Blue Bombers Clinch First In CFL West

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers came to Montreal on Saturday afternoon with a mission: to clinch top spot in the CFL’s West Division.

Thanks to Sergio Castillo’s 51-yard field goal on the final play of the game, the Bombers accomplished just that, defeating the Alouettes 28-27 in front of a sold-out crowd at Percival Molson Stadium.

Trailing by two as time wound down in the fourth quarter, veteran kicker Castillo booted his fifth field goal of the game to help Winnipeg (11-7) clinch its fourth straight division title and home-field advantage for the West Division final.

“We’ve done it a bunch of different ways,” Winnipeg head coach Mike O’Shea said. “The statistics will say that it is important, but if we didn’t get this win, I would have said it was unimportant.

“I don’t think we’re going to put too much stock into it. It just gives us some time to get healthier and keep working.”

Blue Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros went 24-for 32, throwing for 331 yards and one touchdown.

“What a turn of the events there the last few minutes,” Collaros said. “It started to rain or hail a little bit with some swirling wind. (Castillo) made a huge kick for us. He’s done it time and time again.”

Wide receiver Nic Demski finished with a touchdown on 90 yards, allowing him to surpass 1,000 yards for the second straight season.

Alouettes starting quarterback Cody Fajardo completed 16 of his 20 passes for 171 yards and one passing touchdown in just under three quarters of action. Backup quarterback Davis Alexander took over behind centre late in the third quarter, finishing 7-of-9 passing for 100 yards and one rushing touchdown.

“We showed up tonight,” Fajardo said. “We showed that we weren’t going to lay down for anyone. Our philosophy going into this game was this was our first real playoff game against a really good team that was going to give us everything they got. We took them to the wire, so I’m proud of the guys.”

Montreal (12-5-1) had already clinched top spot in the East Division, a feat they accomplished for the first time since 2012.

Montreal linebacker Tyrice Beverette had five tackles, giving him 103 on the season. In so doing, he became just the seventh Alouette to ever surpass 100 tackles in a single season. He also added his fifth sack in the contest.

UP NEXT

Alouettes: Host the East Division final on Saturday, Nov. 9.

Blue Bombers: Host the West Division final on Saturday, Nov. 9.

(Canadian Press)