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For the first time in seven years, the Saskatchewan Roughriders are leaving Winnipeg as the winners.
The Riders were able to beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 21-13 at Princess Auto Stadium for the second win in a row over their CFL West Division rivals. It was the first win by Saskatchewan in Winnipeg since the 2018 Banjo Bowl, going 0-9 since then which includes two losses in the 2021 and 2024 CFL West Finals.
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The victory gives the Riders the season series tiebreaker over Winnipeg.
“It was a gritty win,” said Riders quarterback Trevor Harris, who completed 18 passes for 239 yards and one interception.
“It’s not always going to be sunshine and rainbows with four touchdowns or five touchdowns. There’s going to be games where we lean into (the defence) and they lean into (the offence) and it’s complementary football. As usual, our defence was awesome today.”
The Riders only needed to score one touchdown on offence as the Riders’ defence forced four interceptions by the Bombers’ quarterbacks in the win. The win improves the Riders to 10-2 to remain in first place in the CFL standings.
“It was nuts. The crowd was loud and we just had to stick together. I’ve been on both sides of it — it’s rough on the other side,” said Riders right tackle Jermarcus Hardrick, who played seven seasons with the Bombers before joining the Riders for a second stint in 2024.
“We came out with a win. It definitely wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t perfect but we got the win. Shout-out to those fans, they made it hard for us.”
Despite the hostile environment, the Riders didn’t commit a single delay of game or procedure penalty.
Winnipeg quarterback Zach Collaros was hurt in the game in the third quarter and didn’t return. Chris Streveler came into the game to finish it off. Collaros finished with nine completions for 165 yards, two interceptions and a touchdown to Ontaria Wilson, who rejoined the Bombers this week after being cut by the NFL’s New York Jets.
Streveler completed five passes for 39 yards and two interceptions.
Collaros was hurt after a hit by linebacker C.J. Reavis in the third quarter. It was originally deemed a clean hit, but after a challenge by Winnipeg head coach Mike O’Shea it was ruled that contact was made with Collaros’ helmet, so roughing the passer was ultimately called.
“It’s heartbreaking. I pray that Zach is OK. I know early on in his career, he had quite a few (concussions) and so across the league, I think everybody will join up in prayer for Zach,” Harris said.
“He’s a close friend of mine — I came into the league with him but I know he’s a tough dude and loves football and I know he will find a way to bounce back.
“I pray that he is OK and hopefully it’s not a concussion. You don’t want that for anybody. We all have long lives and he has three beautiful kids and an awesome wife and hopefully he can bounce back from this and hopefully he is OK.”
Winnipeg running back Brady Oliveira had 20 carries in the game after just five in last week’s loss. While he had 83 rushing yards, he was held out of the end zone.
Last week, Saskatchewan defeated the Bombers 34-30 off a five-sack performance by the defence. This week, the Riders were able to force four interceptions from Bombers quarterbacks.
Tevaughn Campbell had two late in the game to help clinch the win for the Riders after recording a pick-two in last week’s game to clinch the victory then as well.
“(These two games) have been a battle. We knew exactly what we were getting into when we came here and we knew what we were getting into in Sask. and we knew it was going to be a dog fight and that’s exactly what it was,” Campbell said.
Damarcus Fields also added an interception — the second of his CFL career — as well as Marcus Sayles.
Campbell has six interceptions on the season and leads the league in that category.
Saskatchewan Roughriders kicker Brett Lauther (12) sets up the field goal during second half CFL action against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Winnipeg. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods)
The Sayles interception came with just 36 seconds left in the first half, which allowed the Riders to kick a field goal to only be down by seven at halftime.
“This team is just going to find a way to win in scenarios regardless,” Harris said.
“I feel like we have great character and have great emotional control, emotional IQ and emotional intelligence. I really like the genetic makeup of this team in terms of mentality, emotions and very steady. A big moment at that time to make sure we got points.”
Malik Carney added another sack to his total, raising it to seven and is now tied for the second-most in the CFL. He also had two in the Labour Day Classic.
For the second week in a row, Saskatchewan running back AJ Ouellette scored a touchdown and he also added 50 yards on the ground.
A lot of criticism has been put Riders kicker Brett Lauther’s way this season, as he was hitting just 66 per cent of his field goals this season. While he did miss his only convert try, he was five-for-five when it came to field goals in the game.
“It wasn’t perfect tonight — I missed a crucial extra-point but a win’s a win, and it’s about the team win and nothing about me,” Lauther said.
“I’m always trying to do my best and want to play better no matter the circumstances but, at the end of the day, football is about winning games. I’m never trying to win any individual award; I’m just trying to win the Grey Cup. I haven’t done that yet and this is just another step on the ladder.”
Bombers kicker Sergio Castillo, who was hitting nearly 93 per cent of his field goals coming into the game, missed two of his four field goal attempts.
The Riders will take on the Montreal Alouettes on Sept. 13.
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