Bombers shine in front of capacity crowd at IG Field

WINNIPEG — It was the biggest crowd that Canada has seen since the world came to a stop almost 17 months ago.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers knew what they had to do. They gave their fans — all 29,376 of them — a show that was worth that long wait. The Bombers brought the CFL out of its 20-month absence with their 19-6 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and even if it was for just a few hours, the fans at IG Field doled out some normalcy in times that have been sorely absent of them.

“I said the same thing to the guys: It’s been a long time coming. A little Tragically Hip quote,” Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea said.

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“It was awesome to see the fans. I think it’s important that we recognize that the provincial government allowed us to have the biggest crowd in Canada thus far during…hopefully at the end of the pandemic. Then the fans did show up like crazy, like they do. They were loud and it’s pretty special.

“I think it was a real treat to know how much that the citizens of Manitoba care about about the Bombers.”

Those fans were reminded of why their team was able to raise its Grey Cup banner before kickoff, with the present-day group channeling the best features of its 2019 self. Zach Collaros made 18-28 passes for 217 yards and two touchdowns, both to receiver Kenny Lawler. In the absence of Grey Cup MVP and Outstanding Canadian Andrew Harris, Winnipeg native Brady Oliveira turned 22 carries into a career-best 126 yards, providing the perfect balance needed for the offence.

“I lived out a childhood dream,” Oliveira said.

“I used to come to games here when I was a kid and sit in the stands. Now that I’m able to actually experience it and go out there and soak it all in…I had so much fun out there. It was truly amazing, a game I’ll remember for the rest of my life. This is just the beginning right now.”

Defensively, the Bombers recovered after allowing a Ticats’ touchdown on their first drive — no easy feat in your first on-field action in going on two years — and slowly put the clamps on Jeremiah Masoli and the Hamilton offence. They didn’t score another point the rest of the night. The result sat well with the Bombers, who have seen all of the pre-season polling that’s showered the Ticats with love.

“Keep doubting us,” defensive end Willie Jefferson said, after pulling in one of the two interceptions that Masoli threw on the night.

“We’ve been underdogs since 2019. We love the fight. We love being the underdog, we love coming out on top. We’re going to keep doing that, keep clawing, keep fighting, keeping our process the way it’s been. We’ll keep working hard. If the league wants to continue to doubt us, whoever wants to doubt us, they keep going. It doesn’t matter to us. We play for us.”

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