THE CANADIAN PRESS

WINNIPEG -- Buck Pierce made a point of keeping the game ball after the Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 49-29 in their CFL season opener Friday night.

It was the ball he heaved almost 50 yards to slotback Terrence Edwards, which Edwards turned into a 90-yard touchdown.

"It's the first one (TD) in blue and gold," said Pierce, who signed with Winnipeg in April after five seasons with the B.C. Lions.

The ball was also special for another reason.

"That's probably the longest (TD pass) in my career," Pierce said.

He was right. His previous was 79 yards.

"It was nice," Pierce said with a smile. "I even caught myself looking at the ball in the air a little bit, thinking, `That's kind of a pretty ball flying through the air.' Not a flutter or anything and Terrence ran under it and he did the rest."

Pierce completed 17-of-25 pass attempts for 291 yards with two TD passes to Edwards and no interceptions in front of 26,302 fans at Canad Inns Stadium.

And the 28-year-old, who has a reputation for being injury prone, also ran six times for 89 yards, including a 13-yard TD. His longest run was 30 yards.

The Bombers finished with 502 yards total offence, compared to Hamilton's 290 yards.

"We were put in tough situations and guys stepped up and guys answered," Pierce said. "I'm thrilled about that. I think everyone should be thrilled about that."

But the six-year veteran also had words of caution.

"It is early," Pierce said. "And I'll always be that guy that says, `Hey, we've got work to do.'

"But it's a great, great start and I'm excited for everybody. Now it's just continue to build on what we've done tonight."

The first victory for rookie head coach Paul LaPolice was also sweet for last season's Winnipeg players. Hamilton had defeated the Bombers 39-17 in Winnipeg in the final regular-season game of 2009, a victory that kept the Bombers out of the playoffs.

LaPolice was also cautious about reading too much into the victory, but he thought his players did a tremendous job.

"There was some adversity through the course of the game," LaPolice said. "I don't know who was playing defensive back for us at the end of the game. We had a bunch of injuries, and the guys still found a way to make plays."

Edwards had TD catches of 90 and 27 yards and Bombers linebacker Pierre-Luc Labbe scored on a fumble recovery in the end zone after teammate Brady Browne blocked a punt by Hamilton's Justin Palardy.

Backup Winnipeg QB Steven Jyles came into the fourth quarter for a one-yard TD plunge and Pierce scored his TD at 11:27 of the fourth.

Bombers kicker Alexis Serna connected on field goals from 26, 12 and 36 yards and added singles off a kickoff and a missed 32-yard field-goal attempt.

Winnipeg punter Mike Renaud had a 79-yard punt single and Palardy conceded a safety to add to Winnipeg's total.

Ticats backup running back Marcus Thigpen returned the game's opening kickoff 93 yards for a TD. He added another touchdown when he ran back a missed field-goal attempt 118 yards early in the fourth quarter.

The rookie out of Indiana said he's had a few touchdown returns in college, but only one in a game.

"It was a great feeling," Thigpen said. "I had some great blockers up front and I give them credit."

Marquay McDaniel scored the Ticats' other touchdown on an eight-yard reception. New Hamilton kicker Sandro DeAngelis had a single and field goals from 42 and 22 yards. Palardy also had a single.

Hamilton QB Kevin Glenn was 15-of-29 for 197 yards, one TD, one interception and one fumble.

Glenn said the offence just didn't execute. "It's a big disappointment, but at the same time it's only one game," Glenn said. "We can't dwell on it, it's over with.

"We've got 17 more and we can't hit the panic button now. Nobody makes the playoffs in the first week of the season and nobody wins the Grey Cup in the first week of the season."

The game started on a sour note for Winnipeg with Thigpen's kickoff return for a TD, but 18 straight points in the second quarter gave them a 24-9 lead at halftime.

LaPolice said he was proud his team didn't cave after Thigpen's TD, especially his first one.

"Our guys just said, `Ah, no problem.' And then we responded and went down and scored (a Serna field goal)," LaPolice said.

The same response followed after Thigpen's second TD, when Jyles plunged across the goal-line.

"We took a drive and went right down the field and scored and matched their intensity and took the wind out of their sails," LaPolice said.

"I'm really proud of the men. They did a tremendous job."