Windipeg Clinches West With Craziest Ending I’ve Ever Seen

In the words of the announcers, “The football gods just smiled at the Winnipeg Blue Bombers” and “It’s official Marshall, God is a Bombers fan!”

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are officially God’s favorite football team as very possibly their season was saved by the wind in a huge way.

With well under a minute of the game left, Joseph Zema was set to punt the ball away to Winnipeg with a small amount of wind helping the kick. But suddenly the wind picked up. Now going against the kick, making the punt go just 21 yards and out of bounds on the Montreal 44. Montreal had gotten the ball after Sergio Castillo’s 61 yard field goal was stopped by the wind. But Oliveria got the ball for a two yard run before Castillo was sent back out onto the field. He got his revenge and won the game for the Bombers from 51 yards out, clinching the West and giving Winnipeg a playoff bye and home field advantage.

Winnipeg striked first with a 25 yard field goal by Castillo after he had already missed a kick, but Jose Carlos Maltos tied the game at three later in the quarter with a 45 yard kick for the Als.

Sergio Castillo continued to be himself with a 47 yarder to take the lead back, But Montreal responded with one of the best drives by any team this season. Sean Thomas Erlington started it off with a 30 yard run before Cody Fajardo hit Kaion Julien-Grant for 26 yards. The drive ended with Charleston Rambo’s 5 touchdowns of the season, and the Alouettes 10-6 lead. Sergio struck again late in the half with a 53-yard field goal, but Winnipeg had yet to score any touchdowns. Tyrice Beverette sacked Collaros to force a punt to put the ball back in Fajardo’s hand for one last drive before the half that ended with another field goal, this one from 35 yards out.

After the half the Alouettes came out with a bang with a 47-yard pass to Cole Spieker and ended up scoring on a 3-yard TD from Walter Fletcher. Winnipeg  put together another decent drive, but they were stopped at the 10 and again Castillo had to put the ball through the posts, this time from 15 yards to make it 20-12. Winnipeg’s defence got the 2 and out to get the ball back to the offence which saw a 72 yard catch by Kenny Lawler and concluded with a 9 yard catch to Nic Demski. Castillo hit the extra point, making it a one point game.

Davis Alexander came in to replace Fajardo and started off strong with a 39-yard pass to Tyjon Lindsey for 39 yards before he ran it in himself to extend the lead to 8. Lucky Whitehead finally broke one out on a 54 yard punt return to the Montreal 18. A 16-yard catch by Keric Wheatfall set up a Terry Wilson rushing touchdown perfectly. But, Winnipeg’s attempt to tie it at 27 failed as Collaros’ pass was knocked down by Dionte Ruffin.

The Bombers got the ball back trailing by 2 and enough time to make a comeback with about 2 minutes left. But Winnipeg got stopped at the 53 of Montreal on 2nd and 10, and had the faith in Casstillo who has hit from 60 twice already this season.  This kick, from 61 yards, started up the middle before the wind took the ball just to the left of the posts. The game seemed over for Winnipeg, but after their defence got a 2 and out, there was a small amount of hope. This is when the football gods stepped in. The wind started blowing like crazy, an estimated 60-80 kilometers per hour stopped the punt in its tracks causing it to roll out of bounds at the 44 and the rest is history.

Zach Collaros ended with 331 passing yards and a touchdown on 24 completions. Kenny Lawler led the Bombers with 105 yards on 4 catches. Nic Demski had 90 yards and a touchdown, and Ontaria Wilson had 83 receiving yards. Sergio Castillo was 5/7 on field goals, but one of the misses was from 61 with wind pushing it left. Luck Whitehead had a great day with 104 punt return yards and 62 kickoff return yards.

For Montreal Cody Fajardo was 16/20 with 171 yards and a touchdown, and Davis Alexander was 7/9 with 100 yards. Walter Fletcher ran for 53 yards and a touchdown, and Davis Alexander also ran for a TD. Cole Spieker had 71 yards on 3 catches. Tyer Snead had 60 yards on 8 catches as well. Jose Carlos Maltos was 2/2 on field goals and 3/3 on PATs.

After the game, coach Mike O’Shea said, “We’ve done it a bunch of different, the statistics will say that it is important, but if we didn’t get this win, I would’ve said it was unimportant. I don’t think we’re going to put too much stock into it. It just gives us some time to get healthier and keep working.”