Andrew Harris rushed for 150 yards and two touchdowns as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers extended their winning streak to six games with a 30-3 loss to the Edmonton Elks on Friday.
It was the twenty-seventh time in his 11-year career that the Winnipeg-born Harris rushed more than 100 yards in one game. He scored both of his TDs in the fourth quarter.
The Bombers increased their CFL record to 8-1, while the Elks suffered their fourth loss in a row and fell to 2-6.
Winnipeg has now won 16 of its last 17 games at IG Field, with 27,388 fans attending Friday’s game.
Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros completed 16 of 27 pass attempts for 207 yards with a 16-yard TD shot to Nic Demski and an interception.
Edmonton quarterback Trevor Harris, in his first start after missing two games with a neck injury, completed 9 of 22 passes for 87 yards and there were no picks.
He was replaced by Taylor Cornelius three minutes into the fourth, who completed 6 of 13 for 47 yards and an interception.
Bomber kicker Ali Mouinada had a difficult outing. He made 2 of 3 conversion attempts, connected on a 24-yard field goal, but missed three 41, 47 and 46-yard field goal attempts.
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Edmonton punter Hugh O’Neill gave up three sacks and the Elks also gave up a single.
Sean Whyte scored Edmonton’s only points on a 32-yard field goal.
Winnipeg led 9-0 after the first quarter, 11-3 at halftime and 17-3 after the third.
Both teams’ offenses got off to a shaky start in the first half. Harris didn’t complete a pass until about six minutes after the second quarter.
Winnipeg’s missed opportunities began with the first pass of the game, when defensive back DeAundre Alford dropped a pass that Harris inadvertently threw at him.
The Bombers reached the Edmonton one-yard line on their first possession, but backup quarterback Sean McGuire got on the third down.
The Elks couldn’t get out of deep field position and O’Neill conceded a safety to give Winnipeg a 2-0 lead at 6:57 in the first quarter.
With the help of a pass interference call to Edmonton, Winnipeg used his next possession to throw a nine-play, 68-yard drive that ended with Demski’s 16-yard TD reception.
The Elks gave up another safety 25 seconds into the second quarter, and Harris was 0-for-6 at the time and Winnipeg led 11-0.
The Bombers reached Edmonton’s nine-yard line, but Collaros’s shot into the end zone was intercepted by defensive back Jordan Hoover, who rushed for 70 yards before being dropped.
The loss brought Whyte to 32 yards at 7:24, a drive that included Harris’s first complete pass. It was 1 of 8 at the time.
At halftime, Harris was 5 of 16 for 50 yards. Collaros was 11 of 19 for 139 yards with a TD and an interception.
Both teams lost offensive linemen to injuries in the second quarter. Sir Vincent Rogers was sidelined for Edmonton and Jermarcus Hardrick left for Winnipeg.
Bombers defensive back Deatrick Nichols blocked O’Neill’s punt early in the third quarter and teammate Johnny Augustine rallied.
The big play led to Mourard’s 24-yard field goal and a 14-3 lead at 4:13.
O’Neill gave a safety, and then the Elks gave up a single on a failed 46-yard field goal attempt by Mouinada.
Cornelius’s first drive of the game ended with a fumble, and his last pitch of the game was an interception by Alford with 24 seconds to go.
© 2021 The Canadian Press
Reference-globalnews.ca