Blue Bombers clinch playoffs with dominant showing against Elks
WINNIPEG — For the eighth season running, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are playoff-bound. The Bombers wrapped up their home-and-home series with the Edmonton Elks in dominant fashion on Friday night, winning their seventh straight game by a scoreline of 55-27 at Princess Auto Stadium.
The Bombers got off to a hot start and never looked back, with Zach Collaros and the Winnipeg offence scoring on eight of their 12 drives for their 12th consecutive victory over Edmonton. Collaros had a picture-perfect night from inside the pocket, finishing 21-26 with a season-high 432 passing yards and a career-high six touchdowns through the air.
Both Kenny Lawler and Nic Demski went for over 100 yards receiving and two touchdowns in the contest. Brady Oliveira had 86 yards on 16 carries as well as a 33-yard receiving score.
Getting the start for Edmonton, McLeod Bethel-Thompson went 19-34 for 223 yards and three passing touchdowns. Running back Justin Rankin put up another strong performance on the ground, going for 109 yards on 14 rushes.
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Winnipeg got into the lead after an early turnover scare. Lawler was ruled to have lost a fumble after taking a hit from Marcus Lewis but a review by the command centre judged that he was down by contact before seeing the football slip away. A couple of plays later, Collaros looked deep to find Demski who went over the top and into the end zone for a 40-yard passing play and six points.
The Winnipeg offence put together another strong drive with their second possession to add to their advantage. After a pass-heavy opening drive this time around it was Oliveira attacking the Elks defence, getting loose for multiple strong runs before Sergio Castillo booted in a 39-yard field goal to make it 10-0.
After stopping a Dakota Prucop quarterback sneak on third down, Collaros got back onto the field and created his second big play of the day. With the first play of their third possession, Collaros connected with Keric Wheatfall down the right sideline for a 61-yard completion, putting Winnipeg up 17-0 after the first quarter.
The Bombers’ offence didn’t slow down going into the second quarter. A neat catch and run by Demski got Winnipeg 20 yards and then a couple of plays later Collaros checked down to Oliveira who barrelled forward for a 33-yard scoring play which included a spin move and broken tackles.
Things went from bad to worse for the Elks midway through the second quarter when Rankin fumbled a backwards pass from Bethel-Thompson. The Edmonton running back was unable to control the ball and TyJuan Garbutt was the beneficiary, taking it 62 yards to the house.
Rankin responded well after his turnover, breaking through for a 47-yard run on Edmonton’s next drive. Three plays later the Elks put up their first points of the game, settling for an 18-yard Boris Bede field goal to make it 31-3.
Winnipeg would answer back with a field goal of their own before halftime after Demski got low to make an impressive catch and gain 46 yards for his team. Bethel-Thompson then led his team the other way on the final drive of the half, with another Bede field goal making it 34-6 at the break.
The Elks got off to a much-needed hot start to start the second half. A big kick return by Dillon Mitchell meant that Edmonton would start their first offensive possession of the third quarter at midfield. Facing third down, Rankin dashed for 30 yards to bring the Elks into the red zone. From there, Bethel-Thompson delivered a throw to Eugene Lewis inside the end zone to give the visitors their first touchdown of the evening and a bit of hope.
Edmonton still didn’t have an answer for the Winnipeg offence after the break as the Bombers replied with a touchdown of their own on their opening drive of the half. A terrific one-handed grab by Lawler gave the hosts 20 yards and it was Lawler again who finished off the drive with a catch in the end zone to make it 41-13.
Another quick touchdown drive by the Elks brought them to within 21 points, but once again, Winnipeg maintained their cushion with a scoring drive of their own. Lucky Whitehead‘s 40-yard return and another great pickup by Lawler on second down helped the Bombers move the ball downfield and Demski ended the possession with his second touchdown grab of the game.
Lawler too would end his day with two touchdowns after coming down with a seven-yard pass midway through the fourth quarter. As time expired, Mitchell brought down a touchdown catch to leave the score at 55-27 from Princess Auto Stadium.
In Week 18 the Blue Bombers will be in Hamilton to go up against the Tiger-Cats on Friday, October 4. The Elks meanwhile will return home to host the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday, October 5.
