Published Oct 11, 2025 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 4 minute read<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n You can save this article by registering for free here<\/a>. Or sign-in<\/a> if you have an account.<\/p>\n This one\u2019s going to hurt.<\/p>\n Advertisement 2<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Exclusive columns by Ryan Stelter, Paul Friesen, Ted Wyman, Scott Billeck, Lorrie Goldstein, Warren Kinsella and others. 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Plus newsletters: Gimme Stelter for your beat on the city, The Exit Row for all your Jets news and On the Rocks for curling.Unlimited online access to Winnipeg Sun and 15 news sites with one account.Winnipeg Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.<\/p>\n REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.<\/p>\n THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an Account<\/p>\n or<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n With a chance to clinch a playoff spot and keep pace with B.C. and Calgary in the race for second place in the CFL West, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers instead fell closer to the basement on Saturday.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n A 25-20 loss in Edmonton on Saturday dropped the Bombers to 8-8, with the 7-9 Elks still alive and on their tail.<\/p>\n The Blue Bombers may have lost more than a critical game, too, as leading receiver Nic Demski went down with a leg injury.<\/p>\n If there\u2019s a silver lining for Winnipeg, their last two regular-season games will be against teams coasting into the playoffs, Saskatchewan and Montreal, while the Elks had to win to stay alive.<\/p>\n The Bombers need just one more win to punch their ticket to the playoffs, but their chances of hosting a post-season game took a major hit and is now out of their hands.<\/p>\n The Winnipeg Sun’s Daily Headline News<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Advertisement 3<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cIt sucks,\u201d quarterback Zach Collaros told CJOB radio. \u201cYou want to reward the fan base. Not saying you can\u2019t get there (to the Grey Cup). We\u2019ve done it before, not playing at home. But you want to reward Wade (Miller, Bombers CEO) and everybody that does so much for us, week in and week out, with a home game. Those things matter.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was on my mind. It pisses me off.\u201d<\/p>\n Collaros threw two interceptions but still came close to pulling this one out of the fire on the strength of one of the most spectacular plays of the CFL season.<\/p>\n With less than seven minutes to go and the Bombers down by 12, Collaros heaved a long ball intended for Ontaria Wilson in the Edmonton end zone.<\/p>\n With multiple defenders around him, Wilson went up in the air for it. It popped out of his hands and bounced off a few more, before he stretched to keep it from hitting the ground, corralling it just before it hit the turf.<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cJust give him a chance and he\u2019s got a shot. He\u2019s incredible,\u201d Collaros said.<\/p>\n Like that it was 25-20, Elks.<\/p>\n Winnipeg got the ball one last time with just under two minutes left, but one deep Collaros pass was tipped inches over Brady Oliveira\u2019s hands, while a final one on third-and-four was nowhere near receiver Jerreth Stearns.<\/p>\n The loss, with their erratic performance on offence and a defence that gave up a 64-yard touchdown run to Justin Rankin, comes on the heels of the Bombers\u2019 most impressive game of the year, a 40-3 romp over Hamilton.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll feel bad for ourselves for about 15 minutes, get on the plane and get to work,\u201d head coach Mike O\u2019Shea said. \u201cThe guys will watch the film on the plane ride home \u2026 and move on to Sask in a hurry.<\/p>\n Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Collaros echoed his coach and wasn\u2019t going to stay down through Thanksgiving Day.<\/p>\n \u201cBe grateful of what we have,\u201d he said. \u201cBut get to work. It\u2019s all still in front of us.\u201d<\/p>\n Next up, a visit by the Riders on Friday.<\/p>\n The Bombers and Elks traded first-quarter field goals, Winnipeg\u2019s set up by another big Trey Vaval missed-field-goal return, this one for 58 yards.<\/p>\n Six minutes into the second, the Bombers capped a 10-play, 70-yard drive with a Chris Streveler two-yard sneak, the quarterback\u2019s ninth touchdown of the season.<\/p>\n The Elks answered that with a marathon drive of their own, going 87 yards on 14 plays, quarterback Cody Fajardo taking it the last four yards.<\/p>\n On the Bombers\u2019 last drive of the first half, Collaros threw up a lame duck that fell well short of Demski, JJ Ross picking it off and taking it back 59 yards to the Winnipeg 29.<\/p>\n Advertisement 6<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Luckily for the Bombers, kicker Vincent Blanchard missed another field goal and the Elks settled for a single, taking an 11-10 lead into the break.<\/p>\n On a third-and-two Edmonton gamble early in the second half, Rankin ran through the Winnipeg defence for a 64-yard touchdown to extend the Elks\u2019 lead to eight.<\/p>\n When the Bombers\u2019 Nick Hallett forced Javon Leake to fumble a punt return, Winnipeg had a momentum-changing play at their fingertips.<\/p>\n Trouble is they couldn\u2019t get the loose ball in their hands, despite a few players who had a shot at it.<\/p>\n So Edmonton\u2019s Kordell Jackson took matters into his hands, picking it up and going 47 yards for another major and a 15-point Elks lead.<\/p>\n \u201cWe got a little unlucky,\u201d O\u2019Shea said. \u201cThat was the difference in the score. We just weren\u2019t good enough to overcome an unlucky play.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement 7<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Sergio Castillo trimmed the lead to a dozen going into the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n The Bombers got a break on their next possession when the Elks were penalized for an unnecessary hit on Brady Oliveira, keeping a drive alive.<\/p>\n Instead of taking advantage, Collaros tossed a second interception.<\/p>\n The spectacular Wilson catch made it interesting.<\/p>\n As for Demski, he needed just four receiving yards to hit 1,000 for a third straight year, and he got five on a first-quarter catch.<\/p>\n When he pulled up lame on that underthrown pass from Collaros, his night was done.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s one of Zach\u2019s favourite targets,\u201d O\u2019Shea said. \u201cAnd he gets open.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt makes things hard,\u201d the quarterback said.<\/p>\n Oliveira passed the 1000-yard rushing mark in the second quarter, his fourth straight season hitting that milestone, finishing with 117 yards on just 12 carries.<\/p>\n The loss ended a streak of 13 straight Winnipeg wins against Edmonton.<\/p>\n paul.friesen@kleinmedia.ca<\/p>\n X: @friesensunmedia<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Share this article in your social network<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Breadcrumb Trail Links SportsFootballCFLWinnipeg Blue Bombers Get the latest from Paul Friesen straight to your inbox Sign Up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":206642,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-206641","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\/206641","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=206641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Winnipeg](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1012bomberselks-e1760238618680.jpg\")
Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ Ethan Ball (29) hangs onto Edmonton Elks’ Javon Leake (22) during first half CFL action in Edmonton on Oct. 11, 2025. Photo by Amber Bracken \/The Canadian PressArticle content<\/p>\n![\"Winnipeg](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/19.7.1\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-wsun-new.svg\"){kind=logo}
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