BOMBERS, LIONS NOTCH ROAD WINS ON CFL SATURDAY
EDMONTON – The defence turned the tide for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Saturday.
DeAundre Alford and Adam Bighill recorded defensive touchdowns as the league-leading Blue Bombers fought their way past the Edmonton Elks 37-22.
“Our defence, scoring two touchdowns for us, that is absolutely amazing when they are able to create turnovers like that and capitalize on them with points on the board,” said Winnipeg running back Andrew Harris.
“Our defence has been our backbone. They really flexed when we needed them to.”
Alford had two touchdowns in the contest.
“I think this is the best defence in the CFL and that we put everybody on notice that we are going to play fast and physical,” he said. “That we are going to do whatever it takes to win.”
The Blue Bombers (6-1) have won four games in a row while the Elks (2-4) have lost two straight and fell to 0-4 at home this season.
Elks quarterback Taylor Cornelius went 19 for 33 and passed for 243 yards with three interceptions in his CFL debut as he replaced Trevor Harris, who was placed on the six-game injured list with a neck injury.
“I thought he played really poised,” said Elks head coach Jaime Elizondo. “Listen, for having one day of practice, I thought he came out and showed some things that were really, really encouraging and I thought the guys responded really well to him.
“He didn’t get flustered. I know he’s going to be hard on himself with the mistakes he made. But those interceptions were a credit to the defence, they had some good breaks on the ball.”
Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros went 19 of 24 passing for 252 yards, a TD and an interception.
Winnipeg got off to a blazing start by scoring on its first drive, going 80 yards in nine plays, capped off by a 12-yard touchdown pass from Collaros to Darvin Adams.
The Blue Bombers doubled their lead on their next drive as Nic Demski ploughed his way through several defenders for a 21-yard rushing major to make it 14-0.
Edmonton got back into the game midway through the second thanks to a Christian Rector fumble recovery on the Bombers’ nine-yard-line, leading to a James Wilder Jr. touchdown run.
Winnipeg kicker Ali Mourtada missed a 28-yard field goal attempt before Edmonton’s Sean Whyte nailed a three-pointer from 44 yards out to make it 15-10 at the mid-mark.
Edmonton surged into the lead early in the third quarter with an unconverted 19-yard TD run by Wilder.
However the Bombers regained the lead as Alford picked off Cornelius and took it back 22 yards for the touchdown. A two-point convert made it 23-16 for Winnipeg.
Whyte responded with a 32-yard field goal before Mourtada missed his third field goal attempt of the game from 44 yards.
The Bombers defence did it again late in the third as Cornelius fumbled deep in his own end, leading to a three-yard scoop and score by Bighill.
After Whyte kicked a 19-yard field goal, Winnipeg put the game away with a one-yard TD plunge by Sean McGuire.
Both teams have a bye next week. The Elks’ next game will be in Ottawa on Sept. 28, while the Bombers will be in B.C. on Oct. 1. Winnipeg and Edmonton will then play each other again in a home-and-home series.
Notes: Two highly anticipated players made their Elks debuts: offensive lineman SirVincent Rogers and linebacker Derrick Moncrief. … Winnipeg was trying its third place-kicker of the season with Mourtada making his CFL debut, relegating rookie Marc Liegghio to punting duties.
MONTREAL – The B.C. Lions managed to keep the CFL’s top-scoring offence out of the end zone to win their third straight contest.
The Lions limited the Montreal Alouettes to six field goals and no touchdowns in a 27-18 road win Saturday.
“That’s what we aspire to do,” said defensive back T.J. Lee. “To come out and execute and have that bend-don’t-break mentality and capitalize on their mistakes is pretty much what we did.”
Mike Reilly went 21 for 25 passing for 308 yards and two touchdowns for the Lions (4-2). Lucky Whitehead caught all six passes thrown his way for 133 yards and a touchdown.
The Lions jumped to a first-quarter lead and never trailed.
Alouettes (2-3) kicker David Cote was the only source of offence for the home side in front of 13,591 fans at Percival Molson Stadium. Cote scored all 18 points for Montreal.
The game was played in the final 20 yards before the end zone, according to assistant coach Andre Bolduc, who was calling the plays for Montreal with head coach Khari Jones in COVID-19 isolation.
The Alouettes were just not able to get the upper hand on a Lions defence that blocked a franchise-record 13 passes to deny the hosts a first win at home this season.
“There was certainly a lack of opportunism,” Bolduc said. “When you get to the red zone and all you could do is field goals all night, you put yourself in a position where you’re going to run out of time at some point.
“I would’ve liked to see the receivers make big catches. Credit to B.C., they’ve done that all night.”
Als quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. went 16 of 36 for 270 yards and two interceptions. William Stanback had a big game for Montreal, running for 139 yards on 18 carries. Receiver Eugene Lewis led his side with 85 yards.
The Lions got on the scoresheet first on their first drive of the night. Canadian quarterback Nathan Rourke tapped in for Reilly on third down with one yard to go in the red zone and zoomed to his left for a 17-yard run. Running back James Butler confirmed the touchdown with a short two-yard run giving B.C. a 7-0 lead.
Adams tried to respond with a touchdown pass but was intercepted inside the end zone by Lee. After seven weeks of the CFL season, the Lions are the only team to record at least one interception in every game.
“We didn’t capitalize when we got in the red zone. It’s got to be better as a whole,” Adams said. “The (first half) interception in the end zone set us back, but we just gotta get down there and make plays. We all gotta make plays and it starts with me.”
With the Alouettes offence failing to convert in the red zone, Cote was kept busy in the second quarter. The Alouettes kicker completed three field goals, including a 49-yard attempt in the final moments of the quarter, to keep his team within five points at halftime.
At the start of the second half, the Alouettes reached the red zone for the third time of the game. Adams tried connecting with Dante Absher but his pass was knocked down by Jalon Edwards-Cooper. Cote stepped up and completed his fifth field goal of the night to cut the deficit to two points.
The Lions took control of the contest when Reilly threw his second touchdown pass of the game. With 9:03 to go in the fourth quarter, Reilly found Keon Hatcher for a 17-yard pass to bring the score to 24-15.
“I thought we made the plays we needed to make when we needed to,” said Lions head coach Rick Campbell. “There were a couple of times we went backwards on penalties, which hurts us, but we made big plays and we stepped up.
“Playing on the road like this, in the fourth quarter when you need plays to be made, our offence did it so good for them.”
Cote converted his sixth field goal of the night with 4:31 to go in the game to bring the Als within one major score. But Lions kicker Jimmy Camacho added a late field goal of his own, his second of the night, to seal the win.
Cote joined Terry Baker, Damon Duval and Colt David as the fourth Alouettes player to score at least six field goals in a single game.
“When my name is called, I need to make the points and the field goals, so I made it,” Cote said. “But it doesn’t taste as good if we don’t get the win at the end of the day. Personally it’s a good day but I would’ve taken a couple less field goals for a win, of course.”
The Lions host the Saskatchewan Roughriders next. The Alouettes embark on a two-game road trip, beginning with a Friday night clash against the Toronto Argonauts.
(Canadian Press/Photo: Blue Bombers, Lions)
