Bombers steal win on somber night

HAMILTON — It was supposed to be a showdown between two future Hall-of-Fame quarterbacks.

Instead, it ended up being a somber night for the CFL.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers starter Zach Collaros was ruled out for the contest with an upper body injury after being hit from the blindside on the first play of the second quarter.

And just when you thought nothing could possibly overshadow that, Bo Levi Mitchell — the face of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats who was playing some of the best football of his illustrious career this season — suffered what appeared to be a serious left ankle injury in the third quarter after being taken down by defensive lineman Jake Ceresna for a sack.

Mitchell, and possibly Hamilton’s season, was taken away in an ambulance.

The Ticats led 13-4 at that point, and the Bombers, with rookie Taylor Elgersma under centre, came back to win 14-13 to improve to 2-2. The Ticats are also now 2-2.

“I was just wrapping him up and he got hurt. It’s unfortunate, you never want to see that happen,” Ceresna told the Free Press in the locker room post-game.

“I consider Bo a friend, and I’ve known him for a long time, and it just sucks to see the ambulance come out. I hope he’s OK, I hope it’s not a serious injury.

“It’s a part of football, unfortunately. I got hurt last year and I kind of know what he’s going through and the difficulty with it and it just sucks. You always want to play the other team at their best and you never want to hurt anybody. I hope for a speedy recovery, I hope it’s nothing serious, and if it is, I hope he comes back and we see him soon.”

The game was delayed for nearly 20 minutes to wait for the arrival of another ambulance — and you could hear a pin drop inside Hamilton Stadium for the entire duration.

Mitchell had completed 18-of-29 passes for 228 yards and a touchdown before going down. Once loaded onto a stretcher, the 36-year-old gave a thumbs up to the crowd while the entire Ticats sideline took the field to show support for their leader. From that point on, the keys to the offence were handed to their two backups: Tre Ford, who hails from nearby Niagara Falls, and Jake Dolegala.

Collaros remained on the sideline for the entire game after his setback.

“If you separate that and think about the league, two premier starting quarterbacks going down in the same game is not good for the league,” said Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea.

“Hopefully, both guys make a speedy recovery — I don’t know anything about either one right now — but Bo was on a heater, and the league needs that. Obviously, points are up and obviously, we believe Zach’s the best quarterback in the league. So, when you lose that, the game ends up being probably the lowest scoring game of the season, I’d imagine.”

The Bombers paid a premium for Collaros insurance.

“I consider Bo a friend, and I’ve known him for a long time, and it just sucks to see the ambulance come out.”

Their policy, Dru Brown, arrived in town late last Sunday and had a full week of practice. He already had familiarity with the club since he broke into the league with the Bombers in 2021, and their current offensive co-ordinator, Tommy Condell, was his playcaller the past two seasons in Ottawa.

And with all that — and the fact that the Bombers traded what could end up being two first-round picks for a veteran backup in Brown — he was in street clothes in Hamilton.

Mitchell’s absence and the inept play of Ford and Dolegala allowed the Blue and Gold to get away with the absurdity of that decision.

“Yeah, I thought that was the right decision. I wouldn’t want to put (Brown) in there and have him have anything less than a full playbook,” said O’Shea.

“I thought that gave us our best chance to win.”

To Elgersma’s credit, despite struggling in the pre-season, the London, Ont., native avoided making any major blunders and pushed the Bombers across the finish line.

In the third quarter, he flipped a short pass to receiver Ontaria Wilson who took it 31 yards to the house to cut Hamilton’s advantage to 13-11.

Elgersma went 11-for-15 for 86 passing yards in what was his first regular-season appearance.

“I’m super grateful for the group around me,” said Elgersma.

“Obviously, the O-line played unreal. (I was) able to get some easy completions and let the receivers go do their thing.”

With nine minutes remaining and the scoreboard still showing 13-11, Dolegala threw an irresponsible pass on second and 15 to halfback Deatrick Nichols for what could’ve been a pick-six — and he dropped it. Fellow Bombers halfback Evan Holm also misplayed what should’ve been a gimme of an INT in the end zone in the second quarter that allowed the Ticats to boot a 20-yard field goal on the next play.

“Yeah, I thought that was the right decision. I wouldn’t want to put (Brown) in there and have him have anything less than a full playbook.”

The third time proved to be the charm when Ford, with 3:33 left and a chance to give the home team a two-score lead, misfired on a pass down field that Bombers rookie corner Major Williams intercepted at the Winnipeg 45-yard line.

That opened the door for the visitors to steal the game and they did just that. Elgersma got out of the way and handed the ball off to Brady Oliveira on seven consecutive plays to set up Sergio Castillo for a game-winning 23-yard field goal with 21 seconds left on the clock.

“Big time players got to show up in big moments and that’s why they pay me what they pay me, to go out there and close out games with a great offensive line — and that’s what we were able to do,” said Oliveira, who finished with 17 carries for 84 yards.

“It’s one of the most amazing feelings in the world when (the defence) knows exactly what’s coming and the guys up front impose their will on the guys across from them play, after play, after play.

“We found a way to get it done tonight.”

“We found a way to get it done tonight.”

Dolegala was sacked by Bombers rookie defensive end David Reese to end the night.

A turnover is what allowed the Tabbies to build an immediate lead. On the opening play of the game, Collaros stared down Tim White on a curl route that was jumped by defensive back Destin Talbert.

Three plays later, Mitchell threw a jump ball to the back of the end zone to Kenny Lawler for a 19-yard score.

Collaros went five-for-seven for 41 yards in his lone quarter of work.

The Bombers host the Toronto Argonauts (2-2) on Friday.

winnipegfreepress.com/taylorallen