IG Field becomes IV Field: The Roughriders’ wild weekend in Winnipeg, one year later 

In his brief time as a quarterback with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Jake Dolegala has already directed two touchdown marches of 100-plus yards. 

He also has vivid recollections of a long drive that did not unfold on the football field — but instead over a 600-kilometre stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway. 

Nearly a year ago, Dolegala travelled from Regina to the Manitoba capital on extremely short notice after a Norovirus outbreak ravaged the Roughriders’ roster leading up to the annual Labour Day rematch with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers — who are to again play host to the Green and White on Saturday at IG Field (2 p.m., TSN, CKRM). 

The first player to be visibly afflicted was Mason Fine, who was then the primary understudy to quarterback Cody Fajardo. 

The night before the Sept. 10, 2022 CFL game, Fine became ill over dinner and rushed back to the hotel. 

It was first suspected to be an isolated incident — food poisoning, perhaps — so the immediate priority was to ensure that there was a backup at the all-important position of quarterback. 

Fine’s condition was worsening by the minute on a Friday night, to the point where his status was quickly in doubt for a Saturday game that was to begin at 3 p.m., Saskatchewan time. 

Upon receiving that notification, General Manager and Vice-President of Football Operations Jeremy O’Day reached out to Dolegala, who was third on the depth chart during a season in which CFL teams conventionally dressed two quarterbacks. 

Around 11:30 p.m., the plea from O’Day was succinct, straightforward and successful: “Hey, Jake. We need you.” 

O’Day told Dolegala that he would be picked up very early in the morning by Football Operations Co-ordinator Chase Pelletier and driven to Winnipeg. 

Meanwhile, back at the team hotel, O’Day was in touch with Dr. Mike Nicholls, who was travelling with the Roughriders during that fateful weekend. O’Day also reached out to Craig Dickenson to give the Head Coach a heads-up. 

“Dickie didn’t answer, which is unusual,” O’Day remembers. “And then, sure enough, he calls me back, maybe a half-hour later. Dickie said, ‘Sorry I didn’t answer. I’m not feeling good. Maybe it’s something I ate.’ Still, there was nothing really in connection with the two (illnesses), so I didn’t think there was much to it. 

“When I went to bed, the only two people who were sick were Mason and Coach. And then, of course, when I got up in the morning, there were another six or eight guys who had gotten sick. It was just one after another throughout the night, so we had a long list of guys who were sick. 

“From there, it was probably every 15 minutes where there was another guy who would report to the trainers that he was sick. At that point, how do you know who’s going to play?” 

It was that kind of season for the Roughriders, who seven weeks earlier had been decimated by a COVID-19 outbreak. 

Fajardo and Fine were both unavailable for a July 24, 2022 home date with the Toronto Argonauts, so Dolegala made his first CFL start. 

With the ranks reduced, the Roughriders were nonetheless able to carry a 21-14 lead into the fourth quarter before Toronto scored the final 17 points and won 31-21. 

Who could have imagined that, in terms of a health crisis, lightning would strike twice? 

With Pelletier at the wheel, Dolegala departed for Winnipeg at about 5:30 on the morning of the game. 

And then he got sick, too! 

“It wasn’t as bad as a lot of those guys, but I’m throwing up on the way there,” says Dolegala, who is to fly to Winnipeg with the team on Friday and start the following afternoon against the Blue Bombers. 

“It was not a good scenario. But I knew Mason couldn’t go, so I had to buck up somehow and figure it out.” 

Meanwhile, back in Regina, Craig Reynolds is enjoying what would be his final few minutes of tranquility for several hours. 

“I wake up and, partly to relieve the pressure and the stress of the game, I’m doing yoga fairly early in the morning,” the Roughriders’ President-CEO says. “I’m at home, trying to relax and get some exercise. 

“I finish yoga and look at my phone and I have two missed calls from Jeremy and he asked me to give him a call. I called Jeremy and he was not frantic, but he’s elevated a little bit.

“He starts with, ‘We’ve had to bring Jake in because Mason was really, really sick last night. He can’t back up. And we’re really worried that it’s starting to spread.’ ” 

Concern was also widening about the Roughriders being able to put any semblance of a team on the field. 

“I get back on the phone with Jeremy and one of the questions was, ‘How are we going to field an offensive line?’ ” Reynolds says. “That, in particular, was the issue, because a number of offensive linemen were on the list (of ailing players). Jeremy said, ‘That’s my biggest concern.’ 

“I decided that I’d better call the league and inform them that this is happening and that there’s a serious risk here. I called the CFL office and said, ‘We’re worried about being able to field a roster.’ He basically said, ‘You’re going to have to get guys from the practice roster here and get as many bodies as you possibly can.’ 

“Then we start talking about who would be well enough, with an IV, to play. We started having those conversations based on the medical staff’s conversations with the players and about who they thought would logically be able to play. 

“Basically, what Jeremy decided was that we needed to get whoever we could from the practice roster to Winnipeg, just in case.” 

But how? 

Flying from Regina to Winnipeg is not the easiest proposition — especially on short notice. 

Meanwhile, the clock was ticking like Big Ben. 

With precious little time in which to ponder contingency plans, Reynolds decided to volunteer his services as an emergency chauffeur. 

Considering the state of the offensive line, there was the imperative of reaching out to Diego Alatorre Montoya and ensuring his presence in Winnipeg. The rookie lineman was quick to respond in the affirmative when asked if he could make the trip, posthaste. 

Reynolds soon picked up Alatorre Montoya at the University of Regina dorms, where he was residing. The duo then headed to Mosaic Stadium so that the Roughriders’ 2022 third-round draft choice could pick up his equipment. 

Once that was done, Reynolds and Alatorre Montoya began to make their way to Winnipeg. 

Not so fast. 

As their vehicle was approaching Wascana Parkway, an advisory arrived from the Roughriders’ Director of Football Operations, Jordan Greenly. 

“I just talked to (defensive back) Blace Brown — he can make it as well,” Greenly told Reynolds, who fielded the message in hands-free (if not stress-free) fashion. 

One U-turn later, it was back to the U of R, and then back to the stadium, before what turned out to be the final departure for Winnipeg. 

“We’re literally back on the Ring Road,” Reynolds says. “I ask Blace and Diego, ‘Have you eaten anything?’ No. Meanwhile, I look and, sure enough, I need gas as well.
“So we head to the east end of Regina and stop for gas. I tell the guys, ‘Buy whatever you need from the convenience store, snack-wise. Get whatever you want — Gatorade or whatever you need. Just load up.’ 

“Then I’m like, ‘These are just chocolate bars. We need something,’ so we quickly hit the McDonald’s drive-thru. I said, ‘Order whatever you want,’ so the guys ordered breakfast sandwiches and Egg McMuffins and hash browns … the whole nine yards. 

“Finally, I’m gassed up, they’re full of food, and we’re on the road.” 

On the clock, too. 

Constantly doing the math in his head, Reynolds was calculating distances and speed to determine whether it was even remotely feasible to make it to Winnipeg in time for the opening kickoff at IG Field. 

Make that IV Field. 

“There are several calls with Jeremy on the way,” Reynolds says. “He’s updating me on who else is sick and who he thinks might be able to go, and it’s very chaotic. 

“They’ve sourced some IVs. They’ve got people who can deliver the IVs. They don’t know who can play and who can’t play. They’re just hopeful they’ve got enough guys.” 

With two more guys on the way, thanks to the resourceful Reynolds, the GM was sorting out the ever-changing situation in Winnipeg — in the absence of any sort of protocol or precedent for a once-inconceivable, still-unbelievable scenario. 

“We had to actually book a third bus to take the sick guys to the game,” O’Day says. “Anyone who was feeling sick, we told them to stay in the room as long as possible and get as much rest as they could. Some of them couldn’t get out of the bathroom. 

“We had the first bus come back (from the stadium) and become the third bus, which was for everyone who was sick. By then, we probably had 15 or 20 guys who were sick who were on the last bus. 

“When they were getting on the bus, we were actually handing them garbage bags, because the guys were throwing up on the bus. I was actually on that bus, but I wasn’t sick. I wore a mask. 

“When we got to the stadium, I walked into the locker room with the 25 or 30 guys who weren’t sick and we just sent in 15 or 20 guys who were sick. You weren’t sure how that was going to work, because everyone seemed to be passing each other and it was hitting everyone at once.” 

O’Day conveyed this news to CFL officials, who were kept updated — to the extent that anyone could get a precise, or even approximate, read on a situation that was changing by the minute. 

“I remember someone from the league saying, ‘Well, how many guys can’t play?’ ” O’Day says. “I said, ‘I don’t know, because there are people just laying around in there.’ 

“At this time, the doctors were giving our players IVs, because they were so dehydrated. You bring some IV bags with you, but you don’t bring that many. 

“They actually had to ask the paramedics on-site, and they gave us three or four bags. We went through those so fast that we asked them to give us more. I think we gave 12 players bags of IV before the pre-game warmup. We literally had guys on the table who were getting hydrated through IVs.” 

That is never a good thing, especially for a football team that is poised to meet the two-time-defending Grey Cup champions on their turf. 

“It looked like a triage room in there,” veteran guard Evan Johnson remembers. “Guys were laying out with their IVs. They’re trying to squeeze the bag to pump the fluid in faster. It helped guys feel better, just because they were finally able to get some fluids. 

“I eventually went out for warmups. I felt spaced-out, just from a lack of food, nutrition, sleep and everything else, so I went and got an IV. They told me they’d use a larger-gauge needle, just to help push it through faster.” 

Ouch! 

Johnson, remember, was deemed to be one of the healthier players — in that he was able to answer the bell. 

“I told the league, ‘I don’t know how many guys will be ready to play,’ ” O’Day says. “I told them I’d go out for warmups and see who was left behind. So when we went out for warmups, I went in and started counting guys who couldn’t play and took note of what position they played. The other question was: Are we going to have enough guys at each position? 

“After I counted the guys, I said, ‘I think we’re going to be able to play. There are some guys who are sick, but they’re going to try to play.” 

Meanwhile, Reynolds was making good time en route to Winnipeg. It helped matters that his counterpart, Bombers President-CEO Wade Miller, had made a preferred parking spot available for the Roughriders’ travelling trio. 

“We followed Wade’s instructions and got parked by IG Field,” Reynolds says. “We park in the fan area, essentially, and there are people tailgating. We pop the trunk and here’s two professional football players who are grabbing their gear and high-tailing it. 

“As we were walking toward the stadium, the game had already started. Winnipeg had marched down on the first drive and scored, so we actually heard the fireworks.” 

Winnipeg scored at 5:56 of the first quarter, when Zach Collaros connected with Nic Demski on a 16-yard TD pass. Demski’s major completed a 10-play, 73-yard march that devoured all but the opening eight seconds. 

“We actually chose to go on defence first, because we didn’t know if the offensive linemen would be ready to go on right away,” O’Day notes.  

“Evan Johnson was one of the offensive linemen who was getting IVs. When we walked out of the tunnel, the anthem was playing, and he was still holding cotton on his arm where the IV had been.” 

Meanwhile, Alatorre Montoya was only a few minutes away from wearing a CFL uniform for the first time. 

“I got to my seat after the first quarter had started and I was obviously curious about Blace and Diego,” Reynolds says. 

“Sure enough, I see Diego run out first. He’s fully dressed and has joined the team and is stretching on the sidelines. Then I see Blace and he’s there, stretching out. 

“The next time we’re on defence, I look at the bench and I’m like, ‘Where’s Blace?’ Hold on … he’s playing! He’s in the game! It was literally six, seven, eight minutes after we had gotten out of the car after having driven from Regina to Winnipeg. 

“He’d had a Sausage ’N Egg McMuffin and hash browns and some chips and some chocolate bars and he was out there playing a professional football game — and he played the entire game on defence.” 

The game? Well …  

Winnipeg won 54-20, but the Roughriders’ mere involvement in the game was a triumph in itself. 

Most remarkably, the visiting side actually made a game of it, despite the eventual disparity on the scoreboard. 

Mario Alford, who shrugged off the sickness and played, returned the second-half opening kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown. Brett Lauther’s convert reduced the Blue Bombers’ lead to 27-17. 

After the teams exchanged field goals, there was still a 10-point difference late in the third quarter. 

Then the Bombers pulled away, scoring the game’s final 24 points — against a Norovirus-ridden team that did not have a full complement of players when the national anthem was performed. 

“One of the players slept the entire game on the cement floor in the locker room,” Reynolds says. “The game was going on, with fireworks and 33,000 fans, and he slept on the cement floor the entire game, just curled up in a ball.  

“It was just an insane 24 hours.” 

Within 24 hours of the final gun, most of the affected players and staff members were feeling much better. By the time the team resumed practising at mid-week, there were barely any physical reminders of a wild weekend in Winnipeg. 

But a year later, with another game in Winnipeg fast approaching, reminders of an unforgettable day in Roughriders history are unavoidable for anyone who was part of the craziness. 

“I remember taking a picture at IG Field from where I was sitting,” Reynolds reflects. “I sent it to my mom. She had no idea that I was there. 

“I didn’t tell anybody that I had left for Winnipeg. It was just ‘get in the car and go,’ because there was just no time. I just sent her the picture and said, ‘This isn’t where I thought I’d be watching the game from this afternoon.’ 

“She said, ‘What are you doing in Winnipeg?’ I replied, ‘I’ll explain later. It’s a long story …’ ”