With over 30,000 football fans in the stands at Investors Group Field Friday night for the home opener, it was unfortunate that the Winnipeg Blue Bombers didn't give the home crowd much to cheer about.

The Calgary Stampeders scored 20 unanswered second half points and defeated the Blue Bombers 29-10.

Winnipeg quarterback Matt Nichols threw two inopportune interceptions.

Safety Josh Bell picked off Nichols in the Calgary end zone after the Blue Bombers had moved the ball all they way down to the Stampeders 12 yard line with six minutes left in the first quarter.

The second was a pick-six by linebacker Maleki Harris in the third quarter which extended Calgary's lead to 19-10.

“I made two bad decisions that ultimately cost us big time,” said Nichols. “One took points off the board which is something I didn't do once last year, was throw a red-zone interception. It was a bad throw on that one. The other one, I thought I saw something differently than what actually happened and gave them seven. Fans deserve better, my teammates deserve better and I'll be better.”

Nichols did throw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Julian Feoli-Gudino.

Justin Medlock followed with a 24-yard field goal late in the second quarter which gave the Blue Bombers a 10-9 lead at halftime.

The next two quarters belonged to Calgary.

Winnipeg's Andrew Harris, who ran the ball 10 times for 38 yards and caught eight passes for 69 yards, said the Stampeders were good but the Bombers didn't help their own cause.

“Turnovers and missed assignments. Everyone was taking turns. I missed a block early on in the first drive and got Matt hit. Everyone kind of made their mistakes tonight and when that happens it compiles and you end up with a loss.”

Calgary quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell completed 22-of-34 passes for 332 yards and one touchdown.

Blue Bombers defensive back TJ Heath picked off Mitchell twice Friday night.

“I do think they made a change and we tried to adjust to it as best we could on the fly,” said Heath. “It wasn't what they did – it was more so us and we just got to get that cleaned up.”

That clean up will start on Monday when the Bombers return to work after a two-day break.

Winnipeg's next game is Thursday, July 13th at home against the Toronto Argonauts.


photos by Merle Peters