Winnipeg locks in home playoff game after smashing Ticats in Hamilton

Clear your November calendars, Bomber Nation, and circle the 2nd and the 9th in particular, because the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ remarkable romp right through the Canadian Football League over the last two months means playoff football is coming back to Princess Auto Stadium.

Again.

The Blue Bombers cranked out their eighth straight victory Friday night here in Steeltown with a 31-10 mauling of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in front of 22,241 at Tim Hortons Field, and in the process locked up at least second in the West Division with their 10-6 record.

A loss or tie by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in their final three games would clinch first in the West Division for the Blue Bombers.

The Western Semi-Final, FYI, goes November 2nd with the Western Final a week later on the 9th.

Winnipeg Foorball Club

“There’s more work to be done,” said head coach Mike O’Shea when asked if the eight-game win streak means his team has ‘arrived.’ “This is extremely pleasing, obviously, but we’ll never arrive and just keep working at it.

“… Hamilton had some opportunities and it didn’t quite go their way and we certainly capitalized on ours. And in the second half I thought everybody had an understanding of what had to be done and they went out there and did it.”

More on the Blue Bombers tenth win of the season from our view in the press box…

THE ‘O’ TRAIN AND ‘BULLY BALL’:

They call it ‘Bully Ball’ and while it’s a description that might lack in political correctness it absolutely, positively fits what the Blue Bombers often do to teams when they are trying to squeeze the life out of an opponent.

Leading 17-10 at halftime, the Bombers leaned heavily on Brady Oliveira and the ground game in the final 30 minutes as the club’s workhorse rushed 24 times for a season-high 147 yards and a touchdown, adding one reception for 15 yards.

THAT’S TOO EASY FOR BRADY#ForTheW pic.twitter.com/8eDxmsMlCX

— x – Winnipeg Blue Bombers (@Wpg_BlueBombers) October 5, 2024

He had 10 carries for 55 yards at the intermission and then pounded 14 more carries for 92 yards in the second half. Even more impressive, the Ticats had no answer for the ground game when everyone in the building knew the Blue Bombers were going to ground and pound.

“We’ve always got that, man,” said Oliveira, who upped his league-leading rushing total to 1,254 yards. “We’ve always got that in our back pocket. That’s the identity of this team.

“But it’s whatever it takes. Whatever it takes week in and week out to keep stacking good performances after good performances and keep getting wins. You look at last week and everyone was a part of it, it was a great performance. Six passing touchdowns from Zach (Collaros). Now you look at this week with our struggles playing here and we come out with a great win.

“It was going to be on our backs and we kinda knew that as the week went on that it was going to be on our offensive line and myself to keep playing our style and play our bully ball. And that’s us, man.”

Winnipeg Foorball Club

ADAPT AND IMPROVISE:

The Blue Bombers delivered their hits and took some, too, with linebacker Michael Ayers, receiver Pokey Wilson and safety Brandon Alexander all forced to leave the game at halftime and then others getting nicked up in the second half including defensive tackle Jamal Woods and defensive back Michael Griffin II.

That led to some serious juggling, with Lucky Whitehead filling in for Wilson and then Jake Kelly, Nick Hallett, Shayne Gauthier and a host of others stepping up on defence.

And despite the procession to the infirmary, the Blue Bombers defence not only shut out the Ticats in the second half, but forced three turnovers, too.

“They’re really locked in and have a good understanding,” said O’Shea. “But it’s a lot of hustle by the defensive staff, JY (Jordan Younger, defensive coordinator) in particular to be ahead of it. You could hear him in the headset talking out loud how he was going to go through stuff. And the instructions on the sidelines and the preparedness of the players to jump in and their willingness to do whatever – they weren’t phased by it – says a lot about the way we practice.

“I really think they’re understanding of what they had to do, what they had to change and how they had to compete was awesome.”

FIRSTS X2:

The Blue Bombers offensive touchdowns came from Oliveira, but also on a Collaros-to-Kevens Clercius score and two QB sneaks by Terry Wilson. For Clercius and Wilson, it marked their first CFL touchdowns.

KEVENS CLERCIUS GETS HIS FIRST#ForTheW pic.twitter.com/6OXj4645Aq

— x – Winnipeg Blue Bombers (@Wpg_BlueBombers) October 4, 2024

“I was so excited, I forgot to keep the ball,” said Clercius with a huge grin. “I don’t know what happened to it. Now I wish I had kept it but as long as we win the game, I’m OK with it.”

Worth noting: over the last two games, the Blue Bombers attack has 10 touchdowns and 919 yards of net offence.

KEY MOMENT

Oliveira’s TD with just over a minute left in the third quarter pushed the Blue Bombers up by two touchdowns at 24-10 and capped a nine-play, 72-yard drive that chewed up over six minutes of clock.

That drive was Bully Ball at its best with seven runs – six by Oliveira, the seventh by Wilson for four yards to convert a second and two – and allowed the attack to squeeze the life out of the Tabbies.

KEY STAT: 199

Yards rushing for the Blue Bombers Friday night, the second-highest total of the season after a 212-yard ground effort against Ottawa back on July 5th. Winnipeg finished with 393 yards net offence.

NEXT

The Blue Bombers are back at Princess Auto Stadium on Friday, October 11th against the Toronto Argonauts in what will be the last regular season home game of the year. The scheduled start is 7:30 p.m.

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This story originally appeared at bluebombers.com and is republished here with permission.