‘It’s easy to believe in our guys’: O’Shea confident in defence after Western Final win
REGINA – The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are one step away from ending the longest Grey Cup drought after coming out on top against the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Western Final on Sunday. Led by a balanced effort that saw both the offence and defence make instrumental plays throughout the game, the Bombers played their best football when it mattered most.
The West Division Champions will go up against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the 107th Grey Cup presented by Shaw and attempt to win their first championship since 1990.
The Bombers’ stout defence finished with three sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery against the Riders. But it was their late goal line stand with just over two minutes remaining that made the biggest difference in the 20-13 road victory.
“Look at that finish,” head coach Mike O’Shea said after the win. “That game was wild at the end, so I enjoyed every minute of that. It’s easy to believe in our guys. We’re going to find a way to get it done.”
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Saskatchewan kept the game alive and threatened to tie it up in the final minutes, but Winnipeg’s defensive front stood tall at the goal line and helped seal the victory. The Riders had three opportunities to score a touchdown, but the Bombers’ defensive front refused to surrender the rushing touchdown.
“They’re determined, “O’Shea said of his defence. “We’ve been pretty stellar against the run all season, and guys are committed to focusing on doing their job.”
Winnipeg’s defence made a huge impact by forcing three turnovers, including an interception from Winston Rose that he returned 62 yards to set up a field goal late in the third quarter. Rose has been one of the best defensive backs in the league this year with nine interceptions during the regular reason.
“Hats off to the defence, they were just amazing all night,” Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros said. “With those goal line stops, can’t say enough about that.”
But one of the biggest tackles of the game came on special teams when linebacker Shayne Gauthier made a touchdown-saving tackle on Nick Marshall with under five minutes remaining. The Riders used trickery on a punt return and Marshall returned the ball 58 yards before Gauthier somehow managed to bring him down.
“You want to talk about any particular play in this game, talk about number 44 Shayne Gauthier running down a returner who’s got a lead on him and securing a tackle and preventing a score,” O’Shea said. “That’s as big a play as you’ll ever see.”
Like their Grey Cup opponent, the Bombers also had to overcome the loss of a starting quarterback due to injury this season.
A season-ending injury to veteran Matt Nichols during a Week 10 win over the Lions left Chris Streveler as the starter. Streveler suffered an ankle injury against Calgary in Week 19, but the late-season addition of Collaros in a trade from Toronto proved to be invaluable from that moment forward.
Collaros began the season with the Riders, but on Sunday he helped end their season by passing for 267 yards and a touchdown while completing nearly 70 per cent of his throws. Many of those yards came on aggressive plays down the field, including a 63-yard pass to Darvin Adams that set up the Riders’ first touchdown two plays later.
The Bombers will face a tough test against the Ticats in the final game of the 2019 season. O’Shea said his team will need to focus solely on the game while avoiding any distractions.
“Hamilton’s a very good football team, so we have to make sure we stick to our process, our preparation and try to avoid all the noise that the Grey Cup brings,” O’Shea said.
