Bombers’ star receiver Schoen returns from knee injury

It was a sight for sore eyes in Bomberland — Dalton Schoen running around in pads and a helmet while catching footballs.

The Blue Bombers’ star receiver logged his first practice session in 11 months on Monday, marking his return from a knee injury that robbed him of all but three games last season.

“It was great. I’ve had a couple of opportunities to play catch with him during camp — just outside of practice, obviously — and he looks fantastic,” quarterback Zach Collaros said about his top weapon.

The 6-1, 218-pound receiver has been a key cog in the Bombers’ offence since arriving three years ago. A two-time league all-star, Schoen has 155 catches for 2,822 yards and 26 touchdowns in 37 career games.

His absence was noticeable last year, as Winnipeg’s offence ranked seventh out of nine teams, while Collaros had his lowest touchdown total in four years (17) and matched a career-high in interceptions (15).

“I think he’s paramount. The numbers speak for themselves over his time in this league,” said Collaros.

“Most of the time, if not all the time, he’s the smartest guy on the field. He understands what the defence is doing. He understands what we’re doing, what spot he needs to get to, time and space. He understands all those things at a PhD level. And again, the tangible stuff that he brings to the game — his speed, his catch radius, his strength, his understanding of the game — are just off the charts.”

Though it’s been nearly a year since Schoen has seen any game action, O’Shea doesn’t think it’s necessary for him to suit up in either preseason contest this month.

“I don’t think he needs any preseason reps. If he wants them, we’ll discuss that, but we haven’t decided how we’re handling either game,” O’Shea said. “Dalton wouldn’t be a guy that needs the reps, but… he’d be aware of the fact that quarterbacks might want reps with him, and he’d be willing to do whatever it takes.”

Schoen wasn’t available to speak with the media after practice.

Bombers players mourn the loss of beloved high school coach, Stu Nixon

The local football world was delivered some shocking news Monday morning, as it was announced that legendary high school football coach Stu Nixon had died.

Nixon, an educator of 35 years in Winnipeg, most notably spent 20 years heading the Oak Park Raiders varsity football program, which won five provincial championships in the top division of the Winnipeg High School Football League under his helm.

During his career, Nixon turned Oak Park into a perennial powerhouse and helped develop eventual Blue Bombers such as running back Brady Oliveira, receiver Nic Demski and former running back Andrew Harris.

“It’s tough,” said an emotional Demski, who attended Oak Park from 2008-11.

“I knew Stu all the way back from my Charleswood Bronco days when they would do the Raider-Broncos football camp. I mean, that’s a guy that I wanted to play for as a little kid. It was my goal to play for Oak Park High School, to play for Stu Nixon, and when I finally got there, it was a great relationship and we had a lot of success there together, and a lot of great memories.”

Demski won a provincial championship with the Raiders in 2010, while Oliveira won in 2014.

“It’s never really any stories, just memories and the lessons that he’s given me. I mean, I probably wasn’t always the best attitude kid growing up, but he always kept me in line and he was never scared to tell me how he really felt or also what I needed to hear,” Demski said.

After retiring from teaching, Nixon was elected as a trustee with the Pembina Trails School Division in October 2022.

“He’s a gem,” Demski said. “He’s a Class-A beauty, as Brady and I put it (Sunday) when we were talking about this. My condolences to him and his family.”

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca