CFL Week 3 Wrap

 

WINNIPEG 27 BC 14

VANCOUVER – Zach Collaros threw for 179 yards with two touchdowns on Saturday, powering the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to a 27-14 victory over the B.C. Lions in his first game of the CFL season.

The veteran quarterback connected on 18 of his 25 attempts and had two interceptions after missing Winnipeg’s season opener last week due to suspension for failing to respond to an off-season drug-testing request.

Jeremiah Masoli was 25-for-44, passing for 281 yards with one major and two interceptions in his first-ever start for the Lions (1-2). The 36-year-old American quarterback replaced Nathan Rourke as starter after Rourke suffered a core injury in B.C.’s 34-20 loss to the Blue Bombers last week. 

Winnipeg (2-0) was also without one of its stars in Saturday’s rematch as Brady Oliveira sat out with a shoulder injury he picked up against the Lions. 

Collaros wasted no time in finding his form Saturday.

Just over seven minutes into the game, the veteran escaped the pocket under pressure and hurled a rainbow into the far corner of the end zone where Dalton Schoen jumped up to make the grab. The 15-yard touchdown pass capped a 72-yard, 12-play scoring drive. 

Bomber kicker Sergio Castillo upped Winnipeg’s lead to 20-3 early in the third quarter with a 38-yard field goal. 

The Lions refused to go quietly, though. 

Masoli and his team steadily worked their way up the field and inside Winnipeg’s 10-yard line, where they were stymied by the Bombers defence and turned the ball over on downs with less than five minutes to go.

Another interception gave B.C. a final prime opportunity late in the fourth quarter. 

Robert Carter Jr. nabbed Collaros’ pass inside Winnipeg territory and the Lions capitalized, with Masoli firing a seven-yard dart to Jevon Cottoy just over the goal line. 

The QB then handed off to Butler, who rushed in for a two-point convert that sealed the score at 27-14.

UP NEXT

Blue Bombers: Host the Edmonton Elks on Thursday.

Lions: Visit the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday, June 28. 

 

 

OTTAWA 20 CALGARY 12

CALGARY  – It took the Ottawa Redblacks until deep into the fourth quarter against the Calgary Stampeders to score the game’s only touchdown.

Once quarterback Dustin Crum tossed a seven-yard TD pass to Daniel Adeboboye with 5:02 left on the clock, Ottawa coach Bob Dyce was able to breathe a big sigh of relief.

“I felt that really the team that scored a touchdown was going to have the upper hand,” said Dyce, whose team held on to secure a 20-12 CFL victory over the Stampeders at McMahon Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Until Adeboboye’s clutch catch, both teams had to settle for points off of field goals, singles and one safety by the Stamps on a cold, windy and rainy afternoon in front of far less than the official announced attendance of 16,584.

Lewis Ward kicked four field goals for the Redblacks (1-2), while Richie Leone added a single.

Adeboboye said the inclement weather only served to provide more motivation for the Redblacks, who were looking to record their first win of the season.

“Honestly, I think that the conditions were probably the best thing that we could have asked for,” Adeboboye said. “Everyone felt like they needed to bring the energy today, and that’s something that we brought in today that maybe we lacked in the past. Everyone realized that we had to lock in mentally. We brought the energy and we just fed off of each other and it was a blessing.”

Rene Paredes finished the game with three field goals for the Stampeders (2-1), while Fraser Masin had a single. Jaylon Hutchings tackled Crum in the end zone for a safety to account for Calgary’s other two points.

“It was a really hard-fought game,” said Calgary coach Dave Dickenson. “For us, we couldn’t convert on the third downs, especially in tight.”

On two occasions in the first half, Dickenson opted to leave his offence on the field in an attempt to score touchdowns instead of settling for field goals.

“I thought it was the right thing,” Dickenson said. “I thought if you could get a lead and get some touchdowns, I really felt it would be hard for another team to catch up. We were in good positions if we could have converted some of those.”

UP NEXT

Redblacks: Host the Toronto Argonauts on Sunday, June 29.

Stampeders: Host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Thursday, July 3.

 

 

SASKATCHEWAN 39 TORONTO 32

TORONTO – Mario Alford’s 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown with nine seconds to play rallied the Saskatchewan Roughriders to a stirring 39-32 win over the ailing Toronto Argonauts on Friday night.

Alford’s return right came after Toronto’s Nick Arbuckle made it 32-32. Arbuckle capped a 70-yard, nine-drive with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Mital, then found Dejon Brissett for the two-point convert.

Arbuckle’s heroics came after Brett Lauther missed a 33-yard field goal at 12:58 to put Saskatchewan (3-0) ahead 32-24 and keep Toronto (0-3) in the game.

Tommy Stevens’ two-yard scoring run at 4:38 put Saskatchewan ahead 31-21. Lirim Hajrullahu’s 25-yard field goal at 8:02 pulled Toronto to within 31-24.

Saskatchewan’s wins have all come against East Division teams.

Toronto — 0-3 for the first time since 2019 — came into the contest short-handed.

Quarterback Chad Kelly (leg) and receiver/returner Janarion Grant both missed their third straight game for Toronto. Joining them among the Argos walking wounded were linebackers Wynton McManis (knee) and Jack Cassar (adductor), running back Deonta McMahon (ankle), receiver DaVaris Daniels (hip), defensive lineman Demarcus Christmas (Achilles) and offensive linemen Sage Doxtater (knee), Dylan Giffen (back) and Darius Ciraco (foot). Then in the first half, Toronto lost linebacker Kenneth George Jr. (leg) and defensive lineman Derek Parish (foot).

The contest was a chippy one as the teams combined for 29 penalties for 307 yards (Saskatchewan had 18 for 178 yards, Toronto had 11 for 129 yards) before a BMO Field gathering of 12,025.

Brissett and Jarret Doege also scored touchdowns for Toronto. Jake Herslow added a two-point convert, while Hajrullahu booted a convert and three field goals.

Dohnte Meyers, with two, and A.J. Ouellette scored Saskatchewan’s other touchdowns. Lauther kicked five converts and a field goal.

UP NEXT

Roughriders: Host the B.C. Lions on Saturday, June 28.

Argonauts: Visit the Ottawa Redblacks on Sunday, June 29.

 

 

MONTREAL 38 EDMONTON 28

EDMONTON – The Montreal Alouettes are off to their traditional solid start.

Tyson Philpot reeled in a pair of touchdown passes as the Alouettes remained perfect on the year with a 38-28 victory over the Edmonton Elks on Thursday.

Montreal is 3-0 to start the current campaign, and 9-0 in June over the past three seasons.

“You want to win them all, I don’t think we are conceding one. We prepare to win every week,” said Montreal head coach Jason Maas. “The expectations are very high in our locker room. We are going to continue to grind and to work to get better and to make this start count. We’ve played three games and won them all and want to continue down that trend.”

Quarterback Davis Alexander passed for 210 yards and three touchdowns before leaving the game in the third quarter with a hamstring injury.

“It’s just something I’ve been dealing with for a little bit,” he said. “It was kind of more cautionary to not go back into the game. We were up 24-6 going on a drive and we didn’t necessarily need the risk there.”

Edmonton is off to another poor start to the season, dropping to 0-2. The Elks were 0-7 to start last season and 0-9 in 2023.

However, they did manage to score 22 points in the final quarter to offer some hope going forward.

“We have fight on our football team,” said Elks head coach Mark Kilam. “We just got in a hole early, too many explosions on defence. That’s on the coaching staff, we’ve got to get that cleaned up.

“Our offence took a step tonight, which is a positive, but we’re still looking for that complete team effort.”

The Elks struck on their opening drive as Vincent Blanchard kicked a 42-yard field goal, welcome news after missing both attempts in his team’s first game.

Montreal answered right back on its first possession as Alexander marched down the field before connecting with Philpot on a six-yard touchdown pass.

The Alouettes added to their lead late in the first quarter as a 54-yard pass to Charleston Rambo set up a second strike to Philpot, this time a 13-yard TD reception.

Edmonton got a second field goal from Blanchard, from 32 yards, six minutes into the second.

Montreal almost had a third major after a long pass interference call against the Elks, but was forced to accept an 11-yard Jose Maltos field goal.

The Alouettes continued to dominate with a 38-yard bomb from Alexander to a wide-open Tyler Snead in the end zone with two minutes to play in the first half.

The Elks looked poised to cut into the lead just before the end of the first half but a long pass by starting quarterback Tre Ford into the end zone was intercepted by Kabion Ento to keep it 24-6.

There was definite cause for concern midway through the third as Alexander clutched his thigh while running after delivering a ball and went down. He left the game and didn’t return, with McLeod Bethel-Thompson coming in as his replacement.

After a punt single, Montreal added a 26-yard Maltos field goal to close out the third.

The Elks finally gave their crowd a reason to cheer to start the fourth as Ford took it in himself for an 18-yard rushing TD, adding a two-point convert pass to Justin Rankin.

Maltos responded with his third field goal from 32 yards before Montreal added a 23-yard rushing major from Sean Thomas-Erlington.

To its credit, Edmonton kept pushing as Ford found Kurleigh Gittens Jr. for a 33-yard touchdown with six minutes left and then went even deeper with a 51-yard TD bomb to Kaion Julien-Grant with 2:35 to play.

NOTES

Alexander is now 7-0 as a starting QB, tying Jeff Garcia and Bo Levi Mitchell for the second-best starts in CFL history. Danny McManus holds the record with an 8-0 record to launch his career … Ford passed the 300-completion and 4,000-yard marks for his career.

UP NEXT

Alouettes: Visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday, June 27.

Elks: Are in Winnipeg to face the Blue Bombers on Thursday, June 26.

(Canadian Press)