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News July 5, 2026

Game Recap | Wpg 14 Ham 13

@EdTaitWFC

HAMILTON, ON — It was a bit unconventional and unorthodox and whole lot of gritty and grimy.

Still, let it be said there are no points for artistic merit in the Canadian Football League and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 14-13 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in front of 20,189 here in Steeltown is all about the significance of the result and all the potholes and detours the visitors had to overcome along the way.

Case in point: the Blue Bombers first lead in the game came with 21 seconds remaining on a Sergio Castillo field goal and with Taylor Elgersma at the controls and not Zach Collaros — more on that later — and against a Ticat squad minus their maestro in QB Bo Levi Mitchell, who left due to an injury.

So, a ‘W’ with a rookie QB at the controls, with a defence holding firm after taking an early shot and some magic in the end does have a certain value to it.

“Vintage, man,” said running back Brady Oliveira, who was solid with 17 carries for 84 yards — including 44 yards on the final Blue Bombers possession that was critical in the win. “I felt that was almost a must-win for us. It’s the mindset of by any means, whatever it’s going to take, grittiness, vintage style whatever it’s going to look like.

“We faced a lot of adversity tonight. It still wasn’t our cleanest game of football at all, but we still responded, especially in the second half. The offensive line did an incredible job and when we need those guys the most, we can lean on them and take the game over.

“That’s Bomber football right there — especially when they know exactly what we’re going to do — and they move the guy across from them. I’m so proud of how the guys responded.”

The win evens the Blue Bombers record at 2-2 — now just two points back of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Edmonton Elks at 3-1 — in the uber-competitive West Division race.

More on the club’s second win of the season from our view in the Hamilton Stadium pressbox…

QB QUESTIONS GALORE: One of the tasty subplots to Sunday’s game was the matchup between two future hall of fame quarterbacks in Collaros and Mitchell.

Sadly, neither QB finished the game.

Collaros took a shot to the upper body on a sack by Reggie Stubblefield on the first play of the second quarter and finished the game on the sidelines in his gear. He was 5-of-7 for 41 yards and an interception — on the game’s first offensive play, no less — before exiting.

Sadly — and this is from the perspective of a CFL fan — Mitchell’s situation was much more severe. Early in the third quarter he was sacked by Jake Ceresna with his left ankle folding underneath him and he had to be taken from the field in an ambulance. Mitchell was a solid 18-of-29 for 228 yards and a TD strike to Kenny Lawler before his injury.

“If you just separate (the result) and think about the league, two premier starting quarterbacks going down in the same game is not good for the league,” said Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea. “Hopefully both guys make a speedy recovery, and I don’t know anything about that right now.

“Bo was on a heater and the league needs that. Points are up (across the league) and we view Zach as the best quarterback in the league so when you lose that, the game ends up as the lowest-scoring game of the season.”

With Dru Brown making the trip but not on the active roster — O’Shea said he needed another week to be comfortable with the offence — that meant Elgersma entered the game in relief of Collaros.

The big Canadian finished the game 11-of-15 for 86 yards, including a shovel pass TD to Pokey Wilson of 31 yards, and was behind centre for the late rally.

“I’m super grateful for the group around me,” said Elgersma. “Obviously, the O-line played unreal and to be able to get some easy completions and let the receivers go do their thing and Pokey on that play making it happen.

“It’s just super-special for our group.”

DEFENCE GRINDS

The game opened with a thud for the Blue Bombers, as Collaros was intercepted on the first offensive play for the club — that led to a Mitchell-to-Kenny Lawler TD — with that sloppy opening then followed by a run of -1 yard by Oliveira and then a sack on Winnipeg’s next possession.

But the defence, despite giving up that early score and some chunk yards to Mitchell before his exit, had its fingerprints all over the win as they flummoxed both Tre Ford and Jake Dolegala, the two Ticat QBs who entered the game after the injury.

“It’s definitely a gritty win,” said defensive back Michael Griffin II. “Any time you win in the CFL it’s hard and when you get one, you’ve got to celebrate it.

“The difference from the last time we played them to this time is the confidence. Last time we played them — especially watching the TV copy — we didn’t look confident, we weren’t moving fast and everyone is unsure.

“Today, if you watch this game you’ll see there is less talking and we knew what we were doing and we were flying to the ball.”

NOTABLE

-Collaros moved past Khari Jones into second place on the Blue Bombers all-time passing yardage list. Collaros is now at 20,210 yards, with Jones finishing his career at 201,75. No. 1 on that chart, FYI, is Dieter Brock at 29,623.

-The Blue Bombers dressed four American offensive linemen in the game with veterans Stanley Bryant and Jarell Broxton joined by centre Tyler Elsbury and guard Micah Mazzccua, who made his CFL debut. Veteran Pat Neufeld was the lone Canadian up front.

-Nic Demski now has 510 career receptions and moved past Mike Morreale into 16th spot on the all-time list for catches by a Canadian. Ben Cahoon, who finished his career at 1,017, tops that list.

The Blue Bombers got some critical plays late —  especially the long, game-winning drive in the final minutes on the back of Oliveira and the O-line — but it was sparked by an interception by cornerback Major Williams of Ford with just over three minutes remaining and the Tiger-Cats in Winnipeg territory.

Four — On the last drive of the game the Blue Bombers converted second-down situations four times. That was massive in not only inching closer for Castillo, but in taking time off the clock.

The Blue Bombers are home next Friday, July 10th, to the Toronto Argonauts with a scheduled start time at Princess Auto Stadium of 7:30 p.m. CDT.