![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760757848_497_default.jpg\")
Winnipeg defensive lineman Willie Jefferson celebrates a sack by his teammates on Saskatchewan quarterback Jake Maier in the first half of Friday night’s game. (John Woods\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\nWinnipeg defensive lineman Willie Jefferson celebrates a sack by his teammates on Saskatchewan quarterback Jake Maier in the first half of Friday night’s game. (John Woods\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n
Sergio Castillo kicked a 22-yard field goal as time expired to help the Winnipeg Blue Bombers do just enough for a 17-16 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Friday.<\/p>\n
Despite the outcome, Winnipeg (9-8) was waiting until after Friday’s late game in B.C. between the Lions and Edmonton Elks to find out if it grabbed a playoff berth. If the Elks were to lose, the Blue Bombers would qualify for the post-season.<\/p>\n
The West Division-leading Roughriders (12-5) already clinched first place and fielded a squad with a number of backups.<\/p>\n
A 13th consecutive sellout of 32,343 fans at Princess Auto Stadium watched a game marred by penalties, fumbles and out-of-sync plays from both teams.<\/p>\n
Saskatchewan quarterback Jake Maier started in place of Trevor Harris. Jack Coan backed him up and played the fourth quarter while Harris was on the sidelines as the third-stringer.<\/p>\n
Maier completed 15 of 20 pass attempts for 123 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. Coan was two-of-eight for 38 yards.<\/p>\n
Zach Collaros was 15-of-24 passing for Winnipeg with one TD toss and one pick.<\/p>\n
Collaros and the offence rode running back Brady Oliveira in the winning drive. He finished with 16 carries for 75 yards.<\/p>\n
Winnipeg got a touchdown catch from Ontaria Wilson. Castillo also connected on one convert and field goals from 12 and 23 yards. Jamieson Sheahan added a punt single.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760757849_149_default.jpg\")
Saskatchewan offensive lineman Braydon Noll celebrates a rushing touchdown by Roughriders quarterback Jack Coan in the first minute of Friday night’s game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. (John Woods\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n
Coan pushed in for a one-yard Saskatchewan score. Brett Lauther was good on a convert and field goals from 39, 42 and 31 yards, but went wide on a 49-yard attempt.<\/p>\n
The score was tied 10-10 after the first quarter, Saskatchewan led 13-11 at halftime and 16-14 heading into the fourth.<\/p>\n
The teams traded touchdowns and field goals in the first quarter.<\/p>\n
Winnipeg’s start was rocky when Trey Vaval fumbled the opening kickoff and Saskatchewan recovered the ball at the Bombers’ 43-yard line.<\/p>\n
Aided by a Winnipeg pass-interference call, Coan lunged one yard into the end zone for a touchdown 49 seconds into the game.<\/p>\n
The Bombers replied with a TD of their own when a 28-yard catch by Wilson in the end zone capped off a seven-play, 82-yard drive.<\/p>\n
Lauther booted a 39-yarder to gain a 10-7 lead, but Castillo tied it up with a 12-yarder at 13:08.<\/p>\n
Sheahan booted a late 55-yard punt single and Lauther put through a 42-yarder as time expired.<\/p>\n
The third quarter began with Maier fumbling the ball during a scramble. The Bombers recovered and got a Castillo 23-yard field goal out of the turnover.<\/p>\n
A Lauther field goal with 2:46 left gave the visitors the 16-14 lead.<\/p>\n
After Lauther missed his 49-yard attempt, Vaval returned the ball to Winnipeg’s 50-yard line but the Bombers couldn’t capitalize on the field position and ended up punting.<\/p>\n
On Winnipeg’s next series, Collaros marched the team down to Saskatchewan’s 33-yard line, but was intercepted by defensive back DaMarcus Fields with 4:18 remaining. The Roughriders couldn’t turn the gift into more points.<\/p>\n
Wily Willie<\/p>\n
Bombers veteran defensive end Willie Jefferson knocked down one pass, giving him a league-high 16 this season. That ties the 34-year-old Texas native’s career single-season high.<\/p>\n
Up next<\/p>\n
Roughriders: Host the B.C. Lions on Saturday, Oct. 25.<\/p>\n
Blue Bombers: Host the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday, Oct. 25. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Winnipeg defensive lineman Willie Jefferson celebrates a sack by his teammates on Saskatchewan quarterback Jake Maier in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":221295,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-221294","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\/221294","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=221294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}