Published Aug 21, 2025 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 3 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 They lost their best pass catcher, Nic Demski, in the second quarter. They lost another receiver, Jerreth Stearns, before half-time.<\/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. 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 SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/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. 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 The Winnipeg Blue Bombers were so thin at that position in Montreal on Thursday, backup quarterback Chris Streveler pulled on a pair of receiver gloves and trotted onto the field for the second half.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n The man the Bombers really leaned on, though, was more predictable.<\/p>\n Winnipegger Brady Oliveira churned out a combined 210 yards as his team ground out a 26-13 win, getting their second half of the season off on the right foot and improving to 6-4 heading into the most challenging part of their schedule.<\/p>\n Injury-riddled Montreal, down to its fourth-string quarterback in James Morgan, fell to 5-6.<\/p>\n Winnipeg\u2019s six wins is the same as second-place Calgary (6-3) in the CFL West. The Stampeders take on 8-1 Saskatchewan on Saturday.<\/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 Up next for the Bombers, the annual back-to-back set with the first-place Riders, beginning with the Labour Day weekend game in Regina a week from Sunday.<\/p>\n The contributions for Winnipeg came from everywhere, but none more significant than from its homegrown tailback.<\/p>\n Oliveira cracked the 100-yard for the first time this season, cranking out 137 yards on 16 carries, a gaudy 8.6-yard average.<\/p>\n He also pulled down nine passes for 73 yards, hitting his stride at a good time.<\/p>\n We apologize, but this video has failed to load.<\/p>\n Play Video<\/p>\n \u201cThat was a fun one, putting this thing on our back,\u201d Oliveira told the CJOB radio post-game show, crediting his offensive line and teammates. \u201cJust really proud of this entire team. We faced a ton of adversity and we never flinched. Not once. That\u2019s what you\u2019ve got teammates for.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cHe just keeps getting better and better,\u201d quarterback Zach Collaros said of his running back on TSN right after the game. \u201cHis toughness just wears on everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n Collaros completed 27 of 31 passes for 263 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions, while Sergio Castillo was a perfect four-for-four on field goals.<\/p>\n \u201cWe did face some adversity, losing Nic Demski, for one, the heart and soul of our offence,\u201d Collaros said. \u201cCan\u2019t say enough about Chris Streveler. It\u2019s not every day you see a quarterback come in and get asked four or five times to block the defensive end\u2026 pretty awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n The Winnipeg defence held the Alouettes to one touchdown and 16 first downs, as Evan Holm intercepted a pass for the second straight week, Willie Jefferson knocked down two more passes and linebacker Tony Jones followed up an 11-tackle game with another nine.<\/p>\n Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cPretty gritty,\u201d head coach Mike O\u2019Shea told CJOB. \u201cBrady was awesome\u2026 right when you need it. To be able to move the ball like that when you have to is awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n O\u2019Shea also tipped his cap to lesser lights like Streveler, who blocked on some run plays, and No. 3 quarterback Terry Wilson, who barged 16 yards for a first down on short yardage.<\/p>\n The teams exchanged early field goals<\/p>\n Collaros capped the Bombers\u2019 next drive by hitting Demski for the two-yard scoring strike and giving his team a 10-3 lead.<\/p>\n The home side responded, using some trickery \u2013 a reverse and deep pass from receiver Tyler Snead to Alexander Hollins, fooling rookie corner Trey Vaval just enough \u2013 to cover 44 yards.<\/p>\n Advertisement 6<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Their untested quarterback finished it off with a four-yard touchdown toss to Snead and it was tied at 10.<\/p>\n It was 16-10, Winnipeg, at the half.<\/p>\n Collaros went into halftime having hit on 19 of 22 passes for 203 yards,while Oliveira produced 101 combined first-half yards, 55 of them on the ground.<\/p>\n Montreal cut the lead to three going into the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n That\u2019s when the Bombers put together a 10-play 81-yard march, capped by a bulldozing Oliveira\u2019s three-yard touchdown, restoring their 10-point lead.<\/p>\n When Jefferson knocked down his second pass of the game on a third-and-four with some six minutes go, the Bombers were well on their way.<\/p>\n Vaval picked off a late desperation pass and the Blue and Gold stuffed win No. 6, lumpy as it was, into their bags for the flight back to Winnipeg.<\/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":88340,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-88339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88339","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=88339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88339\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Winnipeg](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/FBO-CFL-Bombers-Alouettes-20250821-e1755832165159.jpg\")
Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros (8) throws the ball during first half CFL action against the Montreal Alouettes in Montreal on Thursday. Photo by Christopher Katsarov \/The Canadian PressArticle content<\/p>\n![\"Winnipeg](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/19.3.2\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-wsun-new.svg\"){kind=logo}
<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/19.3.2\/websites\/images\/newsletters\/icon-sun-headlineNews.svg\"\/){kind=icon}
<\/p>\n![\"Loading...\"](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/19.3.2\/websites\/images\/common\/icon-spinner-animated.svg\"){kind=icon}
<\/p>\n