Sat Oct 11 12:23:33 2008

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Around the CFL: Bombers win ensures West crossover in playoffs

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Winnipeg, MB (Sports Network) - The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have ensured that a West Division team will indeed be the No. 3 seed in the East Division when the CFL playoffs begin next month.

The Blue Bombers defeated the Toronto Argonauts 25-16 at Canad Inns Stadium on Friday night. Not only did Winnipeg move four points ahead of the Argos with both teams having three games to play, but its win clinched a playoff berth for Edmonton, which is guaranteed at least a crossover playoff game.

The fourth-place team in the West Division will become the No. 3 seed in the East Division and visit either Winnipeg or Toronto in the opening week of the playoffs. Montreal has already clinched top spot and will have home-field advantage for the conference final November 16.

But it's not yet known which West Division team will be participating in the Eastern playoffs. Edmonton's 27-20 win over B.C. on Friday night has created a four-way tie for top spot in the West, with each team having 20 points. That deadlock should be broken Monday when the Saskatchewan Roughriders take on the Calgary Stampeders.

However, barring a tie, that would still leave a three-way tie for second with three regular-season games to play.

DOWN AND OUT: They're still mathematically alive, but the Toronto Argonauts' playoff hopes are indeed hanging by a thread.

Toronto's 25-16 loss to Winnipeg on Friday night leaves the clubs four points behind the second-place Bombers with both teams having three games to play. So, in order for the Argos to make the playoffs they must win out and have Winnipeg lose its remaining games.

That's a less than ideal situation, especially considering Toronto's next three games are against Montreal, B.C. and Saskatchewan.

The Argos are also picking a terrible time to be hitting the skids. The club has lost its last six games, five of which have been under new coach Don Matthews, the CFL's winningest head coach with 231 career regular-season wins.

STAMPEDERS FINED: The CFL fined Calgary Stampeders defensive line coach Cornell Brown $2,500 and players Brandon Browner and Dwight Anderson unspecified amounts for confronting and verbally abusing an official following last week's 37-34 loss at Saskatchewan.

"We hold our teams, and in particular our coaches, to a high standard, especially when it comes to respect for our officials who are so integral to our game," CFL commissioner Mark Cohon said in a statement.

The CFL launched an investigation after reports that some Stampeders voiced their displeasure about the officiating to referee Bud Steen following the game. Late in the contest, Calgary felt Browner had knocked an onside kick attempt out of bounds to give it possession but he was ruled out of bounds.

KEITH RETURNS: The Hamilton Tiger-Cats will have running back Kenton Keith in the lineup Monday when they face the Montreal Alouettes.

Keith missed last week's 44-38 upset win over Montreal when he fell ill after eating a bad pizza pocket. The former Indianapolis Colt was forced to miss practice and subsequently the game upon feeling sick after eating a pizza pocket that had long passed its expiration date.

The Ticats are also expected to have tailback Jesse Lumsden back for the game. He has missed the last three weeks with a shoulder injury.

FATHERHOOD: It's been quite a week for Noel Prefontaine.

The Edmonton Eskimos kicker-punter missed three practices to be with his wife Tanya for the birth of their first child. While that doesn't sound like a big deal, consider it meant Prefontaine flying from Edmonton to Toronto, then all the way to Vancouver to join his teammates for Friday night's 27-20 win over the Lions.

Prefontaine was traded from Toronto to Edmonton prior to training camp when the Argos signed former NFL kicker Mike Vanderjagt. Rather than uproot his pregnant wife, Prefontaine opted to go to Edmonton on his own.

With young son Noah being born Wednesday, it allowed Prefontaine plenty of time to re-join the Eskimos in B.C. And with the 11-year CFL veteran in uniform, Edmonton wasn't forced to go with rookie Derek Schiavone as an emergency replacement.

HEADY ACCOMPLISHMENT: He only had a catch for four yards Friday night, but it was more than enough for Winnipeg receiver Romby Bryant to record a pretty heady achievement.

The catch helped boost Bryant's season stats to 52 catches for 1,003 yards. Not only does that make him the team's leading receiver this year, but Bryant also became the first Bombers receiver to surpass the 1,000-yard mark in his first year with the club since Perry Tuttle turned the trick 22 years ago.

That year, Tuttle finished with 1,373 yards for the Bombers.

WAKE WATCH: Cameron Wake continues to inch closer to the CFL's single-season sacks record.

The B.C. Lions defensive end recorded his team's lone sack in Friday night's 27-20 loss to Edmonton on Friday night. That gives the former Penn State star 20 on the season.

But Wake has some work to do in order to break the CFL single-season sacks record. He has three games to eclipse the mark of 26.5 held by former Lion James (Quick) Parker.