Pierce and the Bombers win the East

Will play for the Grey Cup this Sunday

Buck Pierce is heading back to Vancouver and another Grey Cup title game.

Pierce, a 2000 Del Norte High  School graduate from Gasquet, is the starting quarterback for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, which defeated the Hamilton Tigers-Cats 19-3 in the Canadian Football League East Final on Sunday at home.

Winnipeg will face the B.C. Lions in the Grey Cup on Sunday in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions defeated Edmonton 40-23 in the West Final.

Pierce began his career with B.C. in 2005 and won a Grey Cup with the Lions in 2006 as a backup. Ironically, that game was held in Winnipeg. He was released by the Lions in 2009 and signed with Winnipeg.

“I’m so happy and proud of him,” Buck’s father, local resident Tim Pierce, said on Monday. “It’s kind of surreal and a bit of a dream to watch him being on the doorstep (of winning a title).” It’s something he’s worked towards in the offseason and all year long.”

Buck Pierce completed 16 of 28 passes for 175 yards with one interception for the Blue Bombers against Hamilton. He also ran the ball nine times for 66 yards.

A Sunday article in the Winnipeg Free Press said that while Pierce had modest numbers, he “authored big plays when he needed to and was at his most effective — and scariest, given his injury history — when he took off himself and bulled his way for extra yards.”

“This is the playoffs man,” Pierce said in the Free Press  story. “There’s no tomorrow. I’m going out to get every yard I can get. And I think it paid dividends tonight.”

Pierce returns to Vancouver today with the Blue Bombers. Playing in Vancouver against his old team for a title has started to garner media attention in  Canada.

“If you’re looking for a story of a scorned player seeking blind vengeance on his former team, you’re talking to the wrong player,” a Monday story in the Winnipeg Free Press said. “Pierce’s feelings toward the Lions sound much more nuanced than that.”

“Just to be going back to that city means a lot. That’s where I got my opportunities, that’s where I got my chance. I have a lot of memories there,” Pierce said in the Winnipeg Free Press story.  “That coaching staff, all those guys there, I care for them like family.

“They felt like they had to go a different way. And Travis (Lulay) is doing a good job for them. But as an athlete, anytime you get released by an organization you want to go back and give it your best shot. And maybe I will have a chance to do that in the biggest game of the year.”

In a Friday telephone interview with The Triplicate for a story that ran on Saturday, Pierce said that it meant a lot to potentially have another chance at going to a Grey Cup.

“It means everything to me,” Pierce said. “We’ve all worked so hard to make it to this point.”

Winnipeg has not been to the Grey Cup since 2007 and has not won it since 1990.

The 11-8 Blue Bombers defeated B.C. twice this season but the Lions have been quite hot, winning 11 of 12 games since they last faced Winnipeg. The game will be shown live on the Internet on ESPN3 at 3 p.m PDT.