Zach Collaros threw four touchdown passes, including three to wide receiver Kenny Lawler, and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers whipped the Saskatchewan Roughriders 38-22 in Saturday’s CFL West Division final to earn their fifth consecutive trip to the Grey Cup.
The Blue Bombers will face the Argonauts in Vancouver on Nov. 17 after Toronto defeated the Montreal Alouettes 30-28 in the East Division final earlier on Saturday.
Winnipeg had opened the season 0-4, went to 2-6 and then rattled off eight consecutive victories before losing one and then winning their final regular-season game to claim top spot in the division.
Lawler recorded four receptions for 177 yards in front of Winnipeg’s fifth consecutive sellout of 32,343 fans at Princess Auto Stadium.
Collaros also tossed a touchdown strike to receiver Nic Demski and finished 19-of-26 passing for 301 yards with no interceptions.
Saskatchewan quarterback Trevor Harris was 25-of-44 for 283 yards with no picks.
Bombers running back Brady Oliveira scored on a three-yard burst and finished with 20 carries for 119 yards. Sergio Castillo booted one field goals from 30 yards and hit five converts for Winnipeg.
Roughriders running back A.J. Ouellette had a one-yard TD plunge and ended up with 10 carries for 51 yards. Samuel Emilus caught a 19-yard TD toss with 23 seconds left in the game. A two-point convert attempt failed.
Brett Lauther connected on three field goals from 31, 40 and 44 yards and one convert for Saskatchewan.
Bombers led from start to finish
Winnipeg led 14-3 after the first quarter, 24-9 at halftime and 31-16 heading into the fourth.
The Bombers scored on their second drive of the game, a 31-yard strike to Lawler as he ran toward the end zone at 9:35.
Lawler recorded his second TD on Winnipeg’s next drive. First, he caught a 65-yard bomb, then grabbed a pass just outside the goal line and rolled into the end zone for a 24-yard score at 12:25.
Aided by a Winnipeg pass-interference penalty, the Roughriders counted a Lauther 40-yard field goal at 14:41 to make it 14-3.
Collaros was 8-of-9 passing for 156 yards in the first quarter.
Winnipeg punter Jamieson Sheahan then had a kick blocked. The Roughriders recovered and Lauther booted a 33-yarder at 2:21 of the second.
The Bombers used a surprise to set up their next touchdown.
On second and one, backup quarterback Terry Wilson kept the ball and went to the side, sprinting for 48 yards. A Saskatchewan penalty took the ball to Winnipeg’s seven-yard line, where Collaros found Demski in the end zone on the next play for a 21-6 lead.
Lauther kicked a 44-yarder at 12:29 and Castillo knocked through a 30-yarder as time expired.
Harris was 6-of-12 for 57 yards in the first half, while Collaros was 16-of-19 for 228 yards with three TDs.
Five minutes after the `Riders squeezed the score 24-16 on Ouellette’s one-yard TD at 4:02 of the third quarter, Lawler registered a 57-yard catch-and-run TD.
Bombers defensive back Tyrell Ford then broke up a pass attempt for a Saskatchewan turnover on downs.
Winnipeg took over at the Saskatchewan’s 24-yard line. Oliveira ripped off 21 yards, followed by a three-yard TD run at 3:28 to widen the lead 38-16.
The Bombers defence then recorded a couple of knock-downs and a sack of Harris before Emilus’s late score.
Good omen
When the Bombers beat Saskatchewan in both the 2019 and ’21 West finals, the club went on to capture a pair of Grey Cup titles. First it was a 32-12 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, followed by a 33-25 overtime win against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
On Winnipeg’s past two trips to the Grey Cup, it lost 24-23 to the Argonauts in 2022 and 28-24 to the Alouettes last season.
Rare company
Winnipeg became only the fourth team in CFL history to advance to five straight Grey Cup games.
The other clubs were the former Regina Roughriders (1928-32), the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1961-65) and the then-Edmonton Eskimos with the record six (1977-82).
