Winnipeg beats Hamilton to win second straight Grey Cup

After waiting two years to defend their Grey Cup title, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers did just that Sunday on a windy night in Hamilton.

For the first time since 2016, overtime was needed to decide the CFL champions after Hamilton kicked a game-tying field goal with just four seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

On Winnipeg’s first possession of overtime, Grey Cup MVP Zach Collaros connected with Darvin Adams for a 13-yard, go-ahead touchdown. Collaros then completed a five-yard two-point convert to Rasheed Bailey for a 33-25 lead.

Hamilton’s hopes of a hometown win at a soldout Tim Hortons Field were dashed when Jeremiah Masoli’s pass bounced off multiple players until finally landing in the hands of the Bombers’ Kyrie Wilson, ending the game.

Being able to throw the game-winning touchdown has been something Collaros dreamed of in his childhood.

“I have vivid memories of being in our old house, pretending I’m hitting the game-winning home run or throwing the game-winning pass. Everybody who loves sports dreams of moments like this and I can’t believe that I was a part of it,” a champagne-soaked Collaros said after his second straight Grey Cup championship.

The Bombers beat the Tiger-Cats 33-12 in the 2019 Grey Cup game. The CFL’s 2020 season was cancelled due to COVID-19.

The win in 2019 ended the Bombers’ championship drought at 29 years. The loss Sunday meant Hamilton hasn’t won a Grey Cup championship since 1999.

Winnipeg is the first CFL team to win back-to-back titles since the Montreal Alouettes, who won two straight in 2009 and 2010.

On Sunday, the Bombers had to fight back from a 22-10 fourth-quarter deficit, and the offence was sparked by the game’s top Canadian, Nic Demski.

Demski turned a 12-yard Collaros pass into a 29-yard touchdown.

Demski was emotional on stage after being named the game’s top Canadian and helping his hometown Bombers win back-to-back Grey Cups.

“It’s amazing. We probably have the best Canadian in the last decade in our locker room (in tailback Andrew Harris) and I have nothing but love and respect for him,” said Demski, who caught four passes for 27 yards. “So to get (top Canadian), it just means everything to think I can be capable of being like that.”

The wind was definitely a factor as wind gusts of around 45 kilometres per hour blew through Tim Hortons Field for the entire game. Punts and kickoffs were drastically impacted as the field tilted in favour of whoever had the wind at their back.

Winnipeg was able to win the toss to open the game and head coach Mike O’Shea says that might have been one of the biggest turning points in the game, since it allowed the Bombers to take the wind in the fourth quarter.

“Honestly it’s one of those coin-flip games,” admitted O’Shea. “If you win the toss, you have a chance in the fourth. And that’s how it came down to really was having opportunities where we drove a little bit, but you could also pin them a little bit.”

As for overcoming a 12-point lead in a hostile environment, O’Shea knew his group would never fold.

“I don’t think there was one doubter on our bench because if there was, we wouldn’t win,” he said. “You need everybody to believe. (Defensive tackle) Jake Thomas came out at half and said, ‘We got this’ and I don’t think it mattered what happened from the start of the half until the end. We were going to figure out a way to do it.”

On the other side of the field was a devastated Tiger-Cats team that, until midway through the fourth quarter, appeared well on its way to ending its Grey Cup drought.

A teary-eyed head coach Orlondo Steinauer, who may have coached his last game in Hamilton as rumours swirl he will accept a coaching job in the NCAA in the coming days or weeks, was crushed to see his team have to walk off the field on the losing end of a Grey Cup for the second straight season.

Steinauer says he went into the looker room after the game and sat on the floor, being left nearly speechless.

“I was just waiting until every last member of this organization trickled in,” Steinauer said. “I just told them that the only way these things heal is with time and you can’t speed time up and can’t slow time down.

“There’s no words that you can give them except that I was extremely proud of them. I told them each individually that I loved them. And that was from the heart.”

Overall, after a season of COVID protocols and a slump in scoring and offence, the Tiger-Cats and Bombers put on a traditional high-scoring and exciting game to cap off the 2021 season. And like in 2019, it was blue and gold confetti flying when commissioner Randy Ambrosie presented the Grey Cup to the Blue Bombers for the second straight season.

Sergio Castillo kicked five field goals, two singles and a convert for the Bombers, who also got a single from Marc Liegghio.

Collaros was 21-for-32 passing for 240 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Harris rushed 18 times for 80 yards and Adams led the Bombers’ receivers with 61 yards on five catches.

Masoli threw touchdown passes to Steven Dunbar Jr., and Brandon Banks for the Tiger-Cats. Masoli, who entered the game in the second quarter after starter Dane Evans was injured, completed 20 of 25 pass attempts for 185 yards with two TDs and one interception.

Hamilton tailback Don Jackson carried 11 times for 59 yards and caught six passes for 48 yards.

Michael Domagala kicked three field goals and two converts for Hamilton, which also recorded a safety.

The 2022 Grey Cup game is to be played at Regina’s Mosaic Stadium.