WINNIPEG — The Saskatchewan Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers collided in another down-to-the-wire thriller on Saturday.
Six days after the Blue Bombers won 35-33 at Mosaic Stadium, Winnipeg completed a sweep of the home-and-home set by prevailing 26-21 at packed Princess Auto Stadium on Saturday.
Saskatchewan has just a tie to show for the past five games despite being outscored by only 11 points over that span.
“It’s a bad taste in our mouth right now,” quarterback Trevor Harris said. “Winnable game today, but you just get tired of saying that.”
Winnipeg (7-6-0) increased its winning streak to five games. Saskatchewan (5-7-1) is winless in seven (0-6-1).
“It’s never easy being in a situation like this, but I don’t see this as a loss,” receiver Kian Schaffer-Baker said. “I just see this as a lesson.
“This is just an opportunity for all of us to grow together and get better from. So many lessons are going to be brought back from this game.”
Ultimately, it goes back to one thing — a recurring theme.
“It just goes to show that we’ve got to limit our mistakes,” receiver Samuel Emilus said. “We’ve been in every game. If we take even one mistake away, we might get that victory.
“We’ve just got to keep pushing and erase those little mistakes.”
The disappointment isn’t lessened by the fact that Saturday’s game was not decided until the final minute. Winnipeg had won the previous four Labour Day rematches in lopsided fashion.
“Silver-lining stuff, you can think about that, but we’re a team that going to play hard and play until the final drive, which we did again today,” first-year Head Coach Corey Mace said. “We’ve shown that for almost every game this year.
“We’ve got to find a way to get over the hump, though. With the bye week we’ve got coming up, it will be good for a little bit of a reset for us.
“We can come back and handle what we have, which is really a run in the West to finish the season.”
The Blue Bombers and B.C. Lions are tied atop the division at 7-6-0. Saskatchewan is in third spot, three points back of the co-leaders.
Winnipeg enjoyed an early 10-0 lead after turning a blocked punt and an interception into a touchdown and a field goal before a sellout crowd of 32,343 at Princess Auto Stadium.
Saskatchewan responded with a 17-3 run that included two touchdown passes by Harris — nine yards to KeeSean Johnson and eight yards to Emilus — and 50-yard field goal by Brett Lauther.
Winnipeg reduced Saskatchewan’s lead to 17-16 before a 68-yard rouge on an Adam Korsak punt put the Roughriders up by two.
Winnipeg regained the lead 21 seconds into the fourth quarter when Zach Collaros threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Lawler. Sergio Castillo’s convert gave the Blue Bombers a 23-18 advantage.
The Roughriders reduced the margin to two points when Lauther hit a 35-yard field goal at 6:46 of the fourth quarter.
Castillo’s 39-yard field goal put the Bombers up 26-21 with 1:05 remaining.
Tyrell Ford iced the game with 37 seconds left by stepping in front of Emilus intercepting Harris for the second time on Saturday.
“We had a clear-out route and basically a flood type of concept,” the Roughriders’ QB said. “I felt the corner drift off and felt I had enough room to plug it to Sam.
“The ball was just in the air for a long time. (Ford) made a play on it and drove on it. It’s just unfortunate.”
Harris completed 21 of 33 passes for 287 yards.
Kian Schaffer-Baker led the receivers with six catches for 120 yards.
SWEET 16
A 52-yard bomb to Emilus moved Harris past Darian Durant into 16th on the CFL’s career passing-yardage list.
Harris finished the game with 31,956 yards. Durant amassed 31,740 yards over 11 seasons with Saskatchewan (2006 to 2016) and one with the Montreal Alouettes (2017). Harris is in his 12th CFL season.
Harris has thrown at least one TD pass in all seven games he has played this season.
The longest such streak in Roughriders history — from the start of a season — belongs to Kent Austin, who hit the TD-pass column in each of his first 13 games in 1992. He had set the previous record of 11 one year earlier.
Austin is followed by Nealon Greene (nine games in 2003), Ron Lancaster (eight games in 1975) and Harris (active streak).
Harris has thrown multiple TD passes in six of his seven games in 2024.
BRETT’S BOOT
Lauther has made a field goal of 50 yards or longer in each of his past two games.
He split the uprights from 50 on Saturday. Six days earlier, he had hit a 55-yarder.
Dave Ridgway has the most 50-plus-yarders in Roughriders history (32), followed by Paul McCallum (28) and Lauther (18).
Ridgway played in 236 regular-season games as a Roughrider. McCallum suited up for 185. Saturday’s game was Lauther’s 93rd with Saskatchewan.
Lauther has made eight of his past nine field-goal attempts. The lone miss was on a 60-yard attempt into the wind on the final play of the Labour Day Classic.
FINE LINE
The Roughriders did not allow a sack even though the offensive line continues to be in flux.
“I want to make sure that those guys are feeling good about themselves, because they do a tremendous job,” Harris said.
“Even though we’re decimated across the board with injuries, scrapping and clawing trying to find guys to play, they’re doing a fantastic job and really fighting hard.”
EXTRA POINTS
• Johnson has caught a touchdown pass in four consecutive games. The Roughriders’ longest such streak is six games (Hugh Campbell in 1969; Weston Dressler in 2012; Duron Carter in 2017).
• The Roughriders’ Bryan Cox Jr. registered his sixth sack of the season, tying him for the league lead with teammate Micah Johnson and Winnipeg’s Willie Jefferson. Miles Brown had Saskatchewan’s other sack on Saturday.
• A 52-yard reception by Emilus was his sixth catch of 50-plus yards as a CFLer. Schaffer-Baker’s 81-yarder was his fourth reception of 50-plus.
• The 81-yard bomb to Schaffer-Baker was the Roughriders’ longest completion since Aug. 26, 2022, when he scored on an 85-yarder against the host B.C. Lions. Saturday’s 81-yarder was the 44th-longest completion in Roughriders history. There have been three other 81-yarders.
NEXT UP
The Roughriders are now on their second bye week of the season. Their next game is Sept. 20 against the Calgary Stampeders at McMahon Stadium.
The Green and White’s next home game is on Sept. 28, 1 p.m., against the Ottawa REDBLACKS.
SUMMARY
FIRST QUARTER
Wpg — FG Castillo 46 4:00
Blocked punt by Jefferson put Bombers in field-goal range
Wpg — TD Streveler 2 run (Castillo convert) 7:46
Ford interception gave Winnipeg a first down on Saskatchewan’s 40-yard line
Sask — TD K. Johnson 9 pass from Harris (Lauther convert) 11:40
52-yard pass from Harris to Emilus moved Roughriders to nine-yard line
SECOND QUARTER
Wpg — FG Castillo 26 6:18
Bombers moved 54 yards in eight plays, including back-to-back completions to Oliveira (11) and Demski (23)
Sask — FG Lauther 50 8:50
Lauther has connected from 55 and 50 over the past two games
THIRD QUARTER
Sask TD — Emilus 8 pass from Harris (Lauther convert) 1:58
TD set up by 81-yard reception by Schaffer-Baker
Wpg — FG Castillo 35 5:10
Collaros completed four consecutive passes for a total of 48 yards
Sask — Single Korsak 68 10:14
Korsak’s punt rolled through the end zone for a rouge
FOURTH QUARTER
Wpg — TD Lawler 6 pass from Collaros (Castillo convert) 0:21
Bombers moved 70 yards in 10 plays
Sask — FG Lauther 35 6:46
Roughriders travelled 84 yards in nine plays after beginning a possession on their nine-yard line
Wpg — FG Castillo 39 13:55
Winnipeg ran 2:53 off the clock in eight plays
