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BLUE BOMBERS 31 ROUGHRIDERS 13

WINNIPEG – Linebacker Adam Bighill relished the way the Winnipeg Blue Bombers defence bounced back from their worst performance of the season.

The defence forced six turnovers to key a 31-13 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders before a sold-out crowd of 33,234 fans at IG Field on Friday night.

Winnipeg, which had given up 48 points in a loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats two weeks ago, forced three turnovers on downs, a fumble and grabbed two interceptions to improve to 13-2 and clinch a home playoff game in the West.

“Our efficiency was pretty good,” Bighill said. “I mean, we had (Riders quarterback) Cody (Fajardo) running all over the place. We made some big plays on third down, got some takeaways, which we’ve lacked in the last little bit. That’s much more up to par.”

Winnipeg quarterback Zach Collaros completed 14-of-25 passes for 296 yards and four touchdowns. Collaros completed touchdown passes of 25 and 42 yards to slotback Nic Demski, 36 yards to wide receiver Rasheed Bailey and 64 yards to slotback Dalton Schoen. Kicker Marc Liegghio hit all four extra-point attempts and added a 22-yard field goal.

The 42-yarder to Demski and 64-yarder to Schoen in the fourth quarter salted the game away.

“It’s huge scoring touchdowns,” Collaros said. “It’s kind of the name of the game, especially with a defence like ours that was really rolling tonight. Being able to make (it) a two-score football game really changes the way you get to call a game. The defence was great all night, as was the special teams.”

Schoen scored his 11th TD of the season, which set a CFL record for a rookie receiver.

Saskatchewan fell to 6-9 but remains in the crossover playoff picture.

“We did some good things tonight,” said Fajardo. “We left a lot of plays on the field. We missed some plays, turned the ball over, stuff you can’t do against the defending Grey Cup champs in back-to-back years.

“We know what we have in that room. We moved the ball well. We talk about it every time we play these guys. They clamp down when we get into the red zone and make it very difficult for us to score touchdowns. We kick some field goals and that’s not how you win against them.”

Fajardo completed 26-of-38 passes for 307 yards and had one interception. He also ran for a seven-yard TD.

“I didn’t make plays when they had to be there,” Fajardo said. “I dropped a snap, which I’ve never done in my career. Those are tough things to do when we’re in the red zone. There’s a lot of plays that swing the momentum. We got stuffed twice on third-and-one.”

Riders head coach Craig Dickenson was encouraged by giving Winnipeg a scare when Saskatchewan closed to within 17-10 after Fajardo ran for a seven-yard touchdown.

“I thought we played a championship-calibre team pretty well tonight,” he said. “Midway through the third, I think everyone thought we had a chance to beat them, including our own guys. We let it get away on a couple of big plays here and there. But that’s a good football team and they know they played a good football team tonight, and I think we gained some respect across the room tonight.”

Riders kicker Brett Lauther connected from 14 yards to close the deficit to 17-13 in the fourth. He also converted on a 25-yard field goal in the first and hit the extra-point after the team’s lone TD.

The Riders, who are set to play the Tiger-Cats in Hamilton Oct. 7, see it as a must-win contest.

“Hamilton’s a win-or-go-home mentality for us,” Fajardo said. “If we win this game, we kind of control our own destiny a little bit. So, this is a playoff game for us to make the crossover. I think Hamilton knows that and it’s gonna be a playoff atmosphere. We’re excited about the opportunity.”

CFL

VANCOUVER – Quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. had his biggest game yet in a B.C. Lions jersey Friday night, propelling his team to a 34-19 victory over the ailing Ottawa Redblacks.

Adams threw for 305 yards and two touchdowns _ including his first for the Lions (10-4) _ and completed 17-of-21 attempts despite being sacked five times.

Antonio Pipkin muscled in two more majors for a B.C. side that amassed 455 yards of offence across the game.

It was another rough outing for the Redblacks (3-11) who repeatedly found their way into Lions’ territory only to see their final attempts stymied.

Ottawa QB Nick Arbuckle threw for 363 yards, a touchdown and an interception as his team dropped its third straight outing. He connected on 27-of-36 attempts and was sacked once.

Kicker Lewis Ward was responsible for the majority of the Redblacks’ points, making four-of-five field goal attempts, including a 47-yard kick.

NHL

Brett Kulak scored the winning goal just before the midway mark of the final period as the Edmonton Oilers pulled out a 2-1 victory over the Calgary Flames in N-H-L pre-season action. Leon Draisaitl scored Edmonton’s other goal, while Dillon Dube scored Calgary’s lone goal for the night.

Elsewhere:
Nashville 7 Tampa Bay 1
NY Rangers 2 New Jersey 1
Toronto 6 Ottawa 3
Washington 2 Detroit 0
Anaheim 4 San Jose 1
San Jose 7 Vegas 3

USPORTS

SASKATOON — After trailing at halftime, the No. 2 University of Saskatchewan Huskies flipped the script and shutout the No. 9 Manitoba Bisons in the final two quarters and finished with a 43-22 victory on Friday night at Griffiths Stadium in Nutrien Park.

While the score line indicated it was smooth sailing yet again for the undefeated Huskies, that certainly wasn’t the case in the game’s opening half. Other than Ted Kubongo‘s 96-yard run back, the Huskies struggled to find their footing offensively. The home side trailed by three at halftime and were penalized 14 times for 123 yards in the opening two quarters.

“It’s good to win. That’s a good football team,” said Huskies coach Scott Flory, when asked about the win. “I just told the team ‘I’m proud of how we responded. I’m not happy with what happened in the first half. Not only with the decisions that were made on the field — we just got to be smarter and better as a team.”

The Huskies were noticeably smarter in the second half — only committing one penalty for 10 yards in the final 30 minutes. The Huskies outscored the Bisons 24-0 in the second half to move to 5-0. The Huskies victory also checked off a number of boxes — 14-straight wins on home turf, the fifth 5-0 start in program history and the fourth-straight win over a Top 10 ranked team.

“We settled down and we came out in the second half and played the way we should play — the way we expect to play,” said Flory.

WHL

SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. – Zach Benson landed the first and the final punch in a two-goal effort as the Winnipeg Ice remained undefeated with a 5-0 win over the Swift Current Broncos on Friday.

Connor McClennon recorded a game-high four points behind one goal and three assists. Benson added an assist to his three-point total for the night. Owen Pederson added a goal and an assist.

Evan Friesen scored the other goal for Winnipeg (3-0-0). Daniel Hauser made 27 stops in a shutout effort.

Gage Alexander stopped 18 of the 23 shots he faced in the loss for Swift Current (1-2-0).

WARRIORS 4 RAIDERS 3

MOOSE JAW, SASK. — Jagger Firkus scored what proved to be the game winner as Moose Jaw (2-1-0) held on for the victory over Prince Albert (0-3-1). The Warrios went up 4-1 early in the third before surrendering two goals to Raiders’ Landon Kosior in the final eight minutes.

HURRICANES 5 TIGERS 4

LETHBRIDGE, ALTA. — Jett Jones netted two goals, including the game winner, as Lethbridge (1-1-0) handed Medicine Hat it’s first loss. The Hurricanes were up 5-2 early in the third before the Tigers attempted a late comeback with two goals.

COUGARS 6 ROCKETS 3

PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. — Hudson Thornton notched two goals and an assist as Prince George (2-1-0) cruised to victory over Kelowna (0-1-1). The Cougars were up 6-1 going into the final period where the Rockets put two more goals on the board.

GIANTS 4 ROYALS 1

LANGLEY, B.C. — Ty Halaburda scored a game-high two goals as Vancouver (1-1-0) defeated Victoria (0-3-0). Samuel Honzek and Kyren Gronick each had a goal and an assist in the win.

SILVERTIPS 4 AMERICANS 2

EVERETT, WA. — Ben Hemmerling scored the game winner and Austin Roest scored an empty-netter for insurance as Everett (2-0-0) beat Tri-City (1-2-0). Roest also added an assist in the victory.

MLB

BLUE JAYS 9, RED SOX 0

TORONTO – Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer and Raimel Tapia homered, Alek Manoah pitched six innings and playoff-bound Toronto beat Boston.

The Blue Jays had a clubhouse celebration after the game because they clinched an AL wild-card berth Thursday when the Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles.

Guerrero hit a two-run shot off Nick Pivetta (10-12) in the third inning, his 31st.

Manoah (16-7) allowed two hits, struck out four and walked two, his eighth consecutive start allowing two earned runs or fewer.

Left-hander Yusei Kikuchi pitched the final three innings for his first career save.

(With files from Canadian Press, Huskies Athletics/Photo WPG Blue Bombers)