Bob Irving
CFL.ca
WINNIPEG — The Winnipeg Blue Bombers began their 2010 CFL pre-season schedule with a performance as illuminating as the sunny day that greeted the Bombers and Montreal Alouettes on June 13th at Canad-Inns stadium.
Nearly 29,000 fans were on hand to watch the debut of the talent assembled by the new Bomber regime headed by Vice President and General Manager of football operations, Joe Mack and head coach Paul LaPolice. To say the fans were impressed would probably be an understatement.
Coming off a 7-11 season which featured an archaic and confused offensive approach, the Bombers rolled up 26 first downs and 425 yards of offence in defeating the Alouettes 34-10. LaPolice was quick to point out that it was only a pre-season game, the Alouettes left most of their star players at home, and as a result, we shouldn’t read too much into the final result.
But, it was hard to ignore some of the outstanding individual performances turned in by the players in Blue and Gold.
Leading the way was quarterback Buck Pierce, whose prescence has buoyed the hopes of Bomber fans in a way that no quarterback has since Khari Jones was lighting up the league in 2001 and 2002. Pierce only played a quarter, but he completed 6 of 10 passes for 105 yards and led the Bombers on two long touchdown drives.
The former B.C. Lion demonstrated an accurate passing touch, and the kind of leadership intangibles that all teams need from the quarterback position. The other three Bomber quarterbacks also got playing time, with Adam DiMichele the most impressive as he completed 5 of 7 passes for 91 yards.
Right now, it appears as though Pierce has nailed down the starters job with Steve Jyles as his backup.
Also impressive against the Alouettes was rookie reciever Terrence Jeffers-Harris, a 21-year old from the U. of Connecticut and Vanderbilt, who was signed by the Bombers after sitting out last season when he was declared academically ineligible. Jeffers-Harris caught three passes for 54 yards with close to half of those yards gained after the catch.
Defensively, the Bombers got outstanding performances from defensive ends O’Dell Willis and Phillip Hunt, both of whom joined the club during the second half of the 2009 season. Willis and Hunt have tremendous quickness and speed, and they are going to give opposition offensive tackles headaches all season long.
Rookie linebacker Marcellus Bowman from Boston College made an impact with 4 defensive tackles and 2 special teams tackles.
A pair of young Canadian linebackers, Thaine Carter and Chris Smith, were also outstanding on special teams. Both Carter and Smith have a very good chance of cracking the Bomber lineup.
One negative note for the Bombers saw veteran import offensive tackle Glen January go down with a shoulder injury. The final diagnosis isn’t in yet, but January is expected to be sidelined for some time.
All things considered, and even though Montreal played mostly newcomers and rookies, it was a very positive beginning for the Mack-Lapolice era.
