Dave Ritchie’s going to be fine now, the Bombers are back to winning, the fans will be back to smiling and the media will find feel good stories to dwell on. It took a bit of time to get untracked and more than a few miscues by the Ottawa Renegades, but by the end of first half of TSN’s Friday Night Football double header, the Bombers had left the message that they are back in the hunt for the Grey Cup.
The Renegades suffered their first loss at home in seven games as Winnipeg took charge of the night and ran up an impressive 29-1 victory at Frank Clair Stadium. The Blue were spurred on by Keith Stokes electrifying 81 yard punt return for a touchdown, it would prove to be the play that sent the Bombers on the way to racking up their point totals.
The Renegades suffered turnovers, fumbles and broken plays as they frequently turned the ball over just before gaining some points. Hard Hits by the Winnipeg defence took its toll on the Rens offense, Pat Woodcock had his bell rung early in the game in a crushing hit, it was followed by an injury to Kerry Joseph during the last play of the first half when Tom Canada sacked the Rens QB sending him to the dressing room with a suspected sprained leg.
Back up Quarterbacks took over in the second half, Winnipeg sending Kevin Glenn into the game to kick start the Bombers offence after Khari Jones could only manage one TD pass in the first half. Sending Glenn into battle proved to be a stroke of genius for Dave Ritchie, as he guided the Bombers to 21 points in the final quarter of the game, sending the Renegade fans to the exits early on a Friday night.
Rens back up Darnell Kennedy took over from the injured Joseph to start the second half, but had little to no effect. The Renegade offensive line didn’t give him enough time to set up properly and when he did have the time, passes were tossed short or dropped. Penalties played their part as well, as the frustrated Renegades lost field position and points due to selfish and ill considered actions. With Ottawa suffering its second shellacking in a week Joe Paopao has his work cut out for him to get things right quickly. Much will depend on the status of Joseph who will be checked out by team doctors on Saturday to determine the extent of his injury.
Things don’t get any easier for the Rens; the next game is on Wednesday against the revitalized Toronto Argonauts, a game which could send one or the other team into second place in the East. More importantly for Ottawa it will be a chance to get the offence moving, something that hasn’t been happening in the last two games. The Rens will be desperate to stem the slide having started the season 3 and 0; they now have lost their last two games by decisive margins. The Renegades have given up 75 points in seven days, gaining only 23 of their own, suddenly the team that scored with ease can't find the end zone.
Over in Winnipeg the last two weeks have been very good and the Blue now find themselves temporarily leading the Western division. With an injury riddled and under performing BC Lions team coming to town on Thursday, the Big Blue can go a long way towards putting some distance between themselves and their conference housemates. With the West starting to show some life once again, picking up some wins in the next couple of weeks could go a long way to securing home field advantage for November.
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