“We’ve just got to flush this one”: Blue Bombers defeat Roughriders 51-6 in Labour Day rematch

The disparate outcomes, separated by only six days, prompted Larry Dean to pass along some wisdom that was imparted to him several years ago. 

“One of my teachers told me, ‘The same thing that makes you laugh will make you cry,’ ” the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ middle linebacker said at IG Field after Saturday’s 51-6 CFL loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. 

“We didn’t get the job done today, simple as that.” 

Winnipeg rebounded in emphatic fashion from Sunday’s 32-30 overtime loss at Mosaic Stadium. 

The Blue Bombers reached the end zone on their first six possessions Saturday en route to improving their West Division-leading record to 10-3. 

“The team’s disappointed,” said Roughriders Head Coach Craig Dickenson, whose squad is third in the West at 6-6. “We knew what we were in for from the get-go and we just couldn’t match their energy. We couldn’t stop them and we couldn’t sustain drives. 

“Credit to them. They played an outstanding game, but the men in that locker room know we’re better than that and that we need to play better than that moving forward.” 

The Bombers’ offence was moving forward from the outset under the direction of Zach Collaros. 

The CFL’s two-time-defending Most Outstanding Player threw five TD passes — including three to Dalton Schoen — to propel Winnipeg to a 42-6 halftime lead before a sellout crowd of 32,334. 

Collaros found Brady Oliveira (17 yards) and Kenny Lawler (24 yards) for scores before collaborating with Schoen for TDs of 16, 32 and eight yards.  

The Bombers’ first touchdown came on a one-yard run by short-yardage quarterback Dakota Prukop. 

“(Winnipeg’s) execution was outstanding,” Dickenson said. “They only punted one time today and it was at the end of the game. 

“They just got rolling and we couldn’t find a way to stop them and we weren’t able to match the momentum when we got the football.” 

The Roughriders’ offence had gained momentum over the previous two games under starting quarterback Jake Dolegala, who had amassed 326 passing yards against Winnipeg in the Labour Day Classic. 

At IG Field, he completed 15 of 21 passes for 113 yards before giving way to Shea Patterson late in the game. 

“It was the same philosophy as last week,” Dolegala said. “We were just trying to take what was given. 

“I’ve got to give props to them. They did a really good job on the back end. Some of the stuff we had last week wasn’t there. 

“They brought pressure, like we knew they were going to, and they did a good job of that, too. 

“We’ve got to play better. We’ve got to get back to the drawing board and refocus.” 

All the Roughriders’ points were produced by Brett Lauther, who kicked field goals of 27 and 39 yards during the first half. 

Winnipeg’s Sergio Castillo kicked three straight field goals (from 39, 24 and 17 yards) in the second half after converting all six Bombers touchdowns. 

Collaros, who was replaced by Dru Brown in the fourth quarter, completed 18 of 21 passes for 319 yards. 

Oliveira rushed 18 times for 154 yards in addition to catching four passes for 57 yards. 

“We’re going to go back and really look at the film with a fine-tooth comb,” Dean said. 

“At the end of the day, it’s X’s and O’s, and we just have to stop the run. We didn’t do a good job today stopping the run. 

“I’ll start with myself, being a linebacker. That’s kind of what we pride ourselves on, being able to stop the run, and today we didn’t get that done, led by me. I have to do better.” 

Schoen (five catches) and Lawler (four) each had 104 receiving yards. 

The Roughriders’ busiest receiver was Kian Schaffer-Baker, who caught six passes for 37 yards. Samuel Emilus added three catches for 41 yards. 

Thomas Bertrand-Hudon led Saskatchewan in rushing, with 41 yards on five carries.  

Dean registered seven defensive tackles to fatten his career total to 537. He is tied with Matt Finlay for 30th on the CFL’s all-time list. 

Dean is nicely positioned to overtake Finlay, Marvin Coleman (538), Joe Montford (540) and Gerald Vaughn (541) when the Roughriders return to action on Friday against the Edmonton Elks (7:30 p.m., Mosaic Stadium). 

“That’s obviously a big one next week,” Dolegala said. “We’ve just got to flush this one. The biggest thing is that we’ve got to learn from it, know where we went wrong, and fix those things. 

“All the focus is on Edmonton now and we’ve got to go get ’em in our house.”