The Canadian Press
WINNIPEG – The Winnipeg Blue Bombers haven’t lost two games at home since 2018, but the BC Lions handed them their second loss at home and third this season as they came out on top in a 26-24 victory at Princess Auto Stadium on Friday night.
Vernon Adams Jr. completed 21 of 33 attempts as he threw for 398 yards and two touchdowns in the win, with Alexander Hollins catching seven receptions for 215 yards and two touchdowns.
Zach Collaros threw for 247 yards completing 23 of 30 pass attempts, and Nic Demski led the Bombers with 94 yards on eight receptions in the loss.
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The scoring started early as it took the Lions just five plays and 84 yards to find the end zone, with a catch from Adams Jr. to Hollins for 71 yards putting BC up 7-0.
After a sack from Pete Robertson on Collaros forced a two-and-out from the Bombers, the Lions made it a 10-0 game capping off a solid drive with 12-yard kick from Sean Whyte.
On the very next drive, the Bombers continued to push and converted on multiple second downs to move downfield, with one of the biggest plays of the drive coming from Collaros finding Dalton Schoen who completed a toe tap to stay in bounds.
Sitting on first-and-goal at the BC nine-yard line, Johnny Augustine rushed up the middle for six yards before Chris Streveler finally found the end zone on third down, immediately answering for the Bombers and cutting the deficit to three.
Using up nearly seven minutes of clock on their opening drive of the second quarter, including a play from offensive lineman Andrew Peirson grabbing his first CFL catch with a 13-yard reception, the Lions extended their lead back to six with another kick from Whyte, this time from 14 yards out.
The clock winding to zero stopped the Bombers from taking the lead to end the first half, allowing Adams Jr. to take action early in the third quarter as he threw a deep ball to connect again with Hollins for 29 yards, his second touchdown of the night, to go up 20-7.
Collaros first found Demski for 24 yards to open the next Bombers drive, before finding Drew Wolitarsky for another 24 yards as he stayed on his feet to get to the BC one-yard line. Streveler punched in another touchdown for the Bombers to put them within one score of the Lions.
Forcing the Lions to punt on their next drive, the Bombers capitalized when they got the ball back, as a big run from Brady Oliveria for 28 yards put the Bombers on the BC eight-yard line.
Streveler completed the touchdown hat trick to cap off the nine-play, 91-yard drive and claimed the first Winnipeg lead of the night.
Not going down without a fight, BC marched down the field in response, with a 34-yard reception from Justin McInnis getting the Lions down to the Winnipeg 19-yard line. BC would settle for a 31-yard field goal on the drive to take back the lead by two points.
Winnipeg responded with a drive that put Sergio Castillo in position to attempt a 25-yard field goal, and the successful kick put the Bombers back in front by a single point with just over five minutes to play.
Unable to get inside the red zone, the Lions relied on Whyte to hit his 25th field goal in a row, which he did from 42 yards out with 2:37 to play and put BC back up by two.
The Bombers were forced to punt with two minutes to play, and Adams Jr. found Hollins for 63 yards to get to the Winnipeg 27-yard line, before finding Stanley Berryhill III in his first CFL start to keep the drive alive with 1:05 to play.
William Stanback was close to his first touchdown as a Lion, driving for 14 yards out of shotgun formation to get to the one-yard line, as the Lions took a knee and held on for the win.
The Lions will head home to host the Edmonton Elks from BC Place on June 27 at 10:00 p.m. EDT in Week 4 action, while the Bombers will head to McMahon Stadium to face off against the Calgary Stampeders on June 29 at 7:00 p.m. EDT.
