HAMILTON — The Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats met for the first time this season on Friday Night Football, and the Tiger-Cats took the victory in front of their home crowd as they picked up a 32-21 win at Hamilton Stadium.
Bo Levi Mitchell threw for 230 yards and two touchdowns, Greg Bell tallied 135 yards and a touchdown and Kenny Lawler grabbed seven receptions for 97 yards in the win.
Chris Streveler threw for 173 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions, as well as ran in a touchdown, Brady Oliveira carried 15 times for 116 yards, and Ontaria Wilson led the Blue Bombers through the air with 55 yards.
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The Tiger-Cats got the home crowd on their feet early as Jamal Peters picked off a screen for the opening drive interception, setting up first and goal. Bell scored the touchdown on the next play for Hamilton, running in a seven-yard score to take the lead.
Winnipeg answered back swiftly as what looked like it would have been a short-yardage run was a a wide-open Wheatfall touchdown to tie the game on next drive. The 42-yard run to the end zone from Wheatfall was his fourth touchdown of the year.
While Shemar Bridges had what looked to be a solid chance for the Tiger-Cats to get back in front, an unsuccessful coaches challenge saw them settle for a field goal instead, with Marc Liegghio hitting his first field goal attempt from 43 yards out.
In the second quarter, Sergio Castillo tied the game back up at 10 points each as he nailed a 45-yard field goal, but the battle of the kickers would just begin as Liegghio responded on the very next drive with a successful 35-yard kick of his own to put Hamilton in front once again.
After the back and forth, the second turnover of the night from Winnipeg led to a double-digit lead for Hamilton as DaShaun Amos picked off Streveler and returned the ball 22 yards to the Winnipeg 26-yard line, setting up a Tim White seven-yard touchdown to lead by 10.
The two sides traded punts on each of their opening drives of the second half before Hamilton extended the lead with a chip shot from Liegghio from 13 yards out, but Castillo would cut into that as he closed out the quarter with a 26-yard kick to head into the final frame of action.
With seven minutes left to play in the game Liegghio came in clutch once again for the Tiger-Cats as he hit a 23-yard attempt to put Hamilton’s lead back up to 13. Shortly after, Devin Veresuk was injured and had to be carted off on a play where he sacked Streveler for a loss of eight yards.
A relentless drive from Hamilton that started on the Winnipeg seven-yard line, Mitchell made a massive connect for first and goal as he found White for 23 yards, before Bell tallied his second touchdown of the night.
Streveler called his own number with 1:36 left on the clock as he ran in a five-yard touchdown, with Nic Demski securing the grab for the two-point conversion, but the Bombers could not close the gap.
The Bombers will travel to Ottawa to take on the REDBLACKS at TD Place in Week 16 action at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 19, while the Tiger-Cats continue their home stand as they host the Edmonton Elks at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20 at Hamilton Stadium.