Riders down Blue Bombers for fourth straight victory
WINNIPEG — Even Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach Chris Jones had a hard time believing how his team’s 32-27 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers unfolded Saturday.
The Roughriders scored a pair of TDs and three field goals off of Winnipeg interceptions, while the Bombers recorded a pair of TDs after a Saskatchewan pick and fumble.
“It was just one of those games,” Jones said. “It was one of the craziest games I’ve been involved with.”
Both teams finished the game without their starting quarterbacks playing in front of a sold-out crowd of 33,134 Canadian Football League fans at Investors Group Field.
Bombers QB Matt Nichols threw three interceptions and was replaced by Chris Streveler to start the second half. His Riders counterpart, Zach Collaros, was hurt on a sack and fumble early in the fourth quarter, forcing Brandon Bridge into action.
Collaros had to leave the field under concussion protocol.
Saskatchewan (7-4) had a 26-17 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but Winnipeg (5-7) went ahead briefly 27-26 midway through the quarter.
Riders place-kicker Brett Lauther booted a 15-yard field goal to regain the lead. A second interception by Streveler — Winnipeg’s fifth — with just over a minute left in the game killed any momentum and the Bombers recorded their fourth straight loss.
Lauther sealed his team’s fourth straight win with his sixth field goal of the game with 46 seconds left.