Two veterans led the way Thursday night to keep the Bombers perfect start to the season going.
Zach Collaros had four total touchdowns, throwing for three and rushing for one, while Nic Demski caught two touchdown passes as the Bombers moved to 3-0 on the season with a 36-23 win over the Edmonton Elks in front of the seventh straight sellout crowd at Princess Auto Stadium.
It was the Bombers 13th straight win against the Elks going back seven years to the 2018 season.
“It felt good to get a win,” said Collaros. “None of them are easy. I know we can do a better job on first down and make second down more reasonable. But I thought we executed when it mattered there.”
Edmonton falls to 0-3 on the campaign.
Demski was a game-time decision heading into Thursday, but you wouldn’t know he was battling through an ankle injury as he picked up 97 yards receiving on five catches after having only reception in their last game.
“It’s all about bouncing back for this team,” said Demski. “I thought Zach put me in a great position to go out there and make plays. I thought Jason (Hogan) put me in a good position to go make plays and it worked out.”
Demski now has four touchdowns on the season, which is first among receivers in the CFL, and he’s now caught a pass in 74 straight games.
Collaros threw for over 200 yards in the first half and finished with 334 yards passing with no interceptions.
“I thought he stood in there and delivered,” said head coach Mike O’Shea. “Made good decisions and thought the receivers did a nice job at being quarterback friendly and working for him.
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“I think what’s consistent is he’s consistently really, really good. Like over time, his body of work says that he’s going to win you a lot of games, he’s gonna win a lot of plays, he’s gonna win a lot of drives. He’s consistently really good.”
“Zach was dialed in today,” said Demski. “He was hot all day. So that’s why I love playing with him.”
For Collaros, it was just his third rushing touchdown in the last 10 years.
“If my ball security was poor, it was because I haven’t ran the ball like that in a while,” said Collaros. “So I got to do a better job obviously, but yeah, anytime we get within four-five yards, we’re gonna score a touchdown.”
Collaros surpassed Kenny Ploen for the fourth most passing yards in franchise history behind only Kevin Glenn, Khari Jones, and Dieter Brock.
The game was tied at 23 through three quarters, but the Bombers scored 13 points in the fourth to secure the victory.
“I think we just controlled the line of scrimmage,” Demski said. “Our o-line (offensive line) does such a good job and obviously they’re the rock, they’re the foundation to our offence, so we followed their lead. Of course we’re gonna go out there and make plays, but at the end of the day, when they control the line of scrimmage, I mean, it just flows that much easier for us.”
The Bombers managed to contain Elks quarterback Tre Ford who had only one rush for six yards the entire game.
“Happy with it,” said O’Shea. “When he gets running around, I thought our guys pursued very intelligently.”
Facing his former team for the first time since signing with Edmonton in the off-season, Tyrell Ford had only two defensive tackles for the Elks in the loss.
The Bombers gave up the game’s first touchdown as they trailed for the first time all season, but they responded late in the first quarter with an eight-yard Demski major.
In the second quarter, Collaros hooked up with Keric Wheatfall and Demski for two long touchdowns of 52 and 60 yards, respectively, and the Bombers took a 23-13 lead into halftime.
The Bombers would give up the game’s next 10 points in the third quarter as the Elks evened things up heading into the fourth, but after a Sergio Castillo field goal put the Bombers ahead again, Collaros used his legs, scrambling for a 13-yard touchdown to give the blue and gold some breathing room.
With Brady Oliveira out of the lineup for the second straight game, the Bombers didn’t have much of a rushing attack in the first three quarters. But Matthew Peterson had several key runs in the fourth quarter to seal the victory and finished with 65 yards rushing.
Winnipeg will hit the road for their next game as they visit the Calgary Stampeders on Thursday, July 3 with kickoff shortly after 8 p.m.
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