Bombers end regular season on record-setting note with 24-9 win over Lions

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This article was published 29/10/2022 (1044 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers got everything they could’ve asked for in Friday night’s regular season finale against the visiting B.C. Lions.

They rolled to a 24-9 victory in front of 23,685 fans, and more importantly, none of their starters suffered a catastrophic injury in a game that meant nothing in the standings.

Regardless of what the final score was, the Bombers were locked in to host the Western final on Nov. 13 and play the winner of next week’s Western semi-final between the Lions and Calgary Stampeders at BC Place.

The loss dropped the Lions to 12-6 — their best record since 2016.

But Friday’s victory did mean something, at least in the record books. The Bombers end the year at 15-3 which is the most wins in a season in franchise history.

“I don’t think we even knew about that, like it (wasn’t) ‘OK, we’re going to set a new franchise record for wins,’” said running back Brady Oliveira.

“I think it is cool. I think it says a lot about the group of guys that we got in this locker room. We got a lot of selfless guys, lots of guys that trust the process that try to work on their craft every single day when they come in this locker room and onto the field. We got a lot of guys that just want to be great every single day and whatever their role is, they’re going to give it their all. So, I think it’s great. We preach every single week to go 1-0 so the fact that we’re going to go into this bye week on a win, that’s a positive. Fifteen wins is great, but we know where we want to be at the end of the year.”

Quarterback Zach Collaros left the game in one piece as he was taken out after a near perfect first quarter. Collaros made the most of his limited time by completing four-of-five passes for 68 yards and two touchdowns. Collaros — the favourite to win the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player award — finishes the season with 37 touchdown passes. Only Khari Jones, 46 in 2002, has thrown more touchdowns in a season while wearing blue and gold.

“We have a lot in front of us, obviously, that we still need to accomplish. This is where the real fun starts. It’s something that we’ll reflect on after the season,” said Collaros on the 15th win and his touchdown mark.

The biggest storyline heading into the game was the return of Nathan Rourke. The Canadian quarterback was under centre for the Lions for the first time since Aug. 19 when he suffered a Lisfranc injury against the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The Lions said Rourke would play the first quarter and they stuck to their word. Rourke exited after going 7-for-11 for 68 yards and a fumble. For the most part, Rourke looked like a guy that hadn’t played in 10 weeks, but he moved around the pocket decently well, made some good decisions with the football, and got right back up after a handful of hits. Rourke’s fumble was forced by Casey Sayles and pounced on by Jake Thomas.

But Collaros wasn’t the only Bomber to reach an impressive milestone on Friday. Oliveira, who started the year slow before heating up in July, ran for 72 yards on nine carries to give him 1,001 rushing yards on the season. Oliveira is only the fourth Canadian running back since 2000 to rush for 1,000-plus yards in a campaign, joining some elite company in Andrew Harris, Jerome Messam, and Jon Cornish.

Johnny Augustine replaced Oliveira in the second half and scampered for 42 yards on 10 attempts.

“Going back to how my season started, no one would’ve thought I’d be here with 1,000 yards today. The fact that I was able to get that with my offensive line and just prove to myself that I can do this and that I belong,” said Oliveira. “And me being a Winnipegger, it means so much more to me the fact that I’m able to go out there and play hard for these fans and for the city. I just want to put on for my city and help my team win football games, so, it’s a great accomplishment.”

Dalton Schoen capped off his sensational rookie campaign with two catches, 84 yards and a touchdown. Schoen opened the scoring in the first quarter on a 22-yard strike from Collaros. Schoen, a lock to win the Most Outstanding Rookie award, ends his first CFL season with 16 touchdowns and 1,441 yards. Assuming no one around the league has a record-setting performance this weekend, Schoen will finish as the league’s leader in both touchdowns and receiving yards.

Despite all the success, Schoen admits it’s been difficult to take a step back and soak it all in.

“I think that’s kind of maybe a downside of this profession, or at least for myself, that I don’t ever want to take a step back and look at it. I told some people this week that I think if I do that, I think I’ll lose my edge,” said Schoen. “I don’t really want to look at what happened in the past… It’s all about on to the next and that’s the way I look at it.”

Schoen’s biggest play Friday was a 62-yard catch and run on a Dakota Prukop pass in the second quarter. Prukop went 4-for-11 for 110 yards and rushed five times for 42 yards. He led the Bombers on a 103-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter that was finished off with a Mike Miller plunge. It was the first offensive touchdown in Miller’s 11-year career. His lone career score prior to this week came in 2017 on a punt block.

“You can feel that on the bench when a guy who doesn’t get his number called very often gets his number called. It means something different to the bench,” said head coach Mike O’Shea.

“There’s a lot of guys that play beside Mike Miller all the time on kickoff and kickoff return that are absolutely excited that he got that opportunity. They love it for him.”

Dru Brown closed out the game at quarterback for the Bombers and struggled as he failed to complete a pass on his four attempts.

The Bombers controlled the entire game as Collaros threw both of his touchdowns in the first quarter — Rasheed Bailey caught the second one from 11 yards out. The Lions would tack on two field goals in the second quarter to trail 17-6 at the half, but neither Vernon Adams Jr. or Antonio Pipkin could lead BC’s offence to a comeback. The Bombers outgained the Lions 327-281.

Bombers receivers Greg Ellingson — one catch for 26 yards — and Drew Wolitarsky — one catch for nine yards — were quiet in their return from injury.

The Bombers now have two weeks to prepare for a game that could potentially send them to a third straight Grey Cup.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31