CFL: Roughriders hold off Bombers to win on OK Tire Labour Day Weekend

The Saskatchewan Roughriders held off a furious Winnipeg Blue Bombers comeback in the fourth quarter to win on OK Tire Labour Day Weekend.

Winnipeg made things interesting late in the game, scoring off a turnover with under five minutes left. Mario Alford fumbled on a punt return and the Bombers’ Jake Kelly pounced on it, which led to a Keric Wheatfall touchdown. Then later on, with 30 seconds left in the game, Dalton Schoen scored a touchdown in his return to action, and then the Bombers tried for the two-point convert that would tie things up.

Tevaughn Campbell had other ideas, however, picking off the two-point convert attempt and running it back the other way for two points for his team’s 34-30 win.

That was one of a handful of big plays that the Riders defence had that made a difference as the team played complementary football all night long.

Malik Carney, who had a stellar outing on Sunday, knocked the ball loose from Zach Collaros and recovered it himself in the second quarter. That turnover led to AJ Ouellette’s touchdown, the first points for the home team of the day. The second turnover was courtesy of A.J. Allen and Jameer Thurman, who teamed up for a second forced fumble/fumble recovery. Mario Anderson cashed in with six points after that one, giving the Riders a two-score lead in the fourth.

Trevor Harris connected on 17 of 27 passes for 219 yards and a touchdown while Collaros was good on 26 of 37 pass attempts for 326 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception.

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» By the Numbers: Bombers at Riders

The rivalry game between the Riders and Bombers started with both teams’ defences digging in.

On second-and-10 on the Bombers’ second possession, Malik Carney made his second big play of the first quarter, powering his way through to get a sack on Collaros. The Riders’ defensive end also had a tackle for loss on Oliveira forcing a second-and-12 on Winnipeg’s first drive of the game. Winnipeg’s defence made a big play of their own on Saskatchewan’s ensuing drive with Kyrie Wilson doing his best Willie Jefferson impression, jumping up at the line of scrimmage and knocking down a Harris pass to force the Riders to punt.

Collaros decided he was going to take things into his own hands the next time he hit the field, going deep on three-straight throws as the first quarter was winding down. He missed on his first deep shot to Keric Wheatfall, with Tevaughn Campbell in tight coverage, getting his hand in front of the pass at the last minute. Collaros then connected with Nic Demski on his next throw for a 33-yard gain, bringing the Bombers close to midfield. Collaros went deep again on the next pass, this time targeting Kevens Clercius, who hauled in a spectacular catch while falling backwards for a 51-yard gain.

On the first play of the second quarter, Oliveira took the handoff and ran eight yards into the end zone, scoring the first points of Sunday’s contest. With Sergio Castillo’s convert, the Bombers took a 7-0 lead.

Pinned deep in their own zone, Harris and co. hit the field, but Winnipeg’s Cameron Lawson had a clutch sack that forced Harris to fumble, and Tony Jones recovered the ball, setting the stage for the Bomber offence to get right back to work. Saskatchewan’s defence bailed out their offence, however, and held the visitors to just a field goal attempt on the turnover. Castillo was good on his 10-yard try and increased the Winnipeg lead to 10-0.

Carney continued his dominant performance in the second quarter, using a swim move to blow past the Bombers’ offensive lineman and bring down Collaros for his second sack of the game. This time, he knocked the ball loose and recovered it himself, setting the Riders up on Winnipeg’s seven-yard line. The first play after the turnover, Harris handed off to AJ Ouellette, who powered into the end zone untouched. With Brett Lauther’s point after, the Riders cut Winnipeg’s lead to 10-7.

Following a Winnipeg punt, the Riders started their next drive deep in their own zone on their own eight-yard line. That wasn’t a problem for the home team, though, with Harris throwing his deepest pass of the day to Tommy Nield a few plays into the drive. The 69-yard catch-and-run gave the Riders their first lead of the day (14-10) inside the three-minute warning with momentum on their side.

Ali Saad got a timely sack, the first of his CFL career, on Collaros, forcing Winnipeg to try a field goal with under a minute left in the first half. Castillo missed his 50-yard try and the Riders kept their 14-10 lead into the half.

After scoring 14 unanswered points to finish the first half, the Riders kept the momentum going, scoring the first points of the second. Harris moved the chains into field goal range, and Lauther connected on his 34-yard attempt, increasing Saskatchewan’s lead to 17-10 with just under nine minutes on the clock.

Winnipeg responded with a scoring drive of their own, as Collaros rolled out of the pocket and connected with Demski in stride in the end zone. Demski hauled in the 22-yard major, and with Castillo’s point after, the game was tied.

The teams continued to match each other, this time with the home squad adding more points to their total. After starting the drive on their own 23, Harris and the Rider offence moved the chains deep into Winnipeg territory. Set up on the Bomber 26-yard line, Harris handed off to Mario Anderson who had a burst of speed to power through defenders and dashed into the end zone for a touchdown. Lauther missed his convert, and with three seconds left in the quarter, the Riders took back the lead (23-17).

Back-to-back penalties, an offensive pass interference and a time count violation, backed the Bombers up to second-and-26 and Saskatchewan’s defence continued to do what they do best: take the ball away. Oliveira took the handoff from Collaros and tried to get positive yardage, but A.J. Allen forced him to fumble, and Jameer Thurman recovered it.

The Riders scored six more points off a turnover, with a drive that consisted only of runs. Two rushes by Ouellette, nine yards and 13 yards, and an eight-yard gain by Tommy Stevens on third-and-short, wedged between Ouellette’s runs, set up Anderson to score his second major of the day. The five-yard touchdown along with the completed two-point convert to Ajou Ajou, in his return from the NFL, gave Saskatchewan a 31-17 lead with just under 10 minutes left in the game.

With just over five minutes left in the game, the Bombers punted the ball away, but Wilson knocked the ball out of returner Mario Alford’s hands and Jake Kelly pounced on it, giving Winnipeg back the ball and life as they tried for a comeback.

Collaros cashed in on that turnover, finding Wheatfall in the back of the end zone for a 33-yard score. With Castillo’s completed covert, Winnipeg cut Saskatchewan’s lead to just seven with four minutes left in the game.

The Riders got the ball back and strung together enough first downs to get down into Winnipeg territory. On third down, Harris punted the ball himself and Deatrick Nichols was tackled in the end zone for a safety. It was reviewed by the replay centre, however, and it was ruled a single instead of a safety. That increased the Riders lead to 32-24 with 1:21 on the clock.

Saskatchewan notched their fifth sack of the day on first down, setting up second-and-14, where Collaros threw out of bounds. Winnipeg went for it on third down on their own 36 and Collaros aired it out to Demski down field. There was a pass interference penalty called on Ford, setting up the Bombers on the Riders 17-yard line.

Dalton Schoen hauled in the major score with 30 seconds left in the game. Winnipeg went for two but Tevaughn Campbell picked off the attempt in the end zone and ran it back for two points for his team.

After an unsuccessful onside kick attempt, the Riders were in victory formation.

Next up for these two teams is the Labour Day Weekend rematch in Winnipeg on Saturday, September 6.