Winnipeg Blue Bombers win Western Final over Roughriders for 5th straight trip to Grey Cup – Winnipeg | Globalnews.ca

Despite an 0-4 start to the campaign, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are going back to the Grey Cup game for the fifth season in a row.

The Bombers became the first CFL team in over 40 years to qualify for five straight Grey Cups with a 38-22 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Western Final on Saturday at Princess Auto Stadium.

Kenny Lawler made three touchdown catches and Zach Collaros threw for 301 yards as the Bombers beat the Riders in the Western Final for the third time in the last five seasons.

“It’s exciting obviously,” said Collaros. “Proud – it takes a lot of work to get to the Grey Cup. Obviously, you need to finish the deal and win the game. We’ve come short the last few seasons. That’s no secret, but really proud of the group.”

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RAW: Blue Bombers Collaros & Lawler Interview – Nov. 9

Lawler finished with 177 yards receiving and his three TD game almost matched his season total after finding the end zone only four times in the regular season.

“We was just locked in. We was just locked in,” said Lawler. “It was just another game to be honest. I don’t go into any game thinking that tonight’s the night or this is the west final or anything. I’ve been playing this game since I was five years old, so, nothing doesn’t faze me.”

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The Bombers never trailed in the game and had a 14 point lead in the first quarter. After being held to under 50 yards rushing in all three of their regular season meetings, Brady Oliveira rushed for 119 yards with one touchdown against the league’s number one ranked run defence.

“The guys were dialed in,” said Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea. “They knew what that bye week meant for them and they worked their asses off, and made sure they were coming in healthy and ready.”

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RAW: Blue Bombers Mike O’Shea Interview – Nov. 9

Defensive back Evan Holm had a monster game for the Blue Bombers as he made several keys plays on defence. Riders QB Trevor Harris passed for 283 yards, but over a hundred of that came late in the fourth quarter when the game was already out of reach.

The Riders have now lost in their last nine straight trips to Winnipeg, regular season and playoffs included. They haven’t won here since the 2018 season.

“We definitely wanted a better result,” said Roughriders head coach Corey Mace. “But that’s a, yeah man, a s—-y game plan. That’s on my shoulders. So, just sick for the guys.”

After the first two drives of the game ended with punts, Collaros found Lawler and he ran it in for a 31 yard touchdown for an early seven point lead.

The Riders offence went two and out, and Collaros spotted Lawler again for a 65 yard catch. On the very next play Collaros went right back to Lawler, who went right back to the end zone, and the lead was 14 points.

After the Riders scored a field goal, Caleb Sanders blocked a Bombers punt. That led to another Riders field goal to make it 14-6.

But the Bombers quickly seized the momentum back. After a 48 yard run by backup quarterback Terry Wilson, Nic Demski made the touchdown catch at the goal line for a 15 point lead. It was 24-9 at halftime.

The Riders successfully executed a fake punt for a first down on their first possession of the second half. After a 37 yard catch by Kian Schaffer-Baker, A.J. Ouellette punched it in from the one-yard line, and with the convert it was a one possession game at 24-16.

Lawler’s third touchdown catch of the game later in the third quarter gave the Bombers a 15 point lead.

After the Bombers defence made a stop on a third down gamble to start the fourth quarter, Oliveira scored the blue and gold’s fifth touchdown of the game to all but seal the victory.

Lucky Whitehead fumbled a punt to give the Riders some life. But the defence bailed him out with a third down stop in the end zone for Saskatchewan’s second turnover of the game.

With the outcome no longer in doubt, Samuel Emilus scored a touchdown for the Riders with 23 seconds left to close out the scoring.

It was the Bombers fifth straight sellout crowd at Princess Auto Stadium.

Winnipeg will go to the Grey Cup with wins in 10 of their last 11 games.

The Bombers are just the fourth team in Grey Cup history to qualify for five straight championship games. Edmonton was the last team to play in five straight Grey Cups when they went to six in a row from 1977-1982.

The Bombers will look to avenge their loss from two years ago in the 111th Grey Cup. The Bombers will face the Toronto Argonauts in a rematch of the 2022 Grey Cup game. The Argos won both of their meetings in the regular season.

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