Collaros throws 2 touchdowns in 35-29 pre-season loss to Bombers

The play of quarterback Zach Collaros might have eased the concerns of some fans but it wasn’t enough for the Saskatchewan Roughriders to earn a win Thursday night, falling 35-29 to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Mosaic Stadium in pre-season action.

Collaros finished the game 10 of 15 passing for 163 yards with two touchdowns but did throw an interception on the opening drive.

Despite the early mistake, Collaros feels he’s where he needs to be heading into the 2019 regular season.

“It’s a short training camp, (and a) short pre-season but that’s what the CFL is,” said Collaros, whose squad opens the regular season June 13 against the host Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

“It was nice to play in a little bit of a windy condition (Thursday) because we’re going to Hamilton and it’s always windy there so it was nice to be able to throw into that and throw with it at your back too.”

It was the first time Collaros threw multiple touchdowns since a Sept. 22 game against the Toronto Argonauts.

This was the first game action for the 30-year-old CFL veteran in 2019 — he didn’t play in a 37-1 loss to the Calgary Stampeders on May 31 — and it was his first time starting since being knocked out of an October game against the B.C. Lions last season due to a concussion.

“Going back out there for the first time in however many months, there will be rust but I thought we did a pretty good job executing the plays,” Collaros said.

Collaros only played in the first half, with Isaac Harker and Ty Gangi splitting time in the second.

Head coach Craig Dickenson felt good about what he saw from his starting quarterback.

“He had an efficient night. I thought he threw the ball well,” said Dickenson. “He extended the play and found guys downfield. He did have one turnover (and) we’d like to clean that up but that was a good performance by Zach and that’s the kind of stuff we expect to see.”

Coming into the game, Dickenson said he didn’t care how many touchdown passes Collaros threw as long as he was in command of the offence throughout the contest.

“I didn’t see time counts, I didn’t see guys on the wrong side and (Collaros) had to bring them back so I thought that was the game we wanted to see from Zach,” said Dickenson. “Was it perfect? Absolutely not but we saw improved performance by him and an improved performance all the way around with that offensive group.”

Much like the weather in Regina, it felt like a dark cloud might be hang over the Roughriders’ offence after the Collaros interception.

But William Powell was a bright spot that would shine through and ignite the offence in the first half. The running back had a drive on which he carried the ball four straight times for 48 yards.

“It felt great to get back out there going and get my legs back under me,” said Powell, who also didn’t play in the Roughriders’ pre-season opener in Calgary.

Powell joined the Roughriders this off-season as one of the marquee free agent signings in all of the CFL. He finished the pre-season game with seven carries for 55 yards and caught two balls for 20 more.

The 31-year-old rusher ran for 1,362 yards last season with the Ottawa Redblacks, caught the ball for an additional 319 yards and found paydirt eight times.

“I feel like I picked up right where I left off and ready to do even bigger and better things,” said Powell.

With Dickenson wanting to run the ball a lot this season, Powell is ready for a heavy workload.

“I don’t have a problem getting the ball as much as possible,” said Powell. “We have great guys all around the ball, we have a great quarterback and great receivers so they (have) to get theirs too. But I don’t care — if you want to feed me, then feed me.”

Another bright spot in the offence was Shaq Evans, who caught two balls for 44 yards and a very special touchdown — his first in the CFL after being shut out last year.

“It feels good because it’s a long time coming and to get that off my back, especially to get that done now, so now in the regular season it’s just going to come in bunches, I know it,” said Evans.

But despite there being some positives from the starters, it wouldn’t be enough to earn the win. The team is now winless in its last 11 pre-season games, dating back to 2014.

The Green and White will be looking to begin the regular season on the right foot in Hamilton next Thursday. The Roughriders won both meetings between the two clubs last season.