Zach Collaros threw three touchdown passes and ran for a critical TD himself to lead the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to a 36-23 victory over the Edmonton Elks on Thursday.
The veteran quarterback, who was 25 of 30 for 334 yards, connected on two touchdown strikes to Nic Demski, one for eight yards and another for 60. Keric Wheatfall hauled in a 52-yard TD pass.
Demski, who was a game-time decision with an injured ankle, extended his reception streak to 74 consecutive games.
The Blue Bombers upped their record to 3-0 in front of a seventh consecutive sellout at Princess Auto Stadium. Edmonton remained winless at 0-3.
Winnipeg has won its last 13 meetings against Edmonton and are 16-2 against the club since 2017.
“We’re not a broken football team, I can tell you that,” Elks head coach Mark Kilam said after their latest loss.
“We’re a tough group that was in this game to the final five-and-a-half minutes. The five-and-a-half minutes is the difference between our group and Winnipeg’s group; a group that has been to the Grey Cup five years in-a-row. We have to figure out a way to win games at the end of the game. That was the difference in this game.”
Fans got an exciting finish.
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Winnipeg led 23-13 at halftime, but Elks quarterback Tre Ford came out firing in the third quarter, hitting Kaion Julien-Grant with a 68-yard touchdown pass at 2:01.
Edmonton kicker Vincent Blanchard followed that up with a 41-yard field goal to tie the game 23-23.
Winnipeg responded by marching down to Edmonton’s 22-yard line, but only came away with a 30-yard Sergio Castillo field goal at 2:36 of the fourth.
The Bombers then chewed up the clock midway through the quarter, putting up an 11-play, 86-yard drive that Collaros capped by escaping from pressure and running 13 yards into the end zone with 5:42 left.
Castillo added a 23-yard field goal with 1:20 remaining.
Ford was 18 of 29 for 252 yards and no interceptions.
“We’ve got to be able to convert on those second and longs,” Ford said.
“Not saying we’ve got to do every single one, but we’ve got to win some of them, which is going to extend some drives — lead to possible points. And we had some good field position in some of those situations too and we weren’t able to get points, so we’ve got to play a little bit better offensively.”
Elks backup Cody Fajardo scored on a one-yard quarterback sneak. Blanchard was also good on field goals from 38 and 29 yards and made his two converts.
Castillo also booted a 35-yard field goal and made three of four convert attempts.
Both teams scored on their second possession of the game.
Fajardo busted over on a one-yard quarterback sneak, but Winnipeg responded with Demski’s eight-yard TD catch. Castillo missed the convert attempt to give the Elks a 7-6 lead.
Blanchard booted a 38-yard field goal one minute into the second quarter.
The Bombers replied with Collaros sailing the ball to Wheatfall along the sidelines, who got by his defender and ran into the end zone at 2:39.
Three minutes later, Collaros threw a deep pass to Demski, who bumped off his defender and sped into the end zone for a 60-yard score. Castillo was good on his convert to make it 20-10.
Both teams were then hit by fumbles.
Edmonton didn’t capitalize but Winnipeg used its turnover for Castillo’s 35-yarder that made it 23-10 with under two minutes left in the first half.
Collaros was 16 of 18 passing for 232 yards and three touchdowns at halftime.
After Julien-Grant’s TD catch, Bombers defensive back Evan Holm intercepted Ford midway through the third, but he was called for pass interference. Ford was sacked by Kyrie Wilson on the next play.
Up next
Bombers: Will visit the Calgary Stampeders on July 3.
Elks: Host the Ottawa Redblacks on July 6.
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