdown drive — that started with a 35-yard pass interference penalty on the Als — that was capped off with a one-yard plunge by short yardage QB Bryce Perkins. They also got a rushing score from running back Brady Oliveira, and quarterback Zach Collaros hit receiver Ontaria Wilson for another.

And yet, they only had a narrow 24-21 lead to show for it. For every haymaker thrown by the Bombers in the opening 30 minutes of action, the visitors kept finding ways to respond almost immediately.

Montreal’s third touchdown will live on in highlight reels as receiver Tyler Snead survived three attempted tackles to hit paydirt.

Despite being ahead on the scoreboard, the Bombers went into the break on a downer. With less than a minute remaining in the second, Bombers receiver Tommy Nield was drilled by Als defensive back Nate Beauchemin a hair before the goal line. The ball popped loose, and the Als recovered to stomp out the scoring threat.

Even though Bomberland had a lot to celebrate early on, the club still had to prove they could finish strong — especially considering what happened last week.

The Winnipeg team that was held to a pathetic 19 yards of net offence in the second half in Edmonton was nowhere to be found.

Instead, they turned it up a notch and it started with special teams ace Tanner Cadwallader having arguably the finest moment in his six-year career early in the third. The Wilfrid Laurier product burst through the line and blocked a punt deep in Montreal’s end to give the Bombers the ball at the one-yard line, which set up another score by Perkins to go up 31-21.

The craziness continued with the Als turning the ball over on their next possession on what was one of the wackiest plays of the season.

Quarterback Davis Alexander — who was shaken up on the play but later returned — attempted to flick a pass to avoid a sack by defensive tackle Michael Fletcher. The ball turned into a hot potato, exchanging hands on players on both sides, until Bombers linebacker Tony Jones finally secured it.

Leading 34-21 at the beginning of the fourth, the Bombers were in position to put the game away Neufeld was flagged 15 yards for unnecessary roughness for the second time on the night. This one, however, proved more costly as it forced Winnipeg to settle for a 20-yard field goal.

No lead is safe in the CFL, especially against a Montreal offence that was averaging 36.7 points per game heading into the week, but the Bombers managed to ease the tension of the 32,323 fans in attendance with Collaros hitting Wilson for an 11-yard score with 5:28 remaining to increase the advantage to 44-21.

Collaros completed 26 of 32 passes for 324 yards and two touchdowns. Oliveira added 16 carries for 106 yards. Wilson, who had 35 yards in the previous two games, was the go-to target with nine grabs for 114 yards.

Collaros and Co. were sharp and efficient, en route to setting a new season-high in points.

“We needed that, man. We put finally our most complete game of the year (out there),” said Oliveira.

“We learned from our mistakes last week and probably throughout this entire season. I think we’ve been close, we just haven’t put a full (game together) offensively.

“Offensively, I think we finally held our end of the standard up.”

Alexander, who connected on 20 of 31 attempts for 257 yards and four touchdowns, is now 20-2 as a starter. Montreal running back Travis Theis was held to 31 rushing yards on eight touches. Snead scored three TDs and caught six passes for 107 yards.

The Bombers have won 13 out of their last 16 regular-season meetings with the Als.

The Bombers and Riders will clash on Sunday in Regina for the Labour Day Classic.

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