Bombers air attack overwhelms Elks

Collaros gets it done with his arm — and his legs

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The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have prided themselves on the ground game for a long time.

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The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have prided themselves on the ground game for a long time.

But in Thursday night’s showdown against the visiting Edmonton Elks, it was an air show that got it done.

The running attack sputtered for most of the evening with reigning Most Outstanding Player Brady Oliveira missing a second straight game with a shoulder injury, but Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros made up for it with his arm in a big way by completing 25-of-30 attempts for 334 passing yards, three touchdown passes, and a rushing touchdown — his first since Week 15 in 2023 — to lead the Bombers to a 36-23 victory over the winless Elks.

John Woods / THE CANADIAN PRESS
                                Winnipeg quarterback Zach Collaros completed 25-of-30 passes for 334 yards, three touchdown passes, and a rushing touchdown in the Bombers 36-23 win over the Edmonton Elks, Thursday at Princess Auto Stadium.

John Woods / THE CANADIAN PRESS

Winnipeg quarterback Zach Collaros completed 25-of-30 passes for 334 yards, three touchdown passes, and a rushing touchdown in the Bombers 36-23 win over the Edmonton Elks, Thursday at Princess Auto Stadium.

The victory pushes the Bombers to a perfect 3-0 while the Elks continue their slide as they fall to 0-3.

“We just find ways to win. Obviously, it’s nice to get a sweep like that right off the bat against B.C., but to come out and put it on another team, it speaks volume about where we’re headed,” said receiver Nic Demski.

“It’s a long season, so we just got to keep going, keep this momentum up high, keep playing good football and stay in the film room and being on the same page.”

Collaros only passed for 300-plus yards four times last season.

“Zach was dialed in today. Right from the get-go, it started off good, and he was hot all day,” said Demski.

“That’s why I love playing with him.”

Winnipeg has now won 13 straight against Edmonton — their longest win streak against any opponent in franchise history — and is 16-2 against them dating back to 2017.

“I just thought we executed well. There’s some stuff we didn’t get to that I thought were good plays there, especially in the first down world, so we’ll keep that in our back pocket for weeks to come,” said Collaros.

“We did a great job. The offensive line, especially at protecting me there when we were in second and seven, second and 10 situations. And then (the receivers) did a good job, they were dropping into zones and did a good job at finding the holes.”

John Woods / THE CANADIAN PRESS
                                Nic Demski had a pair of touchdowns in the first half of the Bombers victory over the Elks.

John Woods / THE CANADIAN PRESS

Nic Demski had a pair of touchdowns in the first half of the Bombers victory over the Elks.

The Bombers only had 10 rushing yards at the half, but backup tailback Matthew Peterson – a second-year Canadian out of the University of Alberta – picked it up late to end with 65 yards on 12 attempts. American rookie Quinton Cooley chipped in 19 on four rushes.

The Elks opened the scoring midway through the first on a six-play, 65-yard touchdown drive that was capped off by goalline sneak by backup quarterback Cody Fajardo.

After that, the first half was all big blue. The home side found paydirt on three straight drives to take a 23-13 advantage into half.

Collaros’s first strike was an eight-yard touchdown pass to Demski — who was a game-time decision after missing practice all week with an ankle injury — from eight yards out. Kicker Sergio Castillo missed the convert, which he only did once all last season. Winnipeg jumped out in front on their first touch of the second quarter after Collaros dropped a perfect pass into the arms of Keric Wheatfall on a go route for a 52-yard touchdown to go up 13-10.

A tough act to follow, but Demski did just that as he hauled in a pass at the Edmonton 20 and did the rest for a 60-yard touchdown.

It seemed Winnipeg could do no wrong in the first 30 minutes as rookie returner Trey Vaval mishandled a punt near midfield and the green and gold recovered. No damage was done, though, as strong-side linebacker Redha Kramdi hit Elks running back Justin Rankin with a peanut punch to force a fumble to give it right back to the blue and gold.

It looked like the Bombers were going to run away with things until Edmonton kicked off the second half in style with quarterback Tre Ford chucking a 68-yard touchdown to receiver Kaion Julien-Grant to cut Edmonton’s deficit to 23-20. It was redemption for Julien-Grant – who led all receivers with 115 yards — as he had a ball bounce off his hands in the corner of the end zone at the end of the second quarter.

Two drives later, Julien-Grant had another deep ball thrown in his direction, but he tripped after some minor contact with Bombers halfback Evan Holm. Holm intercepted it, but a questionable pass interference penalty was called to spoil the turnover. The call allowed the Elks to kick a field goal to make it a 23-23 draw with 5:39 left in the third.

John Woods / THE CANADIAN PRESS
                                Edmonton Elks' Javon Leake runs for a first down in the first half against the Bombers, Thursday.

John Woods / THE CANADIAN PRESS

Edmonton Elks' Javon Leake runs for a first down in the first half against the Bombers, Thursday.

Edmonton was backed up in their own end on their next possession and Ford made a crucial mistake with an inaccurate throw to the sideline that should’ve been picked off by second-year corner Terrell Bonds, but he did not maintain possession of the ball when he hit the ground.

Ford ended the night with 252 passing yards and one touchdown while completing 18-of-29 attempts. The most athletic pivot in the CFL only managed six rushing yards on one carry. He was sacked three times, with linebacker Tony Jones, linebacker Kyrie Wilson, and defensive end Willie Jefferson all taking turns dropping the Canadian QB to the turf. His twin brother, former Bombers corner Tyrell Ford, made two defensive tackles.

“It’s a big part of everybody’s game plan. Happy with it,” said head coach Mike O’Shea on stopping Tre Ford.

“When he gets running around, I thought our guys pursued very intelligently. Even exercising patience.”

Air Collaros never got off the ground in the third frame but started to show signs of life at the start of the fourth by finding Canadian wideout Kevens Clercius for a 45-yard gain to set up a 30-yard field goal by Castillo to reclaim the lead at 26-23.

And then, with just under six minutes left in the contest, the 36-year-old quarterback showed he still can make you pay with his legs as he closed out an 11-play, 86-yard drive with a 13-yard highlight-reel touchdown scramble to give the Bombers a 33-23 edge.

“He looked 21, back in his Cincy (University of Cincinnati) days. He made a great play out there,” said Demski.

“Everybody knows him for his throwing ability, but he can get he can get jiggy out there, too. He made a great play for us.”

He celebrated by hucking the ball to a lucky fan in the 12th row of Section 137.

John Woods / THE CANADIAN PRESS
                                Edmonton’s Chelen Garnes (right) throws the Bombers’ Quinton Cooley to the turf.

John Woods / THE CANADIAN PRESS

Edmonton’s Chelen Garnes (right) throws the Bombers’ Quinton Cooley to the turf.

“I’ve done it many times, it’s just been a long time,” said Collaros on his run. “Yeah, I don’t know if I made somebody miss or not, I kind of just got through the first layer of the defence… They had the mike (linebacker)… he was kind of out of place. I stepped up, my eyes were on Nic (Demski), I didn’t think he really got a clean release and by the time I was at the second level, I was like ‘Maybe I can score here.’ I was kind of worried about what was coming from my right side. I was thinking ‘If somebody hits me up top, I’ll be fine,’ I just didn’t want to get my knee chopped down.”

Despite only having five days to prepare for the Elks, the Bombers looked like a well-oiled machine.

Demski, who had just one catch for one yard last weekend against the B.C. Lions, led the Bombers in receiving with 97 yards and five catches. Dalton Schoen had his biggest game of the year with six snags for 75 yards, while Wheatfall added 62 on three catches.

Princess Auto Stadium was sold out for a seventh straight time.

The Bombers will look to carry their momentum into next Thursday when they hit the road to play the Calgary Stampeders (2-1) at McMahon Stadium.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Taylor Allen

Taylor Allen
Reporter

Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.

Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.

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History

Updated on Thursday, June 26, 2025 11:58 PM CDT: Adds post-game quotes

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