THE CANADIAN PRESS
By: Chris Ribau
The road to the playoffs winds through the Blue Bombers as the Black and Gold looked to gain ground in the east Friday night.
The Bombers QB Kevin Glenn came out throwing right away, challenging the Ticat secondary. With RB Jesse Lumsden out, the Cats also took to the air early. QB Casey Printers connected with WR Scott Mitchell, for Michell’s first career touchdown, something the receiver was happy to have finally caught.
On a broken play late in the second quarter, Printers escaped Bombers defenders who had his ankles locked up, but not without coming away with a slight limp. In the second half, he was forced to watch from the sidelines.
QB Quinton Porter got his chance to lead the Tabbies offence as they took the field after halftime. Porter immediately led the Black and Gold down the field capping off the drive with RB Terry Caulley slashing 7 yards through Winnipeg defenders for 6 points. Porter looked poised in the pocket throughout the drive.
“Quinton can be a very good quarterback in this league”, said Interim coach Marcel Bellefeuille.
The offensive-minded Bellefeuille brought some creativity to the game, assisted by veteran special teams coach Dave Easley, with a fake punt early in the second quarter. K/P Nick Setta completed a twelve-yard pass to WR Chad Rempel that set up the Ticats first scoring drive of the game.
Flipping back and forther between a 4-3 and a 3-4, the Ticats defense did their part to slow the Bombers attack. The Ticat pass rush seemed a little more lethal with newly acquired DE Alain Kashama, who had a sack in his first game in TigerTown.
Speedy linebackers Markeith Knowlton, Cornelius Anthony and Ray Mariuz flourished used their speed to plug holes and defuse the Bomber running game, finishing with eight, six and six tackles, respectively.
At times the Ticats showed flashes of greatness. DB Chris Thompson intercepted a pass in the endzone, robbing the Bombers of a quick strike and increasing his team lead in picks. Early in the fourth quarter the Black and Gold stood tough on their one-yard line, shutting down the Bombers on third down, but those big plays weren’t enough to sway the game in the end.
“We came out on fire, got flat in the second, than we played hard the rest of the game”, said coach Bellefeuille.
With six games remaining against contending teams, it would be easy to count the Black and Gold out of the race for a playoff spot.
“We’re going keep fighting and battling. This is a crazy league, we can still get in the playoffs, anything can happen”, said coach Bellefeuille.
