The visiting Saskatchewan Roughriders will attempt to take down the CFL West-leading Winnipeg Blue Bombers for the second time in seven days on Saturday.
The Roughriders (6-5) still are riding high after Sunday’s 32-30 victory against the Blue Bombers (9-3) in Regina.
“We knew what kind of potential we had,” Saskatchewan running back Jamal Morrow said. “We’ve got to continue to build and chase excellence each and every day.”
Brett Lauther made all five of his field-goal attempts for the Riders, including a game-tying chip shot with 31 seconds remaining in regulation.
Saskatchewan opened the overtime with Antonio Pipkin’s 1-yard TD run and Jacob Dolegala’s two-point conversion pass to Shawn Bane Jr.
Winnipeg answered with a 35-yard scoring strike from Zach Collaros to Kenny Lawler, but the ensuing two-point pass attempt was deflected by Jaxon Ford.
The Riders will play the Banjo Bowl rematch without defensive end Pete Robertson, who earned a one-game league suspension for a late helmet-to-helmet hit against Collaros on Sunday.
“We’re very happy that Zach’s OK and that he is playing this game,” Saskatchewan coach Craig Dickenson told the Regina Leader-Post. “We want to apologize to him and Pete’s going to take his suspension like a man and hopefully learn from that.”
Collaros passed for 279 yards and two touchdowns but also threw an interception and completed only half of his 26 pass attempts.
“Not good enough. We didn’t execute. What did we complete? Three passes in the first half? It was terrible,” Collaros told the Winnipeg Sun. “I don’t know. Are we a prolific offense? We need to do better.”
Saskatchewan, meanwhile, is closer to getting quarterback Mason Fine on the field. He returned to practice this week for the first time since injuring his hamstring on Aug. 11, but Dolegala is expected to make his third straight start.
Winnipeg won the first meeting 45-27 on June 16 at Saskatchewan. Dru Brown scored on a pair of 1-yard runs and Collaros passed for 293 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Bombers.
–Field Level Media