Oliveira runs around, through and over Lions

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This article was published 12/11/2022 (775 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In a game full of ups and downs, twists and turns, there was one constant: Brady Oliveira.

The 25-year-old running back from Winnipeg had never started a playoff game prior to Sunday’s West Division final at IG Field, but Oliveira delivered a brilliant performance under the bright lights to help his hometown Blue Bombers reach their third straight Grey Cup with a 28-20 victory over the B.C. Lions.

Oliveira finished the contest with 20 carries for 130 yards. He also caught four passes for another 37 yards.

“It’s super special. For myself, I talk all the time about being a Winnipegger. I’m a proud Winnipegger and seeing that stadium today and how loud those fans were, every time I was running, I want to go out and honour my teammates and secondly I want to go out there and play for the city of Winnipeg, the best fans in the league, and they deserve to see us win another Grey Cup,” Oliveira said.

To put it simply, the Lions had no answer for Oliveira. They struggled to bring him down all night.

“He sure got a lot of yards after contact. He sure was running hard. Their guy was on a mission tonight,” said Lions head coach Rick Campbell. “He was running hard. We had to get multiple hands on that guy to stop him.”

It ended up being the difference in the game. The Bombers dominated on the ground while the Lions had zero rushing attack. B.C. running back James Butler failed to be a difference maker as he had six carries for a dismal four yards. Butler also fumbled on a screen pass in the first quarter after Willie Jefferson punched the ball out.

The Bombers had 178 total rushing yards compared to B.C.’s 28. Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke only ran twice for 20 yards.

“When you’re behind, you’re just naturally going to more of a passing game. It’s definitely tough against these guys,” Rourke said. “We’ve shown in past games that we’re able to run against this team but credit to them, they did a really good job limiting what we could do.”

Oliveira will now get the chance to try to outduel his pal and fellow Winnipegger, Andrew Harris. Harris and the Toronto Argonauts beat the Montreal Alouettes 34-27 in the East Division final earlier in the day to advance to Sunday’s Grey Cup in Regina.

Oliveira played behind Harris the past two seasons.

“It’s gonna be cool. Andrew and I still talk quite often. Him and I just talked this week. He just had a baby so congrats to Andrew. It’ll be cool to see him. He taught me so much during my time here, during his time here playing for the Bombers,” said Oliveira.

“He’s arguably one of the best running backs to play in this league and one of the best Canadian running backs to ever play in the CFL, so he taught me a lot. I was critically watching him to see if I could pick things out of his game and apply them to my game. He was a huge part of my career and getting me to where I am today. It’s going to be cool playing against him next week and I’m sure I’ll see him throughout the week. He’s still a good friend of mine and it’ll be fun battling him next week.”

Dakota Prukop also gave the Lions headaches with his legs. The short-yardage quarterback ran seven times for 37 yards and a third-quarter touchdown.

“The O-line was great, Brady was fantastic, Dakota’s excellent. All the guys that touched the ball did a great job,” said head coach Mike O’Shea. “There is some sort of, you can just go to that place where you hand the ball off, relax again, get things back in rhythm.”

Oliveira and Prukop weren’t the only heroes on Sunday. Kick returner Janarion Grant didn’t start the night as one as he let a punt in the opening quarter roll through his legs. The Lions pounced on it at Winnipeg’s two-yard line and scored on the very next play to take an early 7-6 lead.

“It just stayed on the floor, with speed, and got behind me. I always try to keep the ball in front of me just in case it’s a low ball. I want to catch it on the run, but that one got behind me,” Grant said. “I just scratched it and moved on to the next play.”

Grant apologized in a big way by taking a punt in the second quarter 92 yards to the house to put the Bombers in front 16-7. It was the second longest postseason punt return touchdown in franchise history. Jason Armstead owns the record with a 93-yarder in 2008 in the Eastern semi-final against Edmonton.

“I told him – Way to put it back on the board. I mean, what a play by Janarion and our special teams getting that done,” said linebacker Adam Bighill.

“Huge momentum shift right there. Huge, huge part of the game right there.”

As Grant fielded questions from reporters postgame, one of his teammates entered the media room and started barking.

“I don’t think there was a doubt that Janarion was going to make a play. I barked in here, that was me barking when he was up here. He’s just a dawg, man,” said quarterback Zach Collaros.

“… I think it takes a different kind of animal, a different kind of person, to be a kick returner. I know there was the punt he returned, but he’ll also stick it up in there on kickoffs. It’s just impressive. He’s a dawg, man.”

It was Grant’s third return touchdown against the Lions this year. After his costly error, he was more motivated than ever to make up for it.

“I hate mistakes, but things happen,” said Grant. “You just got to scratch it and just move onto the next play, keep it going, keep a level head and just make sure you do what’s best for the team.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31