A working title for the now complete first chapter of the story of the 2026 Winnipeg Blue Bombers:
‘Tasty Debuts, Late Game Heroics and A Kicker Who Desperately Had to Pee”
OK, so it’s a bit wordy and strange, but as we said off the top, it’s a working title and not yet set in stone.
In any case, Friday night’s 30-28 season-opening win by the Blue Bombers over the Calgary Stampeders at McMahon Stadium provided a ton of entertainment and fascinating subplots including Zach Collaros operating Tommy Condell’s new offence for the first time, a defence that showed resiliency, stellar play from the special teams units, outstanding debuts by the likes of Tim White and Jake Ceresna — among others — with it all capped by Sergio Castillo’s 38-yard game winning field goal with zeroes on the clock.
So, Sergio… tell us about handling the swirling wind and playing the hero…
“Actually, my biggest thing was that I really needed to pee,” began the Blue Bombers affable placekicker with his trademark wide, wide grin. “So, when Vernon (Adams, Jr., Calgary’s quarterback) was driving late in the game, I went up to (Brad) Fotty (ace equipment man) and he told me to go talk to Al (Couture, head athletic therapist) because he had a pee bag. But Al was busy because we had a couple late injuries back-to-back on defence.
“So, I went back to Fotty and I’m like, ‘Look, I’ve got a feeling I might kick. Can you block things so I can release?’”
Castillo went No. 1 and then kicked the game-winning three.
“Jams (punter and holder Jamieson Sheahan), Ian (Leroux, long snapper) and I were communicating. We were the whole game because other than the Grey Cup in ’21 this was the rowdiest wind we’ve ever been in — it was very hard,” said Castillo. “Going that way where we kicked the winner sometimes I was aiming right-center, sometimes I was aiming left-center. It was a hard wind.
“Full credit to Jams. It’s like when you’re golfing and you have a great caddy. It’s all about the communicating. I wasn’t sure because of the wind but having him there is so amazing to help me calm down. A lot of props to him, to Ian for the snap and for the offence for getting us there.”
One more from Castillo, who as we mentioned in our Game Recap Friday played the hero with his wife and two kids in Calgary.
“I’ve mentioned this to you before, but I didn’t grow up with my dad,” he said. “My dream was kicking, but my biggest dream was to have a family and so for me to do this and have my wife and my two kids with me here? I don’t know how to explain it right now, but I’m living my dream as a family man. And having my boy with me here in the locker room now — he’s five — that’s what it’s all about.
“Hopefully years down the road he’ll remember this but right now I’m living the dream.”
ICYMI, here is our Game Recap from on the scene in Calgary:
And what follows is this week’s edition of UPON FURTHER REVIEW…
TIM WHITE SAT IN HIS LOCKER LATE FRIDAY NIGHT… and as he surveyed the room the smile on his face had enough wattage to illuminate all of McMahon Stadium.
Little wonder, as the veteran receiver — brought aboard in late January following his release from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats — had led the team with five catches for 60 yards and scored his first touchdown as a Blue Bomber.
“It was such a great experience,” White said. “Looking to the left and the right, you see Pokey (Wilson) making plays, you see (Nic) Demski making plays, Tommy (Nield) making plays, Gavin (Cobb) making plays and then you see Brady (Oliveira) toting the rock… that’s team football right there. It felt so great.
“We checked a lot of boxes tonight. It’s funny, during my time (in Hamilton) it felt like we were always opening against Calgary in Calgary (they did in 2024, 2025) and we never got a win. It shows the difference here in Winnipeg and how we operate. Again, great team football.
“It feels great to be a Bomber — I can say that right now. It feels great to be around these teammates and how they’re embracing me. This was really our first time to experience real battle together because in our first preseason game together a lot of guys weren’t out there so we’re still trying to figure things out. So to come out here and see how everything operates, what a great experience.”
WHITE WASN’T THE ONLY NEW BLUE BOMBER… to have a solid debut. Defensive lineman Jake Ceresna brought down Adams, Jr. three times in his first game in Winnipeg colours. That’s the first three-sack game by a Blue Bomber since Willie Jefferson had three since August 23rd, in a 34-28 Winnipeg win in Edmonton.
My chat with Jake, post-game is here:
Said Collaros, when asked about not having to face the likes of Cerena and Jefferson as an opposition quarterback:
“I said to Jake before the game, I’ve been waiting for this for a long time, my friend.”
THREE NUMBERS WHICH JUMPED OUT AFTER… a second glance at the stats package, which can be found here:
1 Both teams had gaudy second-and-long conversion numbers, which will have offensive coordinators gushing and defensive coordinators cranky. Winnipeg was 50 percent on all-second down conversions (8-of-19) while Calgary was at 60 percent (14-of-24). But on second and long (seven-plus yards), the Blue Bombers were at 67 percent (six-of-nine) while Calgary was at 53 percent (8-of-17).
“That was an interesting game to watch and play,” said Deatrick Nichols. “A great CFL game. In the second half, we just bought in and everybody played their game. That’s a good team over there and we just had to figure it out.”
2 The special teams were solid for the Blue Bombers, not just in the numbers — Castillo connecting on both field goal attempts, Sheahan’s punting, Trey Vaval’s outstanding returns and decision making. Vaval had 105 yards on four punt returns, including a 53-yarder; added 69 yards on three kickoff returns and had 22 yards on a missed field goal return.
3 Brady Oliveira’s 113-yard rushing game propelled him into the Top 5 on the franchise’s all-time rushing list, ahead of Gerry James. Oliveira is now at 5.593 rushing yards as a Blue Bomber — good for fifth place all time behind Charles Roberts (9,987), Leo Lewis (8,861), Willard Reaves (5,923) and Jim Washington (5,736).
“When they kicked the ball off and the ball went through the end zone after their last touchdown, Brady came to see me and said, ‘We’re winning this game,’” said safety Redha Kramdi. “It was high emotion. We believed it. We believed in each other, and we had no doubt we were going to come out as winners.”
“We’ve got grit in this room. We’re going to put up a fight every time we step on the field. Nothing is going to be given and we’re going to go and get it.” — Redha Kramdi
AND FINALLY… for those of you who have made it to the bottom of this piece, thanks for reading. The condensed game is here for those who want to rewatch it or maybe missed it and want more than just a quick highlight package: