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The Saskatchewan Roughriders didn’t have an answer for a prolific Winnipeg Blue Bombers offence on Saturday.
The Bombers scored on all but one of their drives, including five first-half touchdown passes from quarterback Zach Collaros, to easily secure a 51-6 CFL victory over the Roughriders at IG Field in the Banjo Bowl.
After the Riders earned a hard-fought 32-30 overtime win in the Labour Day Classic in Regina, Winnipeg punched back early and often in the rematch.
The Riders’ defence didn’t have an answer for Collaros and the Bombers, who built up a 42-6 halftime lead. Collaros threw for 319 yards and five touchdowns in the game before Dru Brown came into the game in relief in the fourth quarter.
Riders head coach Craig Dickenson said he was disappointed his team couldn’t even keep the game close with their rivals.
“The team is disappointed. We knew what we were in for from the very get-go but we just didn’t match their energy. We couldn’t stop them and couldn’t sustain drives,” Dickenson said.
“Credit to them — they played an outstanding game but the men in our locker room know we are better than that and we have to play better than that going forward.”
Bombers tailback Brady Oliveira had 154 yards on the ground along with 57 yards receiving and a touchdown.
Riders linebacker Larry Dean said their inability to stop the run was a big part of why the defence struggled to contain the Bombers’ offence.
“I start with myself being a linebacker — that is what I pride myself on is being able to stop the run. Today, we didn’t get the job done led by me and I have to do better,” said Dean, who had seven tackles in the game.
The Bombers didn’t punt the ball until there were about 30 seconds left in the game.
Riders quarterback Jake Dolegala completed 15 of 21 pass attempts for 113 yards as the Bombers had pressure on the 26-year-old through a lot of the game. Winnipeg ended up with three sacks.
Dolegala said there were plays to be made in the game but the Riders couldn’t find a way to connect on them.
“It was the same philosophy as last week — I was trying to take what I was given,” Dolegala said. “They did a really good job and you have to give props to them … Some of the stuff we had last week just wasn’t there.
“We have to play better and we have to get back to the drawing board and refocus.”
The Riders’ offence not only had to deal with the loud noise emitting from the fans in Winnipeg, but also two new offensive linemen. Logan Bandy played guard for Evan Johnson (foot) while Brandon Council played tackle with Colin Kelly suffering a knee injury last week.
“Those guys did a great job. You can’t put it on just two guys — it’s a collective unit out there,” Dolegala said. “I don’t think any of us had our best game and playing these guys, you need to.”
Shea Patterson was eventually brought into the game late in the fourth quarter, throwing for 26 yards.
Once again the Riders’ rushing attack struggled, with Canadian rookie Thomas Bertrand-Hudon leading the way with 41 yards on five carries.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ Dalton Schoen (83) runs for the first down against the Saskatchewan Roughriders during the first half of CFL football action in Winnipeg on Sept. 9, 2023. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods)
While no Riders receiver had more than 50 yards in the game — Sam Emilus led the way with 41 — Winnipeg’s Dalton Schoen and Kenny Lawler each had 104. Schoen had three touchdowns in the game while Lawler had one.
Riders kicker Brett Lauther was good on his first two field-goal attempts, making it 20 in a row for him, but he missed in the fourth quarter on a 41-yard attempt.
Bombers kicker Sergio Castillo was good on all three of his field-goal attempts.
The Bombers improved to 10-3-0 and clinched a playoff spot. Saskatchewan fell to 6-6-0.
Saskatchewan will look to get back into the win column against the Edmonton Elks on Friday.
“It’s a big one next week. We have to flush this one (and) we have to learn from it,” Dolegala said. “That’s the biggest thing — we have to learn from it and where we went wrong and fix those things.
“All our focus is on Edmonton now and we have to go get them in our house.”
