Reprieve for Ritchie
It was tense, but Roberts, Payton help coach's cause
By PAUL FRIESEN -- Winnipeg Sun
The view from the press box, on a night Dave Ritchie, who abhors change, counts on seven new starters to help loosen that noose around his neck. For his next trick, the Blue Bomber head coach will be allowing first-year dental students to perform a root canal. Without anesthesia.
REMEMBER ME? Charles Roberts takes the opening kickoff 40 yards, and the home side couldn't have asked for a better opening salvo. Two plays later Roberts coughs up the ball when he's drilled by off-season Bomber reject Daved Benefield. It figures... The Bombers dodge a bullet when punter Jon Ryan plays Houdini, escaping a 'Riders rush and getting off a decent kick. Pretty heads-up move for a rookie... Here come the 'Riders, screaming down the field like a tuner down Portage Avenue on a Sunday night, only to sputter and die when signal-caller Henry Burris fumbles at the Winnipeg goal-line. That sound you hear is the wind rushing back into the Bomber sails.
HELP FROM ABOVE: Noticed Khari Jones isn't calling his own plays tonight. So far that's not helping him throw the ball any better. When your most productive play involves the other team conceding a safety... Burris slips on the wet turf, and the Bomber defence is credited with its first sack of the season, despite not laying a hand on the quarterback. Perfect fit, don't you think?... Jones throws another one into the dirt, and the boos fall as hard as the rain. Next play, Jones hits Kamau Peterson in the hands, but he drops it. Can't fault the QB for that one... The 'Riders mishandle a field-goal try, and it looks like this 8-2 Bomber lead might be insurmountable.
TELL-TALE SIGN? The most telling development in the first 30 minutes? That on third-and-one the Bombers can't make the first down, but the 'Riders can. It's only a guess, but I doubt this is the "attitude and conviction" president Lyle Bauer was looking for... There's Benefield with the sack, giving him twice as many on the season as the entire Bomber defence... The Bombers rediscover Roberts, who's into the end zone for a stand-up six, and it's 15-5 Blue... The 'Riders go to the ground, too, on a scoring drive that brings back memories of last year's West semi-final, and it's a three-point game going into the final quarter. Can a coach's future be determined in 15 minutes of football?
DOWN TO THE WIRE: 'Riders are threatening, thanks to another Winnipeg fumble. Paul McCallum nails a 47-yard field goal, and we're tied up... There's Milt Stegall, dropping a bomb that Jones put right in his hands. Over to you, defence... Whatever the Bombers paid Elfrid Payton to come back, it just paid off, as the old Ritchie loyalist forces a fumble that Ricky Bell takes in for the major and a 22-15 Bomber lead... One more key play: a gutsy fake punt, presumably called by special teams coach Jim Daley, leads to another Roberts score and a two-touchdown lead. There's Payton again, recovering a late 'Riders fumble, then getting a big hug from Ritchie on the sidelines... Bombers win, 32-15, and the hangman has left the building.
