Liegghio hits late field goal to lift Blue Bombers past Redblacks in season opener
CBC
One moment Dru Brown was feeling concerned, the next he was excited for the opportunity to lead the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to victory on Friday.
The backup quarterback replaced injured starter Zach Collaros and moved the Blue Bombers down the field to set up Marc Liegghio's 25-yard field goal with six seconds left for a 19-17 season-opening victory over the Ottawa Redblacks.
"Any time you get a win like that, it's exciting," Brown said. "But I'm just happy the guys trust me in that situation."
"I just saw him [Collaros] on the ground, and instantly you feel terrible in a situation like that," said Brown, who's in his second season with the team.
"But I just tried to get past that and let loose because the team needs me. And that's why I'm in that spot."
Bombers head coach Mike O'Shea said the injury spotter in the Toronto command centre pulled Collaros for three plays. After that, it didn't make sense to put him back in.
"By then I think we were in field-goal range," O'Shea said. "I think we were at the point where we were working the clock more than anything."
The victory gave the Blue Bombers 10 straight wins at IG Field.
RCMP officers had carried the Grey Cup onto the field prior to kickoff, setting up the unveiling of the Bombers' 2021 Grey Cup banner to loud cheers from the announced crowd of 26,002.
Jeremiah Masoli made his Redblacks debut after signing with Ottawa (0-1) in February following his release by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He was 24 for 34 for 380 yards with one TD and one interception.
"I love this group in here," Masoli said. "These guys fought hard until the end. We lost, came up short, but you could see our resiliency on the field for sure."
It was the first meeting between the Bombers and Redblacks since Paul LaPolice, who left his position as Bombers offensive coordinator after the team's 2019 Grey Cup victory, took the head coaching job in Ottawa.
"We moved the ball well, but we hurt ourselves with some penalties to keep us backed up and prevented ourselves from getting field goals," LaPolice said.
WATCH | Liegghio's late field goal leads Blue Bombers to victory:
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