(Winnipeg)– Rick Campbell had a mid-week message that resonated loud and clear: it was going to come down to who made the most plays in the fourth quarter. Sean Whyte’s fourth field goal of the game with 2:37 remaining capped a wild final frenzy that had no less than four lead changes and Alexander Hollins capped off his massive outing by hauling in a 63-yard reception to prevent the Bombers from getting another chance.
End result: 26-24 Lions as they improve to 2-1-0 on the campaign while Winnipeg falls to 0-3-0. Now for same game takes following a wild and whacky affair in Manitoba.
Bat Signal Answered
Hollins finished with a career-high 215 yards and two touchdowns on seven receptions as Vernon Adams Jr. continued to utilize his best targets. Hollins had a pre-game proclamation for offensive coordinator Jordan Maksymic that he was going to eclipse the 200-yard mark. And boy oh boy, he backed that up in a big way.
“I just wanted to execute the best I could for my team and make big plays. We came out with a victory,” Hollins said outside the raucous visiting locker room.
“Looking at them on film, I thought it was going to be a big night for one of us. No matter who the play is drawn up for, VA is going to get the ball to whoever is open. That’s the great thing about this offence and VA. It just came down to VA putting his trust in me and believing in me. I know my team is expecting me to make big plays and that’s what I did.”
Hollins’ first major of the night came on the game’s opening drive, a 71-yard dart from Adams Jr. that stunned the crowd of over 30,000 rabid fans. The visitors also left some points on the board on their next two drives when Whyte had to settle for field goals of 12 and 14 yards as they built a 20-7 third quarter lead before the Bombers started mounting their comeback. Quarterback Chris Streveler scored all three of Winnipeg’s touchdowns in short yardage situations from the one. No doubt still a few things for Adams Jr. and the Lions to work on.
“Always things to clean up,” said the winning quarterback.
“But it’s a character win, like I said. We went through adversity and it’s a good team. Records don’t mean anything. That’s a great organization, great players over there. Great coaches. I think it’s going to help us in the long run, we’re going to watch this film and get better from it and for Edmonton on another short week.”
For the second time in as many weeks, Adams Jr. was not sacked and had plenty of great pass protection on most of the deep completions. It may only be a small sample size, but what a way to recover after surrendering six quarterback takedowns int he opening week loss at Toronto.
“It’s just the awesome game of football and it’s a great game night for the fans, a few lead changes there. My o-line blocking their ass off, run blocking, everything,” added Adams Jr.
“It was a great game, man. Receivers making me look good and I’m just proud of this team.”
And just like one year ago when they came into this venue and left with a big victory, they won’t get close to being satisfied just yet.
“They’re really tough to beat at home,” added Rick Campbell.
“That’s not surprising. I thought this game would come down to the fourth quarter and it did. I was just super proud of our composure and making the plays necessary to close it out.”
They’ll enjoy it for a day or two and then get right back to the drawing board for another big divisional test next week.
Key Numbers
215- Worth repeating the unreal total for Hollins who has clearly established himself as a legitimate number one receiver in this league. That’s an average of 30.7 yards per reception, by the way.
500– Not a bad net offence total for the victorious Lions who had nearly 200 yards in the opening quarter alone.
398– Adams Jr.’s passing yard total on a night he completed 21 of 33 passes and had the two majors to Batman.
31:15- the Lions had a narrow edge on time of possession thanks in large part to the final possession that featured the big Hollins catch and another from Stanley Berryhill III in his CFL debut. William Stanback wisely went down at the one-yard line which enable the offence to end it with a couple of kneel downs. Stanback finished with a season-high 83 rushing yards in the victory.
1– reception for offensive lineman Andrew Peirson, which came in the second quarter. We love big boy receptions.
Next Up
The Leos return home to Save-On-Foods Field for a battle with the Edmonton Elks next Thursday, June 27 at 7:00 pm. It marks our annual Purolator Tackle Hunger game where fans can bring food and cash donations to support local food banks. The 0-2 Elks pay a visit to 1-0 Toronto on Saturday night.