November 4, 2017

Harris: ‘We responded in a big way’

The Canadian Press

CALGARY — Andrew Harris said all week that his team needed to respond. And in the snow, on the road and against the best team in the CFL, the Bombers’ star running back got the response he was looking for.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers were the bullies on Friday night in Calgary, forcing seven turnovers and winning a 7-0 edge in sacks to defeat the league-leading Stampeders 23-5.

The victory finished the Bombers’ regular season at 12-6, helping them clinch their first home playoff game since 2011.

“I said this week that we need to respond, and we responded in a big way,” Harris told CFL.ca from the visitor’s locker-room at a snow-covered McMahon Stadium. “It was huge for us. We responded in a big way and I’m proud of them.”

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The Bombers applied constant pressure against the Stamps’ quarterbacks on Friday (The Canadian Press)

The result has to be a sigh of relief for Head Coach Mike O’Shea, whose team will host either the Eskimos or Roughriders in the Western Semi-Final on Nov. 12.

After allowing more than 1,000 yards of offence over a two-game stretch, O’Shea and Defensive Coordinator Richie Hall’s defence gave little or nothing all night against the Red and White.

In addition to the sacks and turnovers, the Bombers allowed only 158 net yards, eventually forcing first-time starting quarterback Andrew Buckley out of the game.

“They really got after it,” said the Bombers’ head coach. “I thought the front played extremely well. The D-line was getting after it. They did a great job against the run and were very stout.

“We fixed a few things from the previous couple of weeks,” he added. “They seemed to play a lot lower, they played a lot more with their pads. It’s good for them to do that.”

Not lost in the victory was the play of Harris, whose status was initially unknown after leaving last week’s loss with an injury. But Harris practised all week and got the start on Friday, rushing for 68 yards on eight carries in addition to five catches for 28 yards.

Harris hit a few milestones in the win, starting with a new single-season record for receptions by a running back (previously held by Craig Ellis, who had 102 receptions with the Riders in 1985). He also crossed the 1,000-yard rushing plateau for the third time in his career, at the same time moving into first in the league in rushing yards.

Drake Nevis celebrates after one of seven Bombers sacks Friday night in Calgary (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)

Unless BC Lions running back Jeremiah Johnson rushes for at least 149 yards, Harris will win the rushing title in 2017.

Not one of those milestones is lost on the veteran back, yet for Harris, the most important thing was locking up a home playoff game.

“For me, it’s a great accomplishment, ultimately though the home field was big for us,” said Harris. “We got that tonight. The biggest thing was we responded. We played well in rough conditions and I thought our defence played great, the special teams were great, the offence — we got first downs when we needed to and in the running game we controlled the line of scrimmage which was great.”

A win in the Western Semi and the Bombers will play Calgary once again, in the exact same place as Friday night’s victory. Only next time, it’ll be for a trip to the Grey Cup.

For now, the Bombers at least have momentum. O’Shea might even reluctantly agree.

“I’ve never been one to say momentum can carry from one game to the next,” said O’Shea. “I think maybe it’s just a different word, but I do believe there were a lot of positive things to come out of this game.

“Momentum . . . it’ll be a different opponent, a different prep week and they’ll move on very quickly after tonight. But it was important that we won this game,” he continued. “It was.

“I think there’s going to be some real positive job satisfaction out of tonight’s win.”

Momentum or not, there’s a profound difference between going into the playoffs on a three-game losing streak and going into the playoffs off a character win.

“This game is so based on emotion and momentum and having that confidence, I think tonight we definitely instilled a lot of confidence in the group,” said Harris. “We instilled that momentum.

“Home field advantage, a big win in the cold, tough game to play in against one of the best teams in the league, that’s positive for us.”