{"id":728914,"date":"2026-06-11T03:17:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T03:17:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/728914\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T03:17:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T03:17:17","slug":"winnipeg-blue-bombers-ceresna-hopes-to-keep-momentum-going-after-opener-winnipeg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/728914\/","title":{"rendered":"Winnipeg Blue Bombers\u2019 Ceresna hopes to keep momentum going after opener – Winnipeg"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jake Ceresna made a great first impression with Blue Bombers<\/a> fans, but it wasn\u2019t in person.<\/p>\n

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Now the defensive tackle will try for a memorable debut in front of what\u2019s expected to be Winnipeg\u2019s 15th consecutive capacity crowd at Princess Auto Stadium for Thursday\u2019s home opener against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to have a good game, more importantly just have a team win (Thursday) would be great,\u201d Ceresna said after Wednesday\u2019s walk-through practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll see what happens. I\u2019m just going to go out there and give everything I\u2019ve got like every other game. Sometimes you make big plays, sometimes it doesn\u2019t come to you, but you\u2019ve just got to keep swinging.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ceresna set a single-game career high of three sacks and added five tackles to help the Bombers (1-0) pick up a 30-28 win in Calgary last week with Sergio Castillo\u2019s 38-yard walk-off field goal.<\/p>\n

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It earned the six-foot-five, 290-pound native of Connecticut one of the CFL\u2019s three player of the week honours.<\/p>\n

Winnipeg signed the eight-year veteran to a two-year contract worth reportedly $490,000.<\/p>\n

So far, Ceresna\u2019s teammates and head coach Mike O\u2019Shea think the commitment is paying off.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the right kind of guy that you bank on,\u201d O\u2019Shea said. \u201cHe firmly believes that \u2014 and I don\u2019t want to put words in his mouth \u2014 the idea of getting a big contract is about what you\u2019re going to do, not what you\u2019ve done in the past.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd he believes that it\u2019s up to him to do it, which is really good.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A two-time All-CFL defensive lineman (2022, 2024), Ceresna began his career with Ottawa in 2017. He moved to Edmonton for four seasons and had a pit stop with Toronto for one year. He returned to the Elks last season, but a knee injury shut him down in September.<\/p>\n

Winnipeg quarterback Zach Collaros called Ceresna when he knew he was one of the team\u2019s free-agent targets.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been saying it to him after games for however long he\u2019s been in the league, like, \u2018Hey man, come to Winnipeg, you\u2019re a great player. Sick of getting hit by you,\u2019\u201d Collaros said.<\/p>\n

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He also told Ceresna it\u2019s fun playing in front of huge crowds more than once as a visiting team.<\/p>\n

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Ceresna is looking forward to being the good guys in the stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never had this many fans with the crowd noise and stuff so I\u2019m super excited for that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s well aware Ticats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell might escape his clutches, but he\u2019ll try to disrupt his rhythm.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAny time you go against Bo Levi, he gets the ball out quick,\u201d Ceresna said. \u201cHe\u2019s going to make all the right reads, he\u2019s not going to make a lot of mistakes, so we\u2019ve got to be on point. We\u2019ve got to try to get some pressure on him as much as we can, help our backend out and see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Hamilton (0-1) is coming off a 30-27 overtime loss in their season opener at home against the Montreal Alouettes last week.<\/p>\n

Ticats head coach Scott Milanovich said he \u201cmay have reminded\u201d his players this week about the team\u2019s last trip to Winnipeg \u2014 a 40-3 beatdown by the Bombers in September.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had just made the playoffs, kind of felt good about ourselves, and went out there and got it handed to us, so there\u2019s certainly plenty to play for,\u201d Milanovich told reporters after a practice this week.<\/p>\n

He said the \u201cpriority\u201d on Thursday is stopping Winnipeg\u2019s run game.<\/p>\n

Brady Oliveira led all running backs in the league last week with 113 yards and one touchdown off 15 carries against the Stampeders.<\/p>\n

Hamilton will field rookie tailback Larry Rountree III. He rushed eight times for 23 yards against Montreal and had five catches for 17 yards.<\/p>\n

Winnipeg did give up 171 yards on the ground against Calgary, Ceresna noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure (Hamilton is) going to try to run the ball on us and we have to be prepared,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Bombers safety Redha Kramdi is confident having Ceresna beside veteran star rush end Willie Jefferson will continue to be a daunting duo for offences to handle. Jefferson had one sack, two pass knockdowns and two tackles against the Stampeders.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSeeing him and Willie work together is outstanding,\u201d Kramdi said. \u201cWe haven\u2019t had two elite pass rushers since Jackson (Jeffcoat) and having (Ceresna), it\u2019s amazing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a hard-working guy. He\u2019s hard to block one-on-one, and Willie as well. Other offences will have problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

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