‘That just brings the uniqueness to the game’

As the field goal was sailing wide left, Trey Vaval stood one yard inside the back of the end zone and began to go through his checklist.

‘That just brings the uniqueness to the game’ Vaval’s record-setting return a full team Bomber effort To continue reading, please subscribe: Digital Subscription One year of digital access for only $205* - Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com - Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper - Access News Break, our award-winning app - Play interactive puzzles *First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only.

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After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks. As the field goal was sailing wide left, Trey Vaval stood one yard inside the back of the end zone and began to go through his checklist. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers star returner wasn’t about to get ahead of himself, nor was he spending any additional time lamenting the punt he muffed on the previous series.

“You watch how the ball is kicked off the foot and just track it, catch it, make sure I secure the catch and then just kind of read the field,” Vaval said on Tuesday afternoon as the Bombers returned to the practice field after a 30-21 victory over the Toronto Argonauts. “There’s not really a lot going on in my head.” That ability to block out any potential distractions was helpful as Vaval broke through for his first touchdown of the season, a 129-yard scamper that set a franchise record and played a pivotal role in extending the lead in the fourth quarter as the Bombers improved to 3-2 for the CFL season.

“When you’re on the field, you’re not thinking. You’re just playing ball and having fun. It’s just tunnel vision.

The crowd goes away and you hit your cues,” said Vaval, as he expanded on his original answer. “I don’t know how to explain it, my mind just kind of goes numb. I don’t know if you’ve seen the movie Biker Boys but there’s this scene and he’s racing

and he just looks straight ahead and everything around him just goes away. There’s no noise, just him and what he needs to do. “That happens to me on every return, just focus on the ball, get the ball and everything goes dark.

I don’t really see much or hear nothing.” That’s the beauty of being involved in the return game. “When you’re on the field, you’re not thinking.

You’re just playing ball and having fun.” There are multiple players on the field who can’t even see how the play is developing behind them, yet are still responsible for creating the lanes that make scoring plays possible. This return by Vaval is a prime example of the type of teamwork that is required to make a house call.

It wasn’t a singular block where an opponent was stymied, it was a sequence of players winning their one-on-one battles that allowed Vaval to get down the field untouched. “You don’t see it as much as you hear it, especially in our building, where you hear the crowd,” said Bombers linebacker Tanner Cadwallader, who is in his sixth season with the CFL team. “Responsibility-wise, you just have to run through the guy in front of you and try to block him with the right leverage and keep clean.

In that instance, it was a guy bigger than me, so you’re trying to make sure you can make the block. “I don’t have an idea of what’s happening. I don’t even know if the kick is made or missed.

The whistle comes if it’s a make, but if it’s a miss, you just keep the block and if you start to hear the crowd start going, you can assume that Trey is starting to make people miss and he’s getting upfield.” Bombers linebacker Jaylen Smith was running upfield when he felt Vaval’s presence alongside him, at least momentarily. “As soon as he sees a hole, he takes off.

He has the patience, he has the vision and all of that stuff, but his ability to find top-end speed is insane. I’ve never really seen someone that quick and that fast at the same time,” said Smith. “Honestly, it’s just pure excitement.

I’m blocking my man and I was near mid field. I just felt Trey zoom past me, so then I immediately took off.

I didn’t see anybody in front of me, but I turned around and there was a guy flying beside me so I just decided to block the closest man. Just block anyone you can see.

“As soon as I felt Trey go past me, I’m like, ‘Yeah, it’s a touchdown.’ I love seeing Trey in the end zone because you know you’re part of that. It’s a team effort.”

“He has the patience, he has the vision and all of that stuff, but his ability to find top-end speed is insane.” Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea has a deep appreciation for special teams play, though he is quick to point out he was the guy throwing blocks rather than running kicks back. “I’ve never talked to Trey about this, but I bet you for him, it’s kind of like slow motion,” said O’Shea.

“Everybody else is moving fast and he’s just in the matrix, in the zone, whatever it is and things are happening slow enough that he can make these moves and cuts. On that one, he didn’t really have to make a lot of turns, the blocking was such that he just let it take hold and sort of cruised by.” The roar that accompanied the play — complete with a crescendo — made the moment even more memorable.

“That was amazing,” said Bombers defensive back Major Williams, who is Vaval’s roommate. “With the crowd, that was the loudest I’ve ever heard the stadium. They were loud for the whole 10 or 11 seconds.

“With how critical the moment was, how big it was and how much we needed that. We preach all three phases and there you go right there. You have Trey Vaval taking it to the house, 129 yards.

Something I’ve never seen in my life in person. That will stick around for a long time. It was great to see a play that would be (blown) dead down south turns into a scoring play off a return.

That just brings the uniqueness to the game. ” Vaval’s vision and explosiveness have been apparent since arrival on the scene with the Bombers last season, where he earned CFL honours as the Most Outstanding Special Teams player and the Most Outstanding Rookie. “He’s always a threat.

He’s just such a weapon.” Vaval is off to another outstanding start in all phases of the return game, which is even more impressive when you consider that he’s not catching other teams by surprise this season. He’s a player all teams prepare a game plan for and are determined not to get beaten by.

“He’s always a threat. He’s just such a weapon,” said Cadwallader. “On special teams, we’re always just trying to keep up our end of the bargain.

Our one third and if we can make plays happen, then it helps the whole team. You hear about three-phase football all of the time and we’re just trying to manage our phase.

If we can get a spark like that... we’re thrilled to be a part of it. Having a guy like Trey makes it more exciting because it can happen more frequently.”

Vaval made sure to show his appreciation to those who helped make his first touchdown of the season possible. “Everybody was doing their job on that play and it paid off. I could have gone everywhere,” said Vaval.

“Those dudes were blocking their asses off — excuse my language. They wanted me to get in the end zone and I thank them for that.” winnipegreepress.com/kenwiebe Ken Wiebe is a sports reporter for the Free Press, with an emphasis on the Winnipeg Jets.

He has covered hockey and provided analysis in this market since 2000 for the Winnipeg Sun, The Athletic, Sportsnet.ca and TSN. Ken was a summer intern at the Free Press in 1999 and returned to the Free Press in a full-time capacity in September of 2023. Read more about Ken.

Every piece of reporting Ken produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism.

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