Winnipeg Blue Bombers

The Bombers made a field goal with just seconds remaining to defeat the Ottawa Redblacks 19-17 in the season opener.

But they missed the convert and Ottawa soon made a field goal to take a one point lead with three minutes remaining. He took a toss from Collaros before sprinting 24 yards down to the RedBlacks three-yard line. And Marc Liegghio hit a 25-yard field goal to give the back-to-back champs the victory to start off their quest for the three-peat. The Bombers offence struggled at times to move the chains, while the secondary was giving up big chunks of real estate. Bombers starting quarterback Zach Collaros was hit in the head with less than two minutes left while trailing by a single point. And two plays later Ellingson made a five-yard catch for his first touchdown in the blue and gold, and the Bombers first TD of the season.

WINNIPEG — It's been 180 days since the Winnipeg Blue Bombers hoisted the Grey Cup for the second consecutive year. On Friday, they begin their quest for a ...

It’s sure to be a measuring stick game for the REDBLACKS against the defending champs. Masoli will certainly be looking to Adams offensively to help lift the REDBLACKS over his former team. In the air Masoli will have former Ticat wide receiver, Jaelon Acklin to target on Friday night. Bennett and Masoli are not the only former Tabbies looking to make an impact with their new team. After an impressive pre-season debut with the REDBLACKS former Hamilton running back, Jackson Bennett will surely see snaps as the No.2 back on the depth chart. The aforementioned Bighill, defensive tackle Casey Sayles and defensive backs, Deatrick Nichols, Winston Rose and Nick Taylor will look make life difficult for REDBLACKS quarterback Jeremiah Masoli.

They raised another Grey Cup banner, this time commemorating back-to-back championships, and then got right back down to business.

The convert miss by Liegghio complicated matters. That drive came after the Bombers stopped the Redblacks on downs at their own 47. “It was actually my teammates that kept me in it. “That’s just in my nature. A few plays later, Liegghio kicked a 20-yard field goal. The crowd was ready to do some more celebrating, but the Redblacks had other ideas. “Any team is going to be tough if you’re not playing at your top level,” Ellingson said. “Anytime you get a win like that, it’s exciting. Collaros was walking around with his wife, holding his daughter, and fist-bumping teammates after the game, looking no worse for the wear. “It’s a player-safety measure,” O’Shea said. “The convert is just not acceptable by my standards,” Liegghio said. Instead they were ahead by just two and the Redblacks came back to take the lead with a field goal of their own.

Marc Liegghio connected on a 25-yard field goal with six seconds remaining to lift the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to a 19-17 victory over the Ottawa Redblacks in ...

After a turnover on downs by Ottawa, Winnipeg marched the ball down the field for Prukop's one-yard touchdown run. The focal point will be how did we put ourselves in that position?" Receiver Jaelon Acklin dropped what could have been a TD pass, while the defence couldn't hang on to a couple potential interceptions. We lost, came up short, but you could see our resiliency on the field for sure." Ottawa led 11-10 at halftime and 14-10 after the third. "By then I think we were in field-goal range," O'Shea said.

By Judy Owen, The Canadian Press. Tyqwan Glass. Ottawa Redblacks' Shaq Johnson (88) catches the pass for the touchdown against Winnipeg Blue Bombers' Tyqwan ...

After a turnover on downs by Ottawa, Winnipeg marched the ball down the field for Prukop’s one-yard touchdown run. After a two-yard loss on an Oliveira run, Collaros connected with Ellingson for a five-yard TD at 8:44. Receiver Jaelon Acklin dropped what could have been a TD pass, while the defence couldn’t hang on to a couple potential interceptions. Ottawa led 11-10 at halftime and 14-10 after the third. Winnipeg (1-0) also conceded a single. The game was tied 7-7 after the first quarter.

The Redblacks outplayed the Blue Bombers for most of the game, but lost 19-17 in the CFL season opener for both teams.

We need to need to put points on the board to give our defence a cushion.” Masoli torched Winnipeg’s defence with a 51-yard strike to Acklin, taking the ball to the Winnipeg 43. But Winnipeg got the ball back when Nick Taylor snagged a Masoli pass at the Winnipeg 40. The drive stalled, though, and a 67-yard Richie Leone punt resulted in a single. On a third-and-one gamble — a Caleb Evans quarterback sneak had failed on second down — the Redblacks were stopped short. Marco Dubois caught a 54-yard pass from Masoli — to the Winnipeg 16. A botched snap resulted in a Winnipeg first down when backup QB Dakota Prukop ran for six yards. On the next play, Masoli found Nate Behar in the middle for a 38-yard gain. A pass interference call on Justin Howell gave Winnipeg great field position. It likely was going for a touchdown had he made the catch. I was just about to call a timeout when they called it.” For the Redblacks, it’s going to be a tough one to swallow.

Zach Collaros made 18 of 26 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown but was pulled from the game by the injury spotter after he took a hit to his head in the ...

Collaros and the Bombers’ offence took to the field down one with 1:46 left on the clock. Liegghio made good on the earlier miss, connecting from 25 yards out to put the Bombers back in front 19-17 with six seconds to play. The drive got Ward to the 42-yard line and he calmly split the uprights to put the REDBLACKS back in front, 17-16 at 11:10. Collaros engineered a 10-play drive that was finished off in short yardage by Prukop, who broke into the end zone at 8:50 to go in front. That led to Liegghio setting up from 20 yards, a kick he put through the uprights at 2:11 to go in front 10-7. After the Bombers took a loss on their short yardage attempt, Collaros looked from the five-yard line and found Greg Ellingson for his first touchdown as a Bomber.

The words were spoken by starting quarterback Zach Collaros to a passerby as he led his wife and daughter to the elevator just outside the Bombers locker-room ...

Article content The radio audience’s loss is this scribe’s gain. Article content While the Redblacks still reside in the neighbourhood of hope. Article content Article content “It’s something that you prepare for… Article content Collaros had just run up the middle for a first down. Article content Article content Article content

Photo: David Mahussier/3DownNation. All rights reserved. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated the Ottawa Redblacks on Friday night by a score of 19-17 in front of ...

He was shown on IG Field’s video screens a little over five minutes into the game and was given a nice round of applause from the crowd, which he acknowledged politely. He scored on a one-yard sneak late in the game and was replaced by Collaros after Brady Oliveira got stuffed for a two-yard loss in the first quarter. There were 17 seconds left in the second quarter when Jeremiah Masoli completed a 23-yard pass to Jaelon Acklin, who fought for extra yards after the catch. Prukop is the best runner out of Winnipeg’s three quarterbacks and it’ll be interesting to see how many red-zone snaps he takes this season. Strong ticket sales in B.C. prompted me on Thursday to ask the Blue Bombers how tickets had sold for the home-opener and I was told the team does not provide such updates. He looked sharp right out of the gate, completing his first five passes for 53 yards and a touchdown. Rutledge may have been out of position when Nate Behar broke a route over the middle for 38 yards but it’s impossible to know for sure. Jeremiah Masoli did a number on the Bombers in his Redblacks debut, completing 23-of-33 passes for 344 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Mack and Rutledge started in place of injured veterans Jackson Jeffcoat and Mercy Maston, respectively, while Schoen started at the slotback position many expected to be filled by Jalen Saunders prior to his release. The second-year quarterback played well in the preseason and was able to recreate that success when it mattered most. O’Shea was highly complimentary of Brown’s play, saying he had complete confidence in the young quarterback to run the offence efficiently. Zach Collaros took the field with 1:46 remaining and his team trailing by two points when he scrambled up the middle for a ten-yard gain.

No. 2 QB Dru Brown then entered the game and – why, of course – promptly completed all three of his passes to Dalton Schoen, Nic Demski and Greg Ellingson to ...

NEXT: The Blue Bombers and RedBlacks will do it all over again next Friday in Ottawa – June 17th – with a 6:30 p.m. CT kickoff. But when Collaros went down there was first obvious concern for the CFL’s reigning Most Outstanding Player, followed by how they were going to rally with him on the sideline. Yet, Liegghio subsequently missed the convert and the RedBlacks promptly took the lead back on a Lewis Wad 43-yard field goal with 3:50 remaining. It was a great opportunity for me to show them they can trust me.” But also, the team needs me to step up in moments like that. There will most definitely be some hard conversations in the week ahead, as the Blue Bombers were at times sloppy and occasionally struggling in all three phases.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers were forced to finish their 2022 season-opener with reigning Most Outstanding Player Zach Collaros watching from the sideline, ...

Collaros, who was seen high-fiving teammates following the drive, finished the game 18-of-26 for 188 yards and a touchdown. He finished the run head first and appeared dazed on the turf after a hit from defender Randall Evans jarred his helmet loose. CFL officials pulled Collaros, who has a history of concussions, from the game to be evaluated by team medical personnel.

Marc Liegghio connected on a 25-yard field with six seconds remaining to lift the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to a 19-17 victory over the Ottawa Redblacks in the ...

After a turnover on downs by Ottawa, Winnipeg marched the ball down the field for Prukop's one-yard touchdown run. Receiver Jaelon Acklin dropped what could have been a TD pass, while the defence couldn't hang on to a couple potential interceptions. After a two-yard loss on an Oliveira run, Collaros connected with Ellingson for a five-yard TD at 8:44. Ottawa led 11-10 at halftime and 14-10 after the third. The focal point will be how did we put ourselves in that position?'' We lost, came up short, but you could see our resiliency on the field for sure.''