View source for 76th Grey Cup

{{Short description|1988 Canadian Football championship game}}
{{Infobox Canadian football game
| number         = 76
| type           = Grey Cup
| image          = 1988 Grey Cup.jpg
| image_size = 250
| date           = November 27, 1988
| stadium        = [[Frank Clair Stadium]]
| city           = [[Ottawa]]
| visitor name   = [[Winnipeg Blue Bombers]]
| visitor colour = Winnipeg Blue Bombers
| home name      = [[BC Lions]]
| home colour    = BC Lions
| visitor coach  = [[Mike Riley (American football)|Mike Riley]]
| home coach     = [[Larry Donovan]]
| visitor record = 9–9
| home record    = 10–8
| visitor1       = 4
| visitor2       = 10
| visitor3       = 5
| visitor4       = 3
| home1          = 7
| home2          = 8
| home3          = 4
| home4          = 2
| MVP            = Offence: [[James Murphy (gridiron football)|James Murphy]], WR ([[Winnipeg Blue Bombers|Blue Bombers]])<br>Defence: [[Mike Gray (Canadian football)|Michael Gray]], DT ([[Winnipeg Blue Bombers|Blue Bombers]]) 
| MV2        = [[Bob Cameron (Canadian football)|Bob Cameron]], K/P ([[Winnipeg Blue Bombers|Blue Bombers]])
| anthem     =
| referee    = [[Jake Ireland]]
| coin toss  =
| halftime   =
| attendance = 50,604
| network    = [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]], [[Canadian Football Network]], [[Télévision de Radio-Canada|SRC]]
| announcers = CBC: [[Don Wittman]], [[Ron Lancaster]], [[Brian Williams (sportscaster)|Brian Williams]], [[Steve Armitage]], [[Scott Oake]].<br>CFN: [[Bob Irving (sportscaster)|Bob Irving]], [[Neil Lumsden]], [[Dave Hodge]], [[Tom Larscheid]].<br>SRC: N/A.
| ratings    =
}}
The '''76th Grey Cup''' was the [[1988 CFL season|1988]] [[Canadian Football League]] championship game that was played at [[Frank Clair Stadium|Lansdowne Park]] in [[Ottawa]], between the [[BC Lions]] and the [[Winnipeg Blue Bombers]]. The Blue Bombers defeated the favoured Lions 22–21. This was the first Grey Cup game between two teams from west of Ontario, and the first to be won by a team which had only a .500 season.

==Game summary==
'''Winnipeg Blue Bombers''' (22) - TDs, [[James Murphy (gridiron football)|James Murphy]]; FGs, [[Trevor Kennerd]] (4); cons., [[Trevor Kennerd|Kennerd]]; singles, [[Trevor Kennerd]], [[Bob Cameron (Canadian football)|Bob Cameron]] (2).

'''BC Lions''' (21) - TDs, [[Anthony Cherry]], [[David Williams (wide receiver)|David Williams]]; FGs, [[Lui Passaglia]]; cons., [[Lui Passaglia|Passaglia]] (2); singles, [[Lui Passaglia|Passaglia]] (2); safety touch.

The Lions jumped to a 7-1 lead in the opening quarter as running back [[Anthony Cherry]] scored on a 14-yard run. Kennerd kicked a 22-yard field goal to pull the Bombers within three.

With the wind at his back in the second quarter, Kennerd tied the score with a 43-yard field goal. But Lions quarterback [[Matt Dunigan]] connected with [[David Williams (wide receiver)|David Williams]] on a 26-yard scoring play, giving BC a 14-7 advantage.

The Bombers got that one back on their next possession. Quarterback [[Sean Salisbury]] threw a 35-yard touchdown strike to [[James Murphy (gridiron football)|James Murphy]] to pull Winnipeg even. BC's [[Lui Passaglia]] failed on a 41-yard field goal attempt near the end of the half, but it did give the Lions a 15-14 lead at intermission.

Passaglia and Kennerd exchanged field goals in the third quarter. The game was deadlocked at 19 heading into the final 15 minutes.

With 2:55 remaining, [[Trevor Kennerd]] kicked a 30-yard field goal to put the Bombers in front for the first time in the game. With the score 22-19 in favour of the Bombers, the Lions marched 75 yards downfield to the Winnipeg seven-yard line. Dunigan's pass was batted down and intercepted in the end zone by Winnipeg's [[Mike Gray (Canadian football)|Mike Gray]] to snuff out the drive.

The BC defence held and Winnipeg head coach [[Mike Riley (American football)|Mike Riley]] elected to give up a safety in favour of better field position, cutting the margin to just one. The ensuing kickoff was returned by BC's [[Anthony Drawhorn]] 38 yards to the BC 45-yard line, but the ball was brought back to the 30 when Cherry was flagged for an unnecessary roughness penalty. The Lions then went three and out and turned the ball over on downs and the Bombers ran out the clock for the win.

==Trivia==
The 50,604 in attendance was the largest crowd to witness a football game in [[Ottawa]] until the [[2004 Grey Cup]].

==1988 CFL Playoffs==
===West Division===
* Semi-final (November 13 @ [[Regina, Saskatchewan]]) [[BC Lions]] 42-18 [[Saskatchewan Roughriders]]
* Final (November 20 @ [[Edmonton, Alberta]]) [[BC Lions]] 37-19 [[Edmonton Eskimos]]

===East Division===
* Semi-final (November 13 @ [[Winnipeg, Manitoba]]) [[Winnipeg Blue Bombers]] 35-28 [[Hamilton Tiger-Cats]]
* Final (November 20 @ [[Toronto|Toronto, Ontario]]) [[Winnipeg Blue Bombers]] 27-11 [[Toronto Argonauts]]

==External links==
* {{cite web|url=https://www.cfl.ca/page/his_greycup_recap1988|title=Grey Cup: 1988|publisher=Canadian Football League|access-date=2017-08-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130819150522/http://cfl.ca/page/his_greycup_recap1988|archive-date=2013-08-19|url-status=dead}}

{{BC Lions}}
{{Winnipeg Blue Bombers}}
{{76th Grey Cup}}
{{Grey Cup}}
{{1988 CFL season by team}}
{{CFL on CBC}}
{{Canadian Football Network}}

[[Category:1988 in Canadian football|Grey Cup]]
[[Category:Grey Cup]]
[[Category:Canadian football competitions in Ottawa]]
[[Category:1988 in sports in Ontario]]
[[Category:BC Lions]]
[[Category:Winnipeg Blue Bombers]]
[[Category:1980s in Ottawa]]
[[Category:1988 in Canadian television]]
[[Category:November 1988 sports events in Canada]]