This is the report on the Bombers first preseason game of 2010. The new look team looked really good in hammering Montreal. It was featured on the Bombers website.
After years of struggling to find a consistent quarterback, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers suddenly look to have a few good ones on their hands. The Bomber offense moved the ball like a well-oiled machine as they got the Paul LaPolice era off to a great start with a convincing 34-10 win over the Montreal Alouettes on Sunday afternoon at Canad Inns Stadium.
Buck Pierce was very impressive in his Blue Bombers debut, leading the home team to touchdowns on each of their opening two drives. The first was a marathon 11 play 104-yard march culminating in a four-yard run by Fred Reid. Pierce capped off the second possession with a 26-yard toss to speedster Brock Ralph in the corner of the endzone. The former Lion was 6 for 10 for 105 yards in just over a quarter of action but perhaps the real story was what he did with his legs. Pierce showed no fear in pulling the ball down and running, including one 21-yard scamper where he refused to slide despite his well documented concussion problems. The move will surely do no harm in endearing him to Bomber fans desperate for a quarterback to get behind.
Steven Jyles took over for Pierce at the start of the second quarter with a tough act to follow but promptly lead the Bombers on a 68-yard scoring drive capped off by a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Daryl Stephenson. The Bombers should have had another score when Jyles’ perfect pass hit Bowman in the end zone only to have the ball slide through his hands and fall incomplete to end another good possession.
Even Adam DiMichele got in on the act as he lead the Bombers on an 82-yard drive capped off by Emmanuel Marc’s short run. Marc had 49 total yards on the drive and was the real star of the second half for the Bombers after entering in replace of Reid. He had 8 rushes for 46 yards and two catches for 38.
Alexis Serna completed the near perfect day for the Bombers scoring-wise by making both of his field goal attempts including a 48 yarder to cap things off in the fourth quarter.
While the offense was the big story, the Bomber defense played their part as well, holding the Alouettes to just 98 yards of total offense in the first half and 222 for the game. Bernard Hicks lead the way with five tackles, while defensive end Phillip Hunt had three tackles and added a sack. The Alouettes did get a decent performance from former Florida Gators pivot Chris Leak as he competes with Adrian McPherson for the backup job in Montreal. Leak played all of the final three quarters, threw for 181 yards and was one of the few bright spots for an Als team who struggled on both sides of the ball for much of the game in the absence of many key veterans, most notably quarterback Anthony Calvillo.
Despite their struggles, the defending champion Alouettes will likely not put too much stock into the loss and feel confident they can get back on track once their starters re-enter the fold.
Meanwhile, the Bombers and new coach LaPolice can take many positives from a game where they looked better on both sides of the ball than they had at many times throughout last season and appear to have moved towards solving their well-documented quarterbacking issues.
The two teams meet again on August 19th, this time at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium in Montreal and with real points on the line.
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