It's the most important tackle of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers season – so far.

The B.C. Lions trailed by four points and were third-and-one from the Winnipeg five-yard line.

One yard away from a new set of downs and three chances to find the Bombers end zone and take the lead.

And the clock had ticked down to inside a minute.

The call was fly sweep right to running back Chris Rainey who late in the second quarter, on the identical third-and-one, went untouched 56 yards for a touchdown.

“They did a run on us on the exact same play - just a miscommunication, the reason why they scored on it and we made the adjustment,” said Winnipeg linebacker Maurice Leggett who cut down Rainey for a one-yard loss. “They tried to double team me and I just did a spin move and tripped him up.”

The Blue Bombers took over on downs, gave up a safety and held on for a 37-35 victory over the Lions Saturday at Investors Group Field snapping a two-game losing skid.

Leggett, who left the game 80 seconds into the second half with a knee injury and was not expected back on the field – did come back with 2:02 left and the Lions first-and-10 from their own 28 yard line.

Six plays later B.C. was third-and-one from the Winnipeg five.

Blue Bombers head coach Mike O'Shea had high praise for Leggett and his game-saving tackle.

“Coming off the block, spinning off the block and throwing himself into the path of Rainey, stopping him short on third-and-short – gosh, that's an unbelievable football play. I'm so proud of him.”

The Bombers scored touchdowns on their first three possessions Saturday afternoon.

Matt Nichols tossed a seven yard touchdown pass to Andrew Harris who returned to the lineup after missing three games with an ankle injury.

Rory Kohlert took a pitch from Harris and threw a four-yard pass to Nichols for a major and Timothy Flanders had a 16-yard touchdown run.

“It was a battle,” said Harris who carried the ball 12 times for 66 yards. “We knew it was going to be a 12-round bout. They're a team that puts a lot of points up. The game plan was to keep their offense off the field and we struggled with that. We had a couple of two-and-outs but at the end of the day it's been the M.O. of this team, in the last little bit here, of the fight we have and no quit.”

B.C. scored 17 points within a five-and-a-half minute span late in the second quarter to get within four at halftime.

The Lions took their first lead of the game when backup quarterback Travis Lulay ran in from one-yard out with 2:17 left in the third quarter.

After Justin Medlock and Richie Leone exchanged field goals, Nichols gave the Bombers the lead for good with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Clarence Denmark midway through the fourth quarter.

“I'm still trying to come down off the roller coaster ride just like everyone else,” said Nichols. “This is about as close as you get as a complete team win. When we needed a special teams play, they made it. When we needed a defensive play, they made it and when we needed an offensive play, we made it. I can't say enough about this team. We've been on the wrong side of a couple of these the last couple of weeks and to be able to dig down and make the plays when we needed to was just huge for this team.”

The Blue Bombers (9-6) moved into a tie with the Lions (9-5) for second place in the CFL West as both teams have 18 points but B.C. has a game in hand.

The rematch goes Friday, October 14th at B.C. Place Stadium.

Winnipeg will clinch a playoff spot on Thanksgiving Monday if the Montreal Alouettes lose to the Edmonton Eskimos and the Toronto Argonauts fall to the Calgary Stampeders.


photos courtesy Merle Peters