WINNIPEG \u2014 Brett Lauther should have been pumped after connecting on five field goals in the Saskatchewan Roughriders\u2019 21-13 Banjo Bowl victory over the Blue\u00a0Bombers\u00a0on Saturday, but it was his one mistake he focused on.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t perfect tonight by any means, missed a crucial extra point still, but a win\u2019s a win and it\u2019s about the team win and nothing about me,\u201d Lauther said.<\/p>\n
The eight-year CFL veteran went into the game only connecting on 65.7 per cent of his field-goal attempts (23 of 35) and was good on kicks from 20, 33, 35 (twice) and 41 yards.<\/p>\n
He missed a convert on A.J. Ouellette\u2019s third-quarter touchdown run, his third miss out of 28 extra-point tries this season.<\/p>\n
Saskatchewan quarterback Trevor Harris was quick to praise the 34-year-old placekicker, who\u2019s been doubted and criticized by fans.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery,\u201d Harris said when asked how happy he was for Lauther. \u201cBut we\u2019ve always known who he is, and that guy\u2019s awesome.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it\u2019s more or less I\u2019m just happy for him because I know sometimes belief in yourself can kind of be volatile. I think after a five-for-five performance, he can kind of sit back and say like, \u2018OK, let\u2019s go.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The win gave the Roughriders the season series against the Blue\u00a0Bombers, with a third match scheduled in Winnipeg on Oct. 17. It was also the first time Saskatchewan won the Banjo Bowl since 2018.<\/p>\n
Saskatchewan\u2019s CFL-leading record moved to 10-2. The last time the team hit the 10-win mark was 2019, when it finished 13-5 and lost the West Division final to Winnipeg.<\/p>\n
The Blue\u00a0Bombers\u00a0(6-6) had a 13-3 lead late in the second quarter, but their fortunes turned with an injury to starting quarterback Zach Collaros.<\/p>\n
Collaros left the game with 5:28 left in the third quarter after being sacked by Saskatchewan defensive back C.J. Reavis and fumbling the ball.<\/p>\n
Collaros didn\u2019t get up for a few minutes, but did jog to the dressing room to cheers from the 11th consecutive sellout crowd of 32,343 at Princess Auto Stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe doesn’t stay down, usually. It’s not comforting, by any means. I hate to see that,\u201d\u00a0Bombers\u00a0head coach Mike O\u2019Shea said of Collaros.<\/p>\n
He had no update, but was staying positive.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m sure he’ll be OK. When, I don’t know,\u201d O\u2019Shea said.<\/p>\n
Collaros had missed a game earlier this season with a neck injury. The hit to Collaros included his head and was successfully challenged by Winnipeg for roughing the passer and the turnover was wiped out.<\/p>\n
Bombers\u00a0kicker Sergio Castillo then missed a 51-yard field-goal attempt to end the series \u2014 one of two he missed during the game.<\/p>\n
Collaros had completed nine of 15 pass attempts for 165 yards with two interceptions and one touchdown. He was replaced by Chris Streveler, who was 5-of-9 passing for 39 yards and two picks.<\/p>\n
Harris, who was 18-of-31 for 239 yards with one interception, said it was \u201cheartbreaking\u201d to see Collaros go down.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think everybody will probably join up in prayer for Zach,\u201d Harris said. \u201cHe\u2019s a close friend of mine. I came in the league with him (with the Toronto Argonauts in 2012).<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I know he\u2019s a tough dude and he loves football. I know he\u2019ll find a way to bounce back, but I pray that he\u2019s OK and hopefully it\u2019s not what everybody thought it would be, a concussion. You don\u2019t want that for anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ouellette had 11 carries for 50 yards and the five-yard touchdown run.<\/p>\n
Winnipeg running back Brady Oliveira, who was held to 24 yards on five carries in Saskatchewan\u2019s 34-30 Labour Day Classic win last weekend, rushed 20 times for 83 yards and had two catches for 19 yards.<\/p>\n
Castillo connected on field goals from 39 and 34 yards and made one convert.<\/p>\n
Ontaria Wilson, the Blue\u00a0Bombers\u2019 most outstanding rookie last season, led all receivers with five receptions for 89 yards and a 24-yard catch-and-run touchdown in his season debut.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt good to get in the end zone, but the weight of the loss outweighs how good it felt to score,\u201d Wilson said.<\/p>\n
The slotback signed a contract through 2026 on Monday after being waived by the NFL’s New York Jets last month.<\/p>\n
Winnipeg led 3-0 after the first quarter, 13-6 at halftime and 13-12 heading into the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
Bombers\u00a0defensive back Redha Kramdi helped set up the game\u2019s first points when he intercepted Harris, leading to Castillo\u2019s 39-yarder at 12:07.<\/p>\n
After Lauther booted a 20-yarder at 1:25 of the second, Wilson recorded his TD after beating defenders into the end zone at 5:06 to give Winnipeg a 10-3 lead.<\/p>\n
Castillo was good on a 34-yarder with 3:09 left in the half, but Collaros was intercepted by Riders defensive back Marcus Sayles with 21 seconds left. The turnover led to a 35-yard Lauther field goal as time expired.<\/p>\n
After DaMarcus Fields\u2019 intercepted Collaros in the third quarter, Ouellette scored his TD at 8:11.<\/p>\n
Lauther was good on three field goals in the fourth quarter and Castillo missed a 48-yard attempt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Roughriders: Host the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday, Sept. 13.<\/p>\n
Blue\u00a0Bombers: Visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday, Sept. 12.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WINNIPEG \u2014 Brett Lauther should have been pumped after connecting on five field goals in the Saskatchewan Roughriders\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125974,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-125973","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-football-league","11":"tag-canadianfootballleague","12":"tag-cfl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}