Two weeks after allowing a stunning 48 points in a loss to Hamilton, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers defence looked like its usual self again Friday night.
The Bombers forced six turnovers, Zach Collaros had four touchdown passes, and the Bombers defeated the Saskatchewan Roughriders 31-13 in front of a sold-out crowd at IG Field.
The win moves the Blue and Gold to 13-2 on the season, and a step closer to clinching the West Division.
It was Winnipeg’s third win against Saskatchewan this month and the victory assured the Bombers of a home playoff game in November.
Saskatchewan drops their fourth straight game, now 6-9 on the season, and will be battling to stay in the crossover spot for the rest of the year.
After the Riders opened the scoring on a 25-yard Brett Lauther field goal, the Bombers offence drove 70 yards for the game’s first touchdown, capped off by a 36-yard pass from Collaros to Rasheed Bailey.
It was Bailey’s third straight game with a touchdown and his sixth of the season, a CFL career-high for him.
The score remained 7-3 heading into the second quarter, where less than a minute in, Bombers kicker Marc Liegghio made a 22-yard chip shot field goal to extend the lead to 10-3.
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It stayed that way until late in the quarter when Bombers defensive back Jamal Parker intercepted Riders QB Cody Fajardo and returned it to the Saskatchewan 37. A few plays later, Collaros found Nic Demski in the back of the endzone for a 25-yard score with 19 seconds left to give the Bombers a 17-3 lead at the half.
The Riders drove down the field to begin the third quarter but Fajardo bobbled a snap at the Winnipeg 20 which was recovered by the Bombers.
On their next possession however, the Riders kept it together and Fajardo was able to find the endzone on a run from seven yards out to cut the lead to 17-10 midway through the quarter.
The game moved into the fourth quarter, where the Riders again put together a solid drive, that ended with a 14-yard Lauther field goal and it was 17-13.
But then the Bombers offence, which had a very quiet third quarter, turned it on the fourth as Collaros found Demski for a 42-yard touchdown, and then on the next drive, Collaros hooked up with Dalton Schoen for a 64-yard major.
Demski now has nine touchdowns on the season and has scored in five straight games, while Schoen cruised past the 1,000-yard receiving mark for the season in this one recording 125 yards on four catches and he now has 1,119 receiving yards.
Next up for the Bombers is another game at home, next Saturday night against the 4-10 Edmonton Elks. The pregame show begins on 680 CJOB at 4 p.m., with kickoff just after 6 p.m.
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