Winnipeg Blue Bombers vs Saskatchewan Roughriders LDC Week 13 Full Game 2024

thank you Kate beress Hi everybody and hope you're having a great holiday weekend from This Magnificent House on the Prairie and one of the great Traditions continuing in the Canadian Football League Riders bombers on Labor Day a lot of people know this rivalry very well including this man Paul lapal who's coached multiple times on both sides in this game Zach KERO lapo knows this game very well as well he has not had his greatest year but they are finding ways to win lately including that last minute drive that he engineered against Hamilton yeah he has not had his best year 12 interceptions this season the most in the Canadian football league and he's facing a team that takes the ball away more than anybody 33 takeaways for the Riders they have 15 interceptions so they H he has to protect the football today and this guy second all time in completion percentage in the CFL well he's facing the top defense against completion percentage this bombers defense has been spectacular holding teams under 60% first Labor Day classic for him too first Labor Day classic but between the Riders and bombers for Cory ma who certainly knows Labor Day well from his days with the Stampeders and later with the Argos and the ti cats the last couple of years from mik o Shay it is it's his 10th Labor Day classic in this one between the Riders and bombers as record is three and six coming in there's lucky Whitehead Winnipeg will get the ball first the scatch one won the toss and Def third and Whitehead is back with Johnny Augustine a year ago it was the only one in overtime between the two to scatch won it by two Brett lther with the kickoff and back his Whitehead at the five the Labor Day classic at mosaic is underway and Whitehead gets it up to about the 25 as Zach keros comes on now as mentioned not the greatest numbers this season last week in that victory over Hamilton he was 18 to 36 for 177 one touchdown at the end though and that was the winner yeah what I think that they need to do this game offensively you want to quiet this crowd what do you want to do you want to control the clock you want to have long drives get the ball in the end zone on defense you want to keep this team uh from scoring points and quiet this crowd you can already hear them Rod they're already screaming you got to quiet this crowd down early in the first quarter they you pick it up right now C croud and Mosaic handing on Brady Olivera the leading rusher in the Canadian football league and he is not doing much there he picks up about a yard and a second and long coming up for this bomber offense Kendall Randolph let big shoes to fill with Stanley Brown out this week he's a firste player from Alabama facing this crowd noise will be difficult for these tackles so we'll keep an eye on him all game and very impressive last season Nick demsky he he had five catches for over 100 yards he's going to be the yak yard leader on this football team playing this defense that does not give up a lot of explosive plays the noise picking up again here at mosaic and a second and nine Zack kerz back to pass under pressure pressure and Brian Cox has it keris is sacked the two and out Winnipeg forced the punt as that's Saskatchewan defense backed by the fan stands up strong at the start watching here with a speed rush off the outside you're showing pressure but then they drop out moves inside makes the inside move on LOF and to be able to get the sack on the inside Zack didn't really have much of a chance to look anywhere down field because the pass rush happened so quickly there R fifth sack of the season for Brian C in his second year out of Florida so Jamon sh back at his 10 Mario Alford running in on this Punt and he takes it in the air at the 50 little hop skip and Out of Bounds at Midfield and a good place to start for Trevor Harris his third game back after missing six games with a knee injury had a very good start lapo against Toronto last week but then cooled off in that loss to the Argos for Trevor Harris today the big thing is running the Football week seven I know he wasn't in the game but week seven in their win against the bombers 19 to9 they're able to run the football and get their play action pass going on First and 10 that's what's got to happen for them to have success today opening possession for Saskatchewan starts in the bombers Zone at the Winnipeg 52 out of shotgun Harris throwing right away it is knocked away it is tipped at the line of scrimmage as you will off and see from that guy Willie Jefferson we asked Trevor Harris about how difficult it is dealing with the height the the the length of Willie Jefferson who knocks another one away what the defense of this bomber said we have to stop the quick throws of Trevor we know he's accurate we know he throws it quickly we've got to get our hands up and make plays on the ball and you see it right there the best ever probably to do it in the Canadian Football League Willie Jefferson getting his big meaty paws up there a legend not only for the sacks but for all those knockdowns number five Winnipeg second and 10 Harris to throw again takes a deep look down the rail it's nearly intercepted by Terrell Bonds in coverage on Dante Meyers just oneon-one and bonds nearly came down with it so a two and out for the Riders this Defense Forces the corners to do a lot of things on their own you're going to see this matchup right there and Trevor knows I'm going to take this match up to bonds this this is exactly what they want to do it's a double move play because these bombers make bra uh make breaks on the football so quickly and they read into the back field so a great call just a little bit they wanted a little bit more on it so they can make that play So Saskatchewan punch it's Adam corack sending it to Lucky Whitehead down at the 11 a punt of 42 yds Whitehead the fourth different returner that the bombers have used this season and just a couple of yards Zach Karis after a two and out coming back wins in Labor Day classics by a quarterback at six and one actually lost lapo for the first time last year in overtime here at mosa his ability to make sure he sees pictures he talked about it this week that I got to make sure I don't force any bad throws bad decisions what what I talk to quarterbacks always about don't get bored don't get don't try to take shots against the defense it's going to play a lot of Zone coverage he says I got to make sure I see the pictures and throw the check Downs when the check Downs are there from the Winnipeg 21 second possession play action fake and a deeper throw and that one heads out of bounds it's deont Williams Way looking for Drew W Atari back in the lineup how about that Ru Rider defense Micah Johnson CFL sack leader with six sacks the 11-year veterans have a rebirth working with his old teammate his old position coach and his old head coach and Cory mace uh CJ revas had outstanding 10 career 10 tackles last week two goal line stops to prevent touchdown he's been outstanding and speaking outstanding Roland Milligan Zack L better know where he is on every play leads to CFL and interceptions pass knockdowns at the 21 Winnipeg deep in their Zone second and 10 Karis to the left he completes that one to Kenny Lawler and that's a first down across the 30 for the Blue Bombers those two connected in a big way late in the game last week in Winnipeg against Hamilton for the winning touchdown and this is what you're talking about about look down field you can't find something find the crossing routes Adam oair has got to chase him and man this is a Zone structure where Adam ocair can't allow a guy to go inside but good decision by Zach get it in the hands of a uh his talented receiver Kenny Lawler he's going to try to get as many matchups with Kenny Lawler as he can the bombers advaned the ball up to the 32 now Kenny Lawler am missst a chunk of the season with injury once again faking to Olivera to the left that is caught that's the rookie Kevin clerus the big receiver out of Connecticut and he has another first down for Winnipeg is it get up closer to Midfield yeah I I like this this is having a tight end at the end of the line of scrimmage you fake a run opposite the tight end the tight end releases everybody lifts you throw it outside and this is a great you know nyard game to put them in what you would call ster Vision right now here comes strevy coming into the game you got a second and one opportunity to make sure you get that first down or is there a shot coming r on second and one would they do that on second down lapo I would yeah I was going to say I was going to ask you what would cuz you don't get man coverage you can get an opportunity for man or cover zero so I I said clar has had the first down but yeah he hadit nine so Chris strer comes in to finish that up and get the first down mentioned the best quarterbacks in terms of Labor Day success and Karis in there in a pack at six And1 B Le by Mitchell who plays tomorrow against the Argonauts and looking to lead the way at seven as is zachis you see Darian Durant one of the great quarterbacks in the history of the Saskatchewan Rough Riders working right a radio and you know you coached him and F memories working yeah we were three and0 as uh working together as a rider coach and a rider quarterback on Labor Day we were at wins every year first and 10 Winnipeg 43 a flag is out that one coming in on the coverage it was intended for Kenny Lawler Marcus sails knocking that one away but a flag with the snap of the ball going against the skatan as signaled by the referee Tom bessi offside Winn Peg number 10 that penalty is declined so you're getting into the the biggest thing that happens in this game is crowd noise you have to have an understanding you're going have to do a silent Cadence all game so the crowd noise is is going to be a factor you don't want to get too many of these penalties cuz it's only going to energize the crowd even more there's so many things when you have a home team that has 30,000 people and that can help your cause it's going to make everything harder from how much motion you do how many speed sweeps you do so this crowd noise will be an issue all night excuse me penalty against Winnipeg and Nick dempy second and 10 Deep shot intended for Ontario Wilson he has it big first down bombers down to the rer 20 and that might just calm down the Lar largest Mosaic Stadium crowd in the history since they moved in in [Applause] 2017 you got a throw right to the middle you'll notice that there's nobody in the middle of the field and what happens is when you void the middle of the field you throw the ball right to the middle of the field Zach recognizes nobody in the middle they take the shot this is an a great throw and catch and it's very interesting uh Saskatchewan's game plan is not to pressure a lot that's a first early pressure by the SAS defense and they get stung by it Ontario Wilson in his first year with the bombers biggest play of this game so far faking the hand off throwing again and the first catch in a while for Drew W Atari who was injured back in week eight in Toronto a rib injury so back after missing four games well Atari with the catch and a first and goal coming up now for Winnipeg yeah just a staple of what this uh bomber offense do they run the ball so well and Zack is such he can maneuver outside the pocket and throw from every arm angle so he just kind of pulls it on a Zone read if the end crashes down now he's got a couple of routes he loves throwing to Drew Rari nice easy throw for a first down and first down to put him in Red Zone down to the nine Winnipeg threatening scoreless tie Labor Day at mosaic the Rivalry continues and the bombers in position to strike first dumping it off now onario Wilson five down to the three got that far and a second and goal is coming up as once again the Ed play action and dump it off to Wilson to get a little bit closer quick throw out of the back field what you're doing is you're bringing guy out in the flat and you're going to block everybody this is called a BTL you block downfield and you throw it behind the line of scrimmage it's very hard to hold those blocks you'll see CJ revas doing a great job getting off and Nelson lumbo making the tackle you got to hold up you're going to run these screens you got to hold up on the perimeter really good play got Chris strer back in the game rub ninth play of the drive second and goal strer keeps three two 1 touchdown Winnipeg strikes first Chris strer another rushing TouchDown for him that's his eighth in the season just put as many bodies as you can inside let strer run it he gets low shoulders keeps his legs driving it's they going to be very hard to stop when a quarterback is two yards from the line of scrimmage and you can see that happening All Year Rob the top scorers in the Canadian Football League are all backup quarterbacks we were marveling at how Brady Olivera still doesn't have a touchdown this season that was a point you were making that once you get close enough every team is a short yardage Q be and Winnipeg certainly has one in Chris drer Sergio Castillo now out for the point after try put down by jamson Shen one more on the board touchdown number eight for number 17 strer and Winnipeg and a big talked about how important it is to start fast on this drive you want to quiet this crowd Kenny La in a couple underneath throws play see us on some play actions and they respond Ed after a penalty with this huge shot down field gives them opportunities quick throws get the ball in the perimeter and get drer to get in this is exactly what you got to do now defense go get a stop and all of a sudden you're out of the F you're ending the first quarter and the crowd has not been involved and they did overcome that penalty from the crowd noise run they did and it's a nine playay 89 yd Drive lapo in just over 5 minutes so 7 nothing Winnipeg leading in this Labor Day classic and the kickoff now to Mario Alfred who gets it up to the 29 so the last time the Riders had the ball in their opening possession they went two and out Trevor Harris back on again on this Labor Day I'm Trevor Harris quarterback for the Saskatchewan Ru riding more heat coming good protection End Zone look and a touchdown EMP back fi for Harris looks [Applause] toward and you're watching the Labor Day Classic on TSN Trevor Harris no stranger to the Labor Day classic but when he was with the Argos and with Edmonton this is his first Labor Day classic with saskatch and handing off to Frankie Hixon who has been the running back since the injury to AJ olette just a couple of yards as Tony Jones among those with Winnipeg to stop him have a look at that Saskatchewan offense left tackle Trevor Reed can need to be at his best stopping this pass rush of the bomber as the tackles are asked to do a lot against this talented defensive front and Deontay Meers quickly becoming a top Target for this team he's got 19 catches and only three starts and he averages eight targets per game right yeah Dante Meers last week had just 61 yards in receiving after 101 in his first two games is it quite the toret start as a receiver for the Rough Riders it's second and eight at the Saskatchewan 32 for Harris he checks it down to Hixon takes off across the 40 and Frankie Hixon does pick up a first down forces got to went their first first down in this game Trevor Trevor's making good very good decisions by what happens as as the coverage lifts they're rushing three dropping nine into coverage he can't find anybody he flips his hips he knows he has hickon who's very talented with the ball in his hands get the ball to him easy first down in his third year out of Liberty and as said replacing AJ olat who is still injured and out this is hixon's fifth game start faking to him throwing on the first down to kesan Johnson it's been a big part of that Ryder offense as Johnson gets it up to Midfield and the sticks move again for saskat they're you're going to see them walking out and they're just going to run a curl one in the flat as they what they're just trying to do a Zone read and release and then you see Khan just sit down in the zone as the underneath coverage expands as Ric KY expands gets you a nice easy throw I like using his legs I like getting Trevor on the move to nice easy first downs on first down so up to Midfield are the Riders down seven early on throwing again and nearly picked off with Dietrich Nicholls jumping in front of the intended receiver for the Rough Riders there Nicholls big part of that Winnipeg secondary Willie Jefferson's got a different role this season but he can still make amazing plays look for him to knock down those quick passes like he's already started to Adam big hill returns after a hamstring issue they get their smartest defensive player back in the lineup and Tyrell Ford is having a spectacular year leading this team four interceptions he's got the vision and recognition that's key to the success of a field Corner changes of both quarters this season for the Blue Bombers Terell Bonds on the other side and you for having a year and on that second down it's caught first down he and schaer Baker has the catch and he's thrown down late after the whistle blows but on the move with the Saskatchewan Ruff Riders down inside the Winnipeg 40 good Vision by Trevor here uh the there was a high halfback and what does that mean there's going to be a soft spot for a curl route he sees the curl gets the curl throws it in front and gives him a good opportunity so you see Holm playing high he just wraps around big hill expands gives him that throw underneath to put them in field goal range Rod he had a couple of catches lapo last week for just 11 yards in Toronto coming back after missing four games with a shoulder injury here's Shawn Bane his first catch of this game takes that one and works it down to around the 35 and this is what you hear everyone when they face Trevor Harris talk about they say the ball comes out of his hands quick he's going to throw a lot of completions and he stays on the field he's going to create drives and he's going to move the ball down the length of the field so that's why they're talking about all right we got to make sure we disrupt him somehow whether it's put our hands up knock him down CU this this defense doesn't want this defense is best when that's second and long for them just like Captain obious every defense second and long that they want but second and six lets him do a lot of different things right now right from the Winnipeg 35 now for Trevor Harris he has time it pump bake he looks like he's going to take off he does you don't see him run a lot but he slides and gets down near the 25 the drive continues another first down for saskat they they walked out they walked the tail back out so this as you see there's no back in the back field this is called empty so what happens is everybody expands and as he's trying to find something the pass rush there's nobody going to be really accounted for Trevor Harris he knows that recognizes it so he can take it to get the first down because the bomber defense is turning and running with all the underneath coverages that leaves him wide open to get that first down good response here from the Riders after Winnipeg took the lead their first possessions a two and out but they're on the Move now they're at the Winnipeg 25 taking the hand off taking the pass and finally just throwing it away is Harris in his first appearance against Winnipeg this season Shay Patterson started the last game six weeks ago that the Riders won 19 to9 I like you know I like what Trevor talked about this week he's like I love I I got to make sure that I do my best to make sure I keep Us in manageable positions he talks so highly about this defense for the bombers whether it be Willie Jefferson the job Jordan young has done in the back end and he's like we have to find success on first down or else we don't want to live in this world a second and 10 against this top rated defense after missing six weeks he had a very impressive return against Montreal and a loss then cooled off last week in Toronto little shuffle pass up the middle to Samuel emis and he breaks some tackles and EM another first down Riders as they get a little bit closer inside the 15 I I I love this call what's happening what watch this the tailb back's going to leave what does that do that empties people out of the back field but then Ulus is in the back field also so as everybody expands do you see everybody walking out they know it's only a three-man rush so they just flip a shovel pass to Ulus and then he gets the yardage why because this bomber defense likes to be expanded out over all the receivers that gives them that room in the middle of the field rug down seven knocking on the door saskatch you in 10th play of the drive Harris End Zone look coverage is there it was schaer Baker with reic cramy the coverage linebacker back with schaer Baker it falls incomplete and a second and 10 is coming up you know you trying to take a shot for a big guy in the middle of the field you got home on the outside or on the inside position but then inside should say is Ric cramy so he's in a position where it's just a very difficult throw what he's going to do is try to give him an opportunity to go jump for the ball if it's a little bit higher he's got a chance for that ball I know the fans are asking for it Rod but I don't know if I would be putting a challenge flag out this early in the juncture with that picture it stays in the pocket of Cory Ma and a second and 10 at the Winnipeg 12 another End Zone look touchdown Saskatchewan Ruff Riders and sha Bane his third touchdown she is fifth the at three in opening day against Edmonton but adds another one here he gets over the top of Nick howlet as Nick how's underneath he waiting for an inside breaking route and Bane just goes over the top Trevor does a spectacular job of recognizing that there's nobody over the top of Hallet I can just throw it to a spot in the back of the end zone that's protected to make the play and I know Shawn Baines they're really looking forward to trying to get him more involved Rod the last couple weeks he has not been as part it it did cool off and as mentioned that opening game in Edon Bain three touchdowns three touchdowns and late in the game two in the big comeback win by Saskatchewan they haven't won since they beat Winnipeg back in July the 19th they come back and tie this one Harris the B 77 tie lab in labor day he's experienced Labor Day amongst his CFL career but he told me I'm probably most excited to see what this crowd can bring to the table and he and Cory ma picked a good one to have their first Labor Day here at mosaic as you mentioned Rod the largest crowd they've had at this new stadium so far Cory may actually played his first CFL game on Labor Day that was of course back when he was with the stamps but he's 9- one on this weekend between his playing and coaching career so hey good stat to have coming into this one he told told me Brit I'm gassed up this is what you play for this crowd alone and he told me it makes it easy to want to come to work on days like this guys and Brett interesting when you were asking him about it he said I hear this is the biggest one he knew knows the Argos tie cats he of course knows the stamp Peters and Edmonton but I wonder how he's thinking so far yeah it is crowd and bolv in here at mosaic and ryers just getting on the board that touchdown to Baye here's lucky Whitehead on the return up close to the 34 Winnipeg so after both teams went two and out to start this game touchdown drives zeris leted the won the last time Winnipeg his offense was on the field and now it's a 7 s game and yes for you know for Zach that's a great Drive they now they just got to see how can they respond cuz now you're going to have a loud fired up crowd going I like what they're doing with the underneath Run game uh and just make sure you know like last week it was Brady ball 120 yards how do they continue to get him going but this is the second best defense in the Canadian football you could stop in the Run by the way these Labor Day Classics just about always close down inside the final 3 minutes one possession and on that to Lucky Whitehead and he gets it up across to about the 33 and that is the end of the first 15 minutes of fast quarter and touchdown drives from both some big defensive plays as well strer takes it in for the bombers Saskatchewan answered back Harris to Bane 77 Labor Day in Regina Regina look at the numbers after one quarter defense is strong in the first possession salao for each team but after that the offense has put together some good drives yeah and they've been done it by not just they're trying to run the football but the Run has been difficult for both football teams but I really like what both teams doing with the short control passing game to keep them in second and manageable situations and the Riders did give up an explosive play something they don't normally do that led to the bombers touchdown but a great response by the Riders to keep their defense or crowd in this game that was first that big strike from Zach kis to Ontario Wilson and the Winnipeg offense back on the field again notable on the left side of that offense you see Randolph there Kendall Randolph taking over a left tackle for the injured Stanley Bryant or ill Stanley Bryant who gave many a scare last week and thankfully doing so much better and watching now but they chose to set him out for another week and what a staple what an outstanding player on that Winnipeg offensive line for years years intercepted picked off ryers and the ruling that Marcus sails was down after catching the ball as he takes it to the house anyway Marcus sails jumping in front of the intended bomber receiver and that's his third interception of the season and went down after the pick boy you like that you really like that Zach's trying to throw the ball to there's a hole in the defense on the left hand side but the corner is driving from outside in to make the play you have to see what that corner is going to do when you try to throw in this big space sometimes the defense is going to give you that spot so Sals can go make the play great opportunity for him he just doesn't finish and that was the 13th time that Zack ceras got quite the Celebration by sails there in the end zone to 13 that leads the CFL an interception thrown Karis picked off there so here comes Trevor Harris and throwing and just out of the hands of a Joo Ajo with Dietrich Nichols there with him but Ryder offense set up in a good spot here with the Winnipeg 41 and I know talking to I talking to sales and all those guys he like every time I get I got to get a I need more touchdowns on my interceptions I got to finish more as we go great play on the ball trying to get that throw on the outside I love Dietrich Nichols making a nice play he's got great inside thanks watching him on tape this is exactly what this is exactly what they want to do what Their takeaways create short Fields like they've always done and put themselves in position they already in in position perfield he's going to say Lao they lead the CFL and give away takeaway plus one on this night throwing but a flag is out just heading off Frankie hixon's way but a couple of flags out of the field but yeah in terms of turnovers the last time they met Winnipeg offside Winnipeg number five 5yd penalty repeat second down Willie Jefferson offside there but in the last game six weeks ago Winnipeg turned it over three times to skatch Wi none yeah and th those turnovers one uh Zach had one in field goal range uh and then Nick gsky was running the ball downfield and made a was it was a huge explosive play put them in field goal range at least if not more and Jamar Thurman uh Jamar Thurman made an unbelievable strip Sack or strip on the football punched it out and caused a turnover in that last that was big that a seven-point difference at that point with the bombers driving that was back in July 19th and the injured players their Center Peter godber and the Riders have dressed only six offensive linemen for this one the backup offensive lineman is Noah AER there he is number 68 so they've had some key injuries on their offensive line that's the left guard Zack fry and it looks like fry would be going in the product of Western would be going in at Center for godber and Zur to come in at left guard for fry and this is something you're going to practice all week you're going to make sure that he gets snaps playing that backup center is going to be a rotation through that as they continue to go so a change in the old line and a second and five coming up here for saskat at the Winnipeg 36 and a 77 tie just a Freeman Rush as Harris is C he steps up completes it to Dante Meyers who breaks a tackle who gets it's inside the 20 and has a first down for the Saskatchewan Ru Riders Trevor recognizing that there's nothing open on the inside so what I'm going to go look I'm going to climb the pocket and find the outside one-on-one makes the beautiful play but you need great pass protection watch what fry does here him and furland doing tremendous job on Jake Thomas giving him time to climb the pocket and bring it closer Red Zone range all the way down to the 18 of Winnipeg Riders threatening last time they had the ball they got a touchdown late first quarter handing off Frankie hickon nowhere to go push back still on his feet though bumped and he does well to get back to the original line of scrimmage a couple of times celest and Hab in on that tackle but Winnipeg had a chance to take him down for a loss and hickon kept working you want to have leg drive you want to keep your feet moving you did never the hardest part an all Run game in the Canadian football league is when you get penetration like you had there by the bombers it just slows everything down and starts making you and when you start moving horizontally you're not going to get any yardage so it forces the second and long situation so loss of maybe an inch but second down and 10 Frankie hickon once again the rer running back in this game Harris and this passing down fourman rush and don't look touchdown Meyers first CFL TouchDown for Dante Meyers it his fourth CFL start and the home side has taken the lead on this Labor Day Sunday a three-man rush here allows Trevor enough time to find the mo uh Myers moving inside on the post in the middle of the field after they clear out the inside routes for you Myers continues to be a force and only his fourth week on the roster run he said made quite a statement his first couple of games he had eight catches for 101 yards in each of them in Ottawa for his debut and then at home against Montreal well that one caps off a five Play 41 yd a drive aided by the turnover some points off the turnover and the point after by Brett Lo Dante Meers Trevor Harris has a couple of touchdown passes in this Labor Day classic including that one watch Meyers here on the outside but I also want you to watch Kean schaer Baker he's going to clear out the high player Meyer's going to go in and then he's going to work up this is called a middle play you cancel out the high player he starts running down and that little pause right there gives enough time for the halfback to move out of the way then he can go back to the middle of the field field and you see the halfback home move out of the way they have nobody else inside so that's great execution rod and once again we just keep talking about Myers thank God they've got this guy on the roster last four weeks been tremendous for them be hard to take him off the roster now given what he's done Myers with his first CFL touchdown coming in Thomas brra houdon the Special Teams coverage force is skatan on that return but Thomas uh Thomas the first player in the CFL history to wear Guardian C last couple weeks of course Very prominent now at practice training camps you see in CFL NFL all over in football now but they do allow the choice to wear them of course in the games as well and was that a stuffed animal on the sideline it looked like stuffed was it stuffed animal Build A be day yeah I was just going to say right near Dante Meyers mentioned he's from Delta State that's in Cleveland Mississippi handing off seen too many touches there from Brady olera is uh picked up another couple of yards but hard to run against that r or front well mentioning the interception led to that touchdown by saskatch when the Riders mentioned leading in turnover ratio dominant at plus 17 plus three against Winnipeg the last time they met plus one in this game so far and yeah that's uh Court when Cory came here I said that's going to be the thing they need to change they last internal March last year he his ability to get this team to preach protecting and taking the ball away has been awesome second and six quick throw over the middle that's caught by Drew W Atari and it appears to be enough right across the 40 to be a first down yes it is for Winnipeg this is what you love about Zack keris he has pressure there's a Twist so he has free players look at this you want to play quarterback in the CFL he's about to get hit by two players but he can still locate it find Drew olari in the middle wotar is just a sure-handed receiver that I know Zach trusts so much because he's going to be in the right place at the right time for him on passes I know you know his value for your time from 16 to 19 when w Atari arrived and now you used him running that bomber offense and they're glad to have him back after he missed four games off to the left and that one is caught too that's Kenny Lawler up across Midfield so now Winnipeg's offense has something going with a couple of first downs here and just venturing into the rider Zone uh the CFL offensive play of the Year everybody runs this and then they run out to the sideline why because if that corner runs in you can throw the out route and we talk about quarterbacks throwing guys who they trust Kenny Lawler is somebody that Zach wants to throw the ball anytime he gets a one-on-one situation big hands ability great range to be able to make the catch Buck Pierce offens quarter to do a nice job they spotted right at Midfield and that one intended for Nick demsky goes too high and away from number 10 it falls incomplete second down coming up here for Winnipeg yeah ability using Brady Ola allows you to get the ball out on the perimet everybody's staying inside waiting for Brady to get his runs allows Zach to get out on the perimeter right and he he understands that hey I I got gsky I got all these guys I can put the ball out to with space is just got to locate that ball you mentioned the Riders preparing for Al Vera he has only two carries for 5 yards he had 120 yard rushing against Hamilton last week that's the passing down at second and 10 kis steps up has a bit of room and Zach kis takes off and he does get it close to first down yardage down around the rer 45 see where they spot this one you're seeing both quarterbacks Rod haven't understanding this is what we talked about the start I I don't want to make a bad play there's three four people rushing everybody else drops into coverage so what does he do he says all right nobody's taking me I'm going to go get nine yards you saw Trevor get a first down so both veteran quarterbacks are just taking what the defense gives them right get put seven in a position put stry on the field to get the short yardage creb s and as we said about Trevor Harris like kis too doesn't run a lot and certainly not in this situation when they have struger and short yardage who has their touchdown on the night and he has a first down there as well as that punches a over needed about 6 Ines and gets more than that so the drive will continue here for Winnipeg down a touchdown here in the second quarter approaching approaching the Midway point of quarter number two in very hard to run against a SAS defense you got two big guys on the inside miles Brown Micah Johnson you know they lead the Canadian Football League with tackle for losses first in the CFL with 69 of them they played really well inside they've both had opportunities as pass rushing def uh defensive tackles I think the Ryder defense is using both those guys very well and rotating in Caleb Sanders is in now for Johnson putting some pressure on open receiver touchdown Winnipeg just like that Nick dempy ex Rider who once played in this Labor Day classic wearing green and white years ago gets another touchdown for Winnipeg in this big rivalry game earlier in this game they got beat by an explosive play playing man coverage with no safety help here they're doing a void what you call a Zone void where they bring pressure but they still try to play zone what happens bigger spaces open up Zach recognizes it they have a seam called and they hit it great throw and that's har sometimes if you don't have a seam called you can't strike it but they had a seam called where the hole in the defense was great recognition by Zach great pickup by the offensive line because it was a pressure more than just four people Nick tskin his ninth year at the University of Manitoba originally drafted by the Saskatchewan Rough Riders and then picked up by the bombers what a career he's had and he also his 64 straight games with at least a catch 144 tie on the seams that's what happens right here you're going to get a multiple players running downfield and what happens is you see two low players not enough deep players you'll see the inside lumbo he jumps the inside seam gives the outside seam to demsky I love when I see a seam route versus cover three run nothing better from a quarterback or upstairs as a coach cuz you know you should be able to score a touchdown the old offensive coach and you you're pushing me around here getting fired up both on both sides for some of their offensive choices was here both places very were you are you're an ex rer an ex bomber you know every fan today was saying we should be picking one side Mar alord just takes a knee on that kickoff so Trevor Harris about to come back on with another point on the board there for Winnipeg and a 1514 lead Harris were teammates with the Argos in 2012 and 13 at the school of Ricky Ray and they learned an awful lot from that veteran Hall of Famer and excited to face each other any chance they can let's go back to Brit yeah they told me that during that time they never actually determined who was qb2 behind Ricky Ray so it was just constantly a battle between the two of them on the field off the field trying to make it into that spot now the weird thing was they were also roomates at the time but they said they're both so grateful for that time CL KERO told me he actually looks up to Harris and Harris told me that iron sharpens iron and that time together is basically what made them get to where they are today and Harris throwing there Brit and that one's a little bit too far for Kean schaer Baker but yeah I mean Mutual admiration tror Harris to what Britt was talking about the competition in that quarterback room behind Ricky Ray was really something the most interesting thing he said was I didn't have competition I didn't never had any competition till I got to the pro level and if you think he was a starter in high school probably for four years went to college went to Edinburgh probably started right away as a freshman had a great four-year career and then when he goes to the CFL I had to compete against Zach I respected him he was such a great player that was the first time I really had to become as competitive as I could both from the state of Ohio Harris stumping it off he tried to get it to Shawn bane just as bomber Defender was bearing down on him and you can see a little bit what Trevor and Mark Mueller are trying to do so two straight plays they're in what's called empty so they empty out the back field so they have six wide receivers out they're trying to stretch and create some space against this defense that drops everybody out themselves so they're trying to create a little bit of space by using every all even the running backs as receivers on the field but just two errant throw throws gets him off the field so Adam corac is standing back at his 25 lucky white hit the lone returner back for Winnipeg bombers have come back and taken the lead after the touchdown to tied and then the single point the Rouge on the kickoff so a punt of 45 yards and a flag does come out during the return holding Winnipeg number 47 10yd penalty be a first down mentioning that bomber offense missing this man one of the greatest offensive linemen in the history of the CFL Stanley Bryant first player ever with five straight division nominations for any award four time most outstanding offensive lineman and you know Winnipeg it's always going to miss him when he's not in spent spent four years working with Stanley one of the best if not the best offensive lineman ever worked with the players respect him so much and he doesn't say a lot in meetings but when he does talk everybody listens he doesn't make mistakes uh he's by far the best pass protector I've ever worked with in the Canadian Football League Kendall Randol is the left tackle and he opens things up there for Brady Ola Zach keris of course now a longer history with left tackle Stanley Bryant and here's what Zach had to say about the greatness of Stanley Bryant he means a lot to the locker room he's one of those guys who just has a uh Magnetic Personality um without really needing to be loud about it you know guys just kind of gravitate toward him I'm sure he's laughing watching this right now uh us me seeing his Praises but uh yeah just he's a great teammate obviously I think he's the the greatest offensive lineman to ever play in this league um I I would tell him that through his face too Claris is throwing and he finds an open receiver over the middle it's Kenny Lawler again and Lawler has it down to Midfield and another big strike there by Karis in the Winnipeg offense Zach's on point you can see this from this end zone shot if you watch over here one safety moving to the left Zach knows I've got the middle of the field open I just got to get it over the middle linebacker Thurman and I can hit that ball right down the middle of the field so Saskatchewan at times will play a middle of the field open and spread everybody out the bombers had a seam right down the middle of the field great throw and catch by Kenny law and Zack third catch 54 yds for Lawler in this first half back to Ola and finding a pretty tough running in there habab baldonado 95 in on the tackle there and olero continues to find very little room against that Rider defensive front I think Zach's going to be kind of upset with himself that he didn't pull that uh pull that ball as baldonado came down to make the tackle on Brady oliv could have pulled it and got out of the perimeter Stanley Bryant one more point about Stanley I'll tell you like one year he got a bunch of penalties in 2016 I sent out to all the players hey this is who who got the penalties and I swear to God he didn't get a penalty the next year and he said it was just cuz you sent on the sheet I was so mad he took it personally second and nine and trying to dump it off to Olivera with the heat coming by the Riders it's incomplete it's third down the pting unit for Winnipeg will come on good stop forcing Zach to check it down this is again what both teams are going to face all game long if you're not productive on First and 10 which is they got no barely a yard now you're long yardage you get a pass rush he's got he doesn't have time to look down the field so Miles Brown he he has gets better and better every week watching him on tape last game he was very hard for this uh bomber offense to run against and also to protect against Jamison Sheen with the punt Mario Alford and around the 10 off the HPP it gets by him off his hands to and a bomb of recovery it's Winnipeg touchdown Nick howlet alertly pounces on a mistake by Alford that ball touched his hands and it rolled into the end zone and Winnipeg special teams Cashes in in this Labor Day classic for the second week in a row the bomber special teams last week they had they had scored on on a they knocked the ball out and they scored on a bad uh they forced to fumble and scored on a punt this one is a mistake by Alfred for the touchdown two weeks in a row the special teams has come up huge for the bombers especially coming close to the edge of the half for Nick howlet he gets the touchdown there he's done this kind of thing before too a great special teams player and including big plays here at mosaic Stadium recalling the gray couple a couple of years ago a game Winnipeg ultimately lost but he had a big block kick late in that game that could have turned things Winnipeg's way I spoke uh to special teams coordinator Mike Miller before this game and talked about how well their special teams performed last week in his fifth year out of the University of Toronto Nick Howen on that coverage sees that it touches the hands of Mario Alfred and rolls into the end zone and he pounced on it and gave went another touchdown yeah very similar spot once the ball touches his hands it's free for anybody else hallet's down there doing a great job in his coverage makes the play last week it was Tony Jones forced to hit Michael SS on a touchdown this week Nick how great play what what you got to do on the road got to make play great special teams got to make your plays kind of counters the turnover that they had in backed when they were backed up there's our guy Mike Miller right right from being a player and one of the great special teams player in the history of the game and goes right into coaching too and running those special teams quick story about Mike Miller he was such a player the the players loved him so much uh coach OA used to say hey put a play in where we throw to Miller as a fullback on the goal line every get him some throws why because he always wanted the his teammates to see him making a catch and because he was so well like by everybody Mike Miller by the way the alltime leader and special teams tackles in the history of the Canadian football league and loving what Nick how did there in his special teams unit on that coverage and a touchdown and the ball right back in the hands of Alford and back to Saskatchewan now but it's an eight-point Winnipeg lead now opening up all of a sudden on that big play well you got 335 left enough there's plenty of time just relax keep doing what you've been doing in saskatch and they just got to get a know plenty of they get two opportunities to drive just get your run game going they the last two series they weren't very good on first down Rod can they get better on how they start on their first downs a year ago in the Labor Day Classics es scatch youan leted throughout until with the final minutes and ultimately that game ended up going to overtime the Riders actually needed a a late field goal by Brett lther to force and they ended up winning it by the difference of a two-point conversion but trailing now 2214 for Cory is first year as head coach here in Saskatchewan so as talked a b earlier with Brett first time he's getting a taste of this Winnipeg Rough Rider rivalry and yeah he T he talked so much about how he loves living here his wife loves the community and just enjoying uh being the head coach of theat refence it's first T of the Labor Day classic here in saskat second and six and last play before the 3-minute warning Harris throwing to his left and it falls incomplete intended for amalis bearing down Tyrell Ford making sure nothing happens there so a third down coming up the bombers they were down a touchdown they came back took the lead on a single and added another touchdown now late first half Winnipeg 2214 about to get the ball back who's fired up for Labor Day let's go baby let's go come on come on let's go we traveled across the country to be here we got special teams we got the QBs oh we've got all kinds of energy Z okay game balls to the four of you and everyone else involved in that going from BC in a great touchdown Pacific in Victoria and making the trip not sleeping a whole lot I imagine but K the panel they're running on adrenaline love the outfits looking today everybody running running hard now and they'll have thoughts on this at half time there we go Evan Holm on the return after that punt so yeah so we had touchdown Pacific we got the Labor Day classic here it's Saskatchewan and then it continues the tradition continues B Levi Mitchells never lost a laborate game and he's getting the start for the ti cats against the Argos and that starts It Off part one of the double header to be followed by the Edmonton Elks lost a close one in Montreal after winning three in a row big one in the west against the Calgary stamp Peters Labor Day weekend okay tired that's tomorrow the double header Monday as we do every year here on TSN looking forward to that as well we're late here in the first half 226 in the clock at mosaic the Riders who' had a seven-point lead seen the bombers come back with a touchdown a single and then a special teams touchdown to take that lead 22 to4 in the hands of Nick dempy up across the 30 about the 35 dempski who had a catch for a touchdown to extend his streak to 65 straight games with at least one catch that one catch good for a major score all sometimes you hand the ball off laterally Rod why you do that cuz you protect your core inside runs everybody's trying to stop the run inside dempy is one of the best at those speed sweeps going in different directions as soon as I got with him in 2018 I said it was an 18 or 17 I said all right we're going to use you as a running back you're also going to catch balls but we're going to make sure you can touch the football as a tail back also second and four now a b 35 there's Olivera mentioned yardage coming in a premium for Brady Olivera before that carry he had four carries for 11 yards and he does have enough there to pick up the first down and seven more for Brady Oliva we had talked about Dick dempy your time as the offensive coordinator in Winnipeg from 16 to 19 of course you'd been head coach there and years before but you were excited to see this Saskatchewan drack end up as a blue bomb well you know he had been playing field number one and wasn't getting a lot of throws scatch one and in free ages we talked to him like Hey we want to we want to put you the slot closest to the football we want to use you as a tail back as well as I just said and we're going to give you speed sweeps we're fortunate enough to get him claros with time over the middle and no frustrated brw W Atari thought he had it and couldn't hang on and then pound the ball into the turf second down real good progression by Zach going across the field knows that there's nobody over W Atari the ball's a little bit low but sure Drew would be mad that he didn't make that catch now they puts him in that second along situation he does have two catches for 20 yards his first game back since he got hurt a rib injury several weeks ago in Toronto he missed four games the seventh year out of Minnesota crowd picking up again here trying to make it a littleit tougher for Kos now in the second and 10 from the 42 it's caught right back to 82 had the drop now has the catch and it looks like has the Winnipeg first down as well very good Vision By Zach understands again this is same thing same picture four rushers trying to get to the quarterback everybody lifting in zone the middle of the field is wide open for w Atari he finds that space at 10 yards Zach gets the quick throw had him open but good for the confidence of a receiver after a drop as well to go right back to him can we reset the game game clock to 149 please Buck piis doing a nice job with this unit you know it's funny he's had so many great Seasons as offensive coordinator and really done so well they're facing a little bit of younger players this year a little bit of adversity but I like what they did last week getting Brady the ball right and Z you imagine he learned a few things from the previous offensive coordinator I don't know about that maybe what not to do maybe it looks seamless seriously everything you had him going in 19 when you win the great cup with Winnipeg and then right to Buck Pierce to run that offense after you left that's thrown and caught and that's Ontario Wilson picking up another first down for the bombers on the move with 125 in the clock till halftime you're going to have a player in the flat you're going to have a clear out and then you're going to have a corner out this is called a vertical stretch and you read what the corner does the Brady going out into the flat keeps the corner low and that gives you an opportunity to throw over his head Ontario Wilson is in a great Spot Great by Zach seeing the corner low and I'm going to take the level two throw above the corner great execution put them in field goal range Wilson three catches 75 yds including that 45 y in the first quarter to set up the first touchdown pois he avoids the sack he throws it into the end zone it's Bobble and flag comes out and that was Deontay Williams in coverage on Kenny Lawler the flag coming out late bobbled still up in the air we got a looks like a pass interference coming up we have two flags actually out in the field right now we have two penalties on the play toss interference SAS SCU on number 24 ball was in the end zone the ball will be placed at the one yard line we also had a major foul roughing the passer this sc one number 90 balls place at the one yd line first down this is taking an opportunity to throw it up to your best player your one-on-one match up Kenny Lawler when Zack gets opportunities this is what he tries to do to get the one-on-one to him we have brown coming in balls out of his hand and again it it's not as much late as it's a blow to the helmet you're not allowed to hit any player in the helmet so that's what the the flag is for for the shot to the head ball placed at the one let's hope Zach Zach's okay he is still down on an taking a knee so two reasons for Chris trer to come in this game of course in short yardage but also in relief of Zach Keras I mean pretty spectacular by Zach to get this ball off you just have to start there is a as soon as the ball's out the officials are yelling gone and you cannot touch them after the after that official says gone you cannot touch him you could have held him up you just cannot do that so out on the outside here's where the pi is and what actually happens as Zach gets flustered I was a little worried as he starts to move that he's trying to throw this away that it could be underthrown and it could have been a pick on the outside by Williams but he gets enough air on it to draw the flag put the ball at the one right down to the one strer keeps it strer has the touchdown second touchdown in this game for Chris strer as they add to their lead but with concern for their starting QB Zack keris on the bench after taking taking that helmet to helmet hit but here's another look at the strer touchdown again yard off the ball very difficult to stop just got to get lower got to drive your legs and finish with your feet in the end [Music] zone really good just had to break that front plane Chris scer and that is his second time touchdown of this game his ninth rushing touchdown this season Sergio Castillo with the point after try and at one point the bombers were trailing 14-7 but since that 22 straight points for Winnipeg as they're opening up a more commanding lead heading to halftime but we do wonder about the health of Zack keris after taking that hit from Miles Brown what I really think has to happen too here there's you've got some time left a minute 16 so you come drive down length field get a field goal get a touchdown you want to do but they also have to be careful Trevor Harris has be last week there was 50 seconds left they threw an interception that gave Toronto an opportunity to get points right before the half so that's what's they they certainly have plenty of time to get down the field to make a play but they also just got to make sure that they don't put themselves in position where Winnipeg can get even more points Mario Alford back one of the returners back along with Tom Thomas verra forces scatch and ryers in a big hole now for a seven playay 81 yd Drive aided largely with that pass interference call that set them up at the one and this is what I talked about Ro he's pretty quiet in the stadium right now make your plays quiet the stadium down they've done an effective job of that with a 294 lead one minute 15 seconds to go until half time and alred looking to atone for a mistake he made that led to a a bomber touchdown and excellent coverage on that kickoff by Winnipeg so Trevor Harris back on now with the riders in a hole and Harris 8 for 17 for 104 yards has thrown a couple of touchdown passes but things have cooled off for the rider offense no rush just put a drive together you got plenty of time clock will stop after every play restart they can they just got to just got to get good first down production one of the reasons it's cooled off is they just haven't been on in the field as much winipeg leading in the time of possession the Saskatchewan 19 108 to go until halftime time out Winnipeg not sure what would it be a Personnel issue or they just wanted to talk about something don't think coach OA is real happy with it we were talking about him the other day how that you can't can't tell with Mike OA if his team is 0 and4 as they started this season or 14 and four as they've ended Seasons before very even and was not about to panic when they had that really rough start to the season at 0 and4 and they went to two and six last time here they had won a couple of games and they fell to two and five then lost in Toronto but they have not lost since that game to the Argos and looking to win their fourth straight here today they have the lead Dante Myers has a touchdown in this game he had the ball there up across the 30 102 in the clock as the Riders are going to see if they can quickly push down and at least cut into this 15-point bomber lead really good throw on the outside you have what's called free access if they're if Terrell bonds plays off throw a 10 yard out get a first down keep moving the chains up at the 31 under a minute to go Harris working quickly sends it over to Frankie Hixon turns it up field and a big pop there on Evan Holm too a little chat with him afterwards as he gets it up closer to a first down and a Tempo offense here for Saskatchewan with time running out in the half impressive he went to his fourth read on that play so you know when you have veteran quarterbacks they can flip their hips find it when you do that you can get good yardage the hand off to Hixon this time that's second and one so he has the first down and more across the 45 still some work to do if they can get into Brett Lo's field goal range so so with 43 seconds they're going to be at the line line of scrimmage they're going to try to conserve time cuz you know they hit one or two more shots they could get a touchdown but they're certainly just trying to get at least into field goal range from the 45 now on a first down scrambling around is Harris to the left he'll take off again for the second time in this game and get himself safely out of bounds gets it up closer to Midfield 31 seconds on the clock the beauty of this defense that Jordan younger likes to play is hey we are going to make sure everybody is covered and we're going to do something we're either going to get a pass rush or one of our rushers is going to get home or we're going to disrupt the timing for the quarterback and you see that happening Trevor's got to do what he can do you know he's not a runner I'm sure they're going to say if he runs more than he throws what if he runs five times he's not going to get first downs he's not going to create explosives let's cover the receivers take away his first read rers would like to get at least another 10 yds to set up Lo a second and two and Hixon gets it just up across Midfield that is enough to pick up the first down 26 seconds world's greatest panel it's unanimous lapo and I certainly agree Kate beress Davis Sanchez Matt dunigan and mil steagle and they're refreshed after two hours sleep coming back from touchdown Pacific and ready to talk about this one and then they're heading off to Hamilton tomorrow no l pressure on Harris oh in this situation and Jamal Woods with a big quarterback sack of Trevor Harris just when they're trying to get into field goal range the worst thing that can happen in that scenario hanging on to the football for Harris and the Riders a three-man rush you watch the pressure from the top that's a basically throw the center out of the way throw fry out of the way be able to go make the play and out of the hands of Samuel emis you know what he wanted to do see receivers even the best of them they want to turn it up and run and they hadn't secured the football yeah it's an unfortunate you know you take the sack it's going to take him out of field goal range they needed some yardage to get field goal range that play probably wouldn't have got him in a field goal range situation so you know at the end of the half it's you know they didn't do a great job exing the opportunity to get the first down you know similar to last week Rod they they threw an interception with 50 seconds left backed up gave Toronto an opportunity uh where they got three points so the Riders will just hope to be down 15 heading to the dressing room at this point 6 seconds on the clock and Adam corac to punt it away the lucky Whitehead excuse me Evan Hol back on the pun return again there for Winnipeg as it rolls out of bounds and that'll be it for the half final play of the first half and a very good half for Nick dy's Winnipeg Blue Bombers Zack keris we wonder about his health after he took that hit earlier on but walking off in his own Steam and this big play to Nick dempy one of the defining moments for the bombers Nick is last year was great he's got the ability recogniz space in zone you could tell Zack and him were right on the same page when that pressure came he's like I'm going to run right down that seam Zack throws a shot right down the scene the corner can't come over to make the play Love what dempy done I love the response that these guys have done and he's with Brit right now Nick your team comes out here and takes a commanding lead in the first two quarters so what's going to be key to hold on to it in the final two yeah we just got to keep playing good football you know uh we're executing pretty well we're still you know have some things to fix but you know we just got to come out here win the second half we'll be just fine you know about the excitement of Labor Day from both sides of the ball so tell me how it feels when you do come out here and help put some points on the board oh it's it's it's nice coming out in the in the opponent Stadium you know it got a little bit quieter but the same time it's a good team you can't sleep on them you know we still got another half of football to play so we just got to keep doing our thing and uh and good things will happen thanks Nick have a great second half thank you we'll send it back 2914 a look at the stats one turnover each and both LED two touchdowns uh a touchdown score the first in the CFL career for Dante Meers of the Riders standing by with Brett Dante we know still plenty of time left in this game so what was the message at the half leave it all out there for your brothers uh we got 30 minutes guaranteed football and we just got to get the job done any means necessary empty the tank just take your shot and make a play you're experiencing your first Labor Day classic how good did it feel to get a touchdown in this one um we're just trying to get points up on the board we're not really worried about uh who does it so just for me I'm just happy I can go out there and uh try to get the job done get get a touchdown for the team all right looking forward to more action in the second half let's do it thank you Labor Day weekend brought to you by okay TI here on TSN as it continues the bombers lead that's the good news here's the bad news lapo Zak keris not coming out with helmet and shoulder patch looks like his day is done Chris Trel draw draw it up and now I'm sure at halftime Buck Pierce and staff they're trying to figure out what are the best things we can do stay on schedule using Chris dr's legs as well as his arms again you just don't like to see this you know anytime there's a hit to the head on the player it's unfortunate he was playing he had a great half two really nice explosive throws for touchdowns now Chris strevel will draw it in so the Riders going to have to adjust defensively also because this game plan will change there's going to be similar things but I'm sure Buck Pierce has on his call sheet several plays that are just strer type runs and it's also their short yardage in here's Mario Alfred on the return to start the second half of the flag coming out and Trevor Harris com coming on Harris in that first half during the return holding saskat on number 31 10y penalty first down so they start a little further back as announced by Tom bessi but Harris 10 for 20 125 yards sharp and on a couple of drives and two touchdown passes they had an 11pl 80 yard drive with a touchdown end in Shan B took six minutes uh you know the second Drive they're on a short field because of the takeaway by their defense let did the Dante Myers pass but they need Rhythm and success on first down and as as we've talked about all game that Winnipeg will not give you a lot of completions especially on second and long you got to get your completions here on First and 10 Liberty classic second half underway now Saskatchewan ball handing off to Frankie Hixon breaks it out left and coming in to take him on is the defensive back Evan Holm but hickon pushes his way up to around the 25 and it'll be about a second and five coming up now why is home closer to the line of scrimmage when you add tight ends those halfbacks have to go become the outside Gap players Evan Holm comes up makes a great tackle to make the play on Hixon a former Allstar and one of the leading tacklers for the wi j y Jord younger said he is the fastest player on their defense there we go second and five now for Harris quickly throwing open receiver caught and going back and turning it up now K schaer Baker great yardage after the catch for schaer Baker gets It Up near Midfield and a first down forces [Music] catch very similar to what was happening with Winnipeg hitting the underneath Crossing routes as everybody lifts in coverage go ahead throw it to a guy on a Crossing route see if these linebackers can cover sometimes there's too much space on this Canadian Football League field run and you just encircle all the players and what the thing that helped him was the positive yardage on First and 10 well gain of 27 a lot of that after the catch for schaer Baker and a first and 10 up at the Ryder 52 play fank quickly throwing again to kesan Johnson Harris working faster and another strike for a first down in the bomber Zone forces catch one I love this playaction pass here this is a quick playaction where Trevor spins quick fake spins around to move the linebackers and hit Johnson right behind the linebackers as the linebackers step up for the run this is the drive they need right get good yardage continue to throw the ball in first and 10 play action pass was very good to them last time they played this bomber defense you see Zack fry 67 still at Center Peter godber their starting center got hurt in the first half will not be back it's a low snap too and no chance after that low snap taken from fry for Harris to get anything away and lost yardage there so that's one of the issues when you have that's one of the issues you have when you're playing a a center who doesn't get as many reps if the snap is bad it's going to throw everything off and certainly I believe you know when this is going to be off on a run play Trevor's trying to fix it by just throwing it to get a to make it an incomplete pass but he he can't because of the pressure off the edge so it's super crucial that these snaps continue to to stay in a position where the quarterback can operate fry had to move to center from left guard no Aur in that left guard then for the riters now Freeman Rush little pump B Harris had the time but running out of it quickly and that goes incomplete on to Second and 12 so a third down now coming up for sukat and you can see what Jordan younger's trying to do here there's three people only rushing the quarterback why because the they're using everybody else to cover so now Trevor doesn't have any place to throw when he doesn't have any place to throw he goes to scramble their change of game plan is Nick howed is now chasing Trevor he steps up and makes the play so they're using multiple defensive backs rod in this scheme on second and long and this is a long attempt for Brett lther 55 yds away he tried a 57 Y and missed on that earlier this season it's good long field goal for LA's first of over 50 yards this season a 55 Y and three valuable points for the Riders trying to cut into that Winnipeg lead they do there courtesy Brett Lo that young guy took a seven and one team in the Saskatchewan heavily favored against the Saskatchewan Rough Riders what happened that day oh we lost they were they were one and seven we were seven and one and in true fashion the bombers had a billboard that talked about that said you guys are backwards here at Saskatchewan we lost 27 to7 and unbelievable saw your Embrace of the opposing coach who was a bit of a mentor to you as well and Ken Miller as a They Mourn his loss today just passing away recently with caner uh outstanding individual coach Miller I I can tell you in this business I don't think I ever saw that individual ever raise his voice to anybody or say anything bad about people I loved my time working with them Daren Durant who's here tonight uh he's the the one who said we're going to start Daren Durant and become our starting quarterback Luke Muller was also on that football team you see luk Luke there but coach Miller he gave us advice all the time but he let us coach that's what I respected about him the players would run through a wall for him and he wasn't the rock star but I'll tell you what those players loved him and anything for him great leader very nice tribute before the game to the former coach of the saskat and Rough Riders Ken Miller and I know his wife Moren will be up here in a couple weeks uh I spoke to Moren last week and she talked about how this community embraced her husband and embraced her she has so many fond memories and so many friends and it's just very you know she is so humbled by how many people in this community in Saskatchewan uh loved coach Miller and had such a great experience with him so we're thinking about you Morin and absolutely thanks a lot for everything coach Miller outstanding man well said uh Chris trer was ined quarterback for Winnipeg as that drive stalls so Jamison Sheen punts it away to Mario Alford running in for it grabs it good special teams Tackle by Michael SS into take down Alford he's had some big tackles and punt coverage so far this season Trevor Harris back on defensive tackle Jake Thomas's 199th game as a bomber tying him with a guy by the name of Milt steagle for fifth overall how about that list lap amazing list Milt steagle was a great villain Chris Walley all those Jake Thomas was my as a head coach fourth round pick 29th overall in 2012 Jeff Cummings from Acadia said Paul if you draft him you will not be wrong obviously great career for J Jeff is Right throwing quickly completing it two and a big hit ball comes out Brandon Alexander bearing down on Shawn Bane that loose ball alertly recovered by the by the Riders I asked Jordan younger about defense coordinator of the bombers about all his defensive backs and he said one thing about Brandon Alexander is physicality that what he brings he's one of the most intelligent he's the captain of our defense but he is as physical as we have for a defensive back as Jordan has ever worked with and it was Frankie hickon on the recovery but Brandon Alexander the Great veteran safety in his seventh year out the University of Central Florida for the bombers a couple of great Cup Rings it's a second and short now in and short yardage is Shay Patterson who started six games at quarterback for the Riders earlier this season when Trevor Harris was hurt but Harris will come back on again after Patterson picks up that first down for the Riders hey you know back to Brandon Alexander in the 2019 run to the great cup when I was working with the bombers uh we had struggled in a couple of games uh we made a change at free safety and we went with an extra American in the back end we as soon as we solidify Brandon Alexander in that spot we look different on defense and he like he was a catalyst for us to lead us to that great Cup championship in 19 so a first and 10 now for the Riders Trevor Harris he steps up he takes off again his third Rush this game it's across Midfield crowd's not liking it it's a late slide slides late celesten habba moving in on him [Applause] major foul roughing the passer Winnipeg number 45 15yd penalty automatic first [Applause] down here here's what I would say I thought you know the league heads talked about these quarterbacks of making sure they slide early because what was happening is quarterbacks were waiting and waiting and waiting and they were sliding late and they say well you know when you keep sliding late you're going to continue to get hit you got to start sliding earlier I I would have thought that was a late slide that they wouldn't put a flag on but obviously they saw that they felt it was a rough well he picked up eight Trevor Harris did lapo and then add 15 more with the penalty they're down to the bomber 40 now they're trailing by 12 got a field goal last time out Harris completes it it's caught by emis down around the 33 and Tony Jones among the bombers there to take him down but another PL is set up second and short it'll be about a yard shy as Patterson will come back on for short yardage watch the eyes of the quarterback he starts here he goes to here and he finishes there this is what you want out of your quarterback I can't find anybody open to the left I flip my hips I start to move here's where my check down is because everybody's following the quarterback's eyes it creates space that's an awesome execution of progressing across the field as a quarterback second and short short Shay Patterson in at quarterback this time he takes off to the right and he does get it inside the 30 it's Jones hauling him down but not before another saskat in first down and you're usually doing these wider I would call this a uh a basically quarterback outside Zone because the farther wide you get on these tight end sets the smaller the players are you don't want to run into Jake Thomas you don't want to run into the bigger guys on the inside you want to get it out in the perimeter where they have all the defensive backs now the problem is if there is penetration you could be in a bad situation looks like we have an injury so he so here's what's happening so with six offensive linemen on the roster and why do you carry six offensive linemen because sometime normally what doesn't happen is you have two offensive linemen hurt here was what happened right now the second offensive lineman is hurt for the Saskatchewan Rough Riders so then that triggers if you only have six on the roster you're going to have to take a defensive player that is Micah Johnson now he is going to go in and play they'll put him at guard well I was going to say not only another injury in o line but another Center that's Zack fry who took over at Center he moved from left guard to Center when Peter godber got hurt and now Micah Johnson comes in he puts on the 57 Jersey and comes in to play guard as you talk about so it looks like Logan furland will go in and this will be the third Center for the ryer offense in this game so what the players next to Micah Johnson have to do and this has happened to me as a head coach several maybe two or three times in my career what happens is you basically are going to be telling them hey we're zoning to the left work with me you're coming to me all right this is pass protection they are going to be communicating to Micah every play on what happens on every pass play let see if we can see what happens to him the center 67 Zack fry one they got injured on that play right down there in the middle seen him extending his right leg but his legs out where they got rolled over so but this is going to be now very difficult you'll see Micah here at Right Guard he's going to get these practices reps at this every once in a while pwor offensive line now for the Saskatchewan Rough Riders down needing points moving the ball and a good gain on the ground right up Micah Johnson's way a pick up there by Frankie Hixon running right in behind look at that guy right there so the one thing he does he has some girth what does he do he just pushes down the line of scrimmage he takes woods and moves them they cut behind them so the old line are telling you we got your back we'll tell you what to do we're zoning to the right we're zoning to the left he's going to get probably minimal practice reps of this if sometimes even just a walk through through the day before the game to go through these scenarios we we were we joking with Cory May earlier about Micah Johnson how he came to the stamp Peters as a rookie he'd been a linebacker he didn't want to be a defensive lineman that worked out okay and so does this for hickon he picks that up and he gets it down and looks like another first down it is for the Saskatchewan R Riders so so Micah Johnson was convinced to be a defensive tackle and a and an excellent one and now he's getting a shot in the offensive line uh status quo throw check Downs when everybody lifts right be in manageable situations with the Run game allows you to keep getting first downs here's let's get a look at our pass protection what helps him is just get a wide body put him they're going to try to put him what's called the slide side where he has helped by the center try to do that as much as they can so he's not by himself in pass protection down inside the 23 they're inside the 20 I should say and that one short yardage picked up not much there for Frankie Hixon that time around second and long coming up the thing this does also hurt is it hurts the opportunity for Micah to go play on the other side of the football and he's going to get a lot of time with the offensive line coach after these Series so that'll be interesting to see on the sidelines whether Micah is even utilized at all as a defensive lineman or they just say hey stay with the old line spend time with the coaches watch film as they're looking at their iPads on the sideline not the first time that Micah Johnson's been called into the situation this season second and nine and Harris and Zone bobbled and it hits the turf in a crowd the bombers looking for emis right underneath the goal post and it's third down and Brett Lo will be coming on to see if they can get three more on the board attacking the perimeter and the out attacking the outside as he looks he double clutches and goes on the outside throw Dedrick Nicholls as a high player makes a play on Ulus really good with his left hand getting that long arm in to make a play on the ball love Dedrick Nichols his ability recognize routes and make breaks on the football Brett lther hit a 55 y just before this is 30 ydd closer 25 yds away and lo PPS that one through as well he's two for two 2920 the score W trer earlier this season when Zach was also injured so from here on out it's the trer show guys and Brett back in week five the bombers were 0 and four and Zack keris was hurt Chris strer got his first start since 2019 in that game against Ottawa a lot of running for the bombers he was 13 to 21 but he and Brady Olivera tore it up in the ground and Winnipeg did win that game the only start for strer on and relief now for Karis and gets it off to Nick deky up to the 50 dempy was a touchdown in the first half in this game picks up a first down here the game plan for the Riders is going to be blitzing and making Chris Trevor a throw they Blitz two people off the outside edge he gets the throw to dempy dempy beats the blitz this is on another what's called behind the line of scrimmage throw gets it all the way up to get really good yardage that's what they're going to do they're going to try to stop the run route as much as they can and force him to throw the football from second off and lapo you were the offensive coordinator for all those strer starts in 2018 and 19 worked them well with Zach keris when ceris arrived late in 2019 but you certainly saw a lot of him and coached him early on in his CFL career just get the ability to really like I he threw the ball better than people getting credit for but like he's got the ability to to run at a different level that guys don't have and like when he pulls the ball down and goes he's going to get a 10 10 to 12 yard football play so like he's got to just make good decisions with the football as he faces this unit and the Riders got to make sure they protect the edges cuz he's going to be able to pull it and run trying to get Brady Oliva going he had a good pick up the set up a second and four and he has the first down by the looks of things there inside the 50 and as mentioned in that game against Ottawa with the dual threat to run the football it really opened it up for Ola and strer had a lot of yardage in that one on the ground yeah the the hardest thing for for strevy and trying to figure out you know how to how to attack him you just got to make sure that I know you want to get Brady I know you want to get people get eyes on Brady but you also have to not allow strer to get around the edge of the defense because if he does it's going to be a big game and so they can't ke in Oliva the way they did in the first half be seeing some early signs of that with the presence of scer and a couple of carries there by number 20 back at his hands again feeling his way through and another decent gain on first down for Oliva he'll set up a second and short as he gets that inside the ryer 45 with strer in no coincidence that Winnipeg's offense is turning to the ground yeah with 92 now with Micah on the side Sidelines as a full-time offensive player you're not going to get us you're not going to get him in Caleb Sanders and Miles Brown are going to have to respond and be the big players on the inside to stop these counter runs and all these runs that the bombers are doing so they spot it at the 45 so it's a second and five scr in at quarterback with the injured Zack pois for Winnipeg with a nine-point lead fing the hand off in Str will run wants to find the edge and a good job by Roland Milligan what a season he's having to come in and prevent stremer from any chance at all of picking up that first down this is what I was talking about they're going to keep everybody inside they're going to pull people around to let strer get out on the perimeter but watch the speed of Roland Milligan coming off from his high halfback position to make that tackle can't say enough about how spectacular his football play has been this season so that'll bring on Sergio Castillo for his first field goal attempt of the night bombers have four touchdowns and one single off a kickoff no win but this distance Castillo has been nailed in Long kicks a 52 yd try that's nothing at all for him as he does tuck that one in he is two 60 yers on the season that one increases the Winnipeg lead to 12 it's 3220 switch uniforms and getting some advice now for the offensive line let's go back to bread yeah this is the second time this season he's had to do that you remember back in the ENT game he also had to move over to the offensive line due to injuries talk to him after that game about it and asked him when's the last time you did that he said I don't even remember now he's doing it twice in one season but we're seeing a lot of success from Micah on the defensive side of the ball you guys mentioned the sack leader in this league he lined up to Cory mace next to him in his very first CFL b game and now he's his coach and Cory ma told us pressure is disruption Sachs will come after that if you disrupt and that's why you see success for Micah Johnson cuz he's a disruptor out there and now trying to prevent the disruption BR and that's completed riders with the football and michah Johnson in on the offensive line that's Samuel emis and that pick up on first down so what why people have this question like well why don't you have a seventh player this is what coaches are always dealing with as a head coach or especially like a second offensive line yeah why don't you have why don't you carry seven offensive linemen because you can have another special teams player and the odds that this happen they're not they don't happen often and you don't want to play 16 out of 18 or 18 out of 18 games and have a player who's on the roster doesn't step on the field that's why you go with six sometimes keep a better special teams player on the field second and eight now Trevor Harris over the middle it is almost intercepted nearly caught by schaer Baker but then it popped out and and and Alexander regretting a missed opportunity to get himself an interception but nonetheless third down and the Riders will have to kick it away we talked about the speed of Evan Holm and he closes and makes a play on this this is a post in the middle of the field because there's there's space there but holm's ability to close his speed is what gets involved to make the play Adam Cor sack inside Rider 30 so last couple of times they were able to get field goals out of their possessions this time not lucky Whitehead at the winipeg 10 58 yd punt by corsac and that return justed up the sideline Winnipeg about to take over on offense well don't miss the return of the global phenomenon critics call thrilling and endlessly captivating I'm talking about HBO's House of the Dragon the new season is streaming now and it is only on crave Chris trer coming back on here Labor Day classic Mosaic stadium in Regina Rod Smith Paul laes Brit D here as the bombers looking to pick up a win they they did get one two years ago in a close game just a two-point win they lost to the Riders who've dominated this rivalry over the last 15 20 [Applause] years but it is Winnipeg in the driver's seat right now ster in for the injured not klaris clock ticking down last play of the third quarter Brady Olivera the stiff arm there for Roland Milligan as he's sent out of bounds on that first down play in a pickup of nine keris not able to play in the second half Chris strer in for Winnipeg and the ryers bleuer offensive line because of injuries too in this Labor Day classic they head to the fourth with Winnipeg leading by 12 as well as anyone you got to adjust the injuries in game both of these teams have to win a pick at quarterback so scatch win on offensive line there's going to be an adjustment for both teams first of all you start with Winnipeg there's so much pressure because they think Winnipeg's just going to run the ball every play they're going to need to have some rpos which giv Trev the opportunity if they Blitz I can throw the football and for saskatch onean I think it's really important them offensively with Micah Johnson in the game they're going to have to do things where he's not at the point of attack of the runs Rod if that makes sense like get swe speed sweeps on the perimeter get the ball out quickly and throw the ball to screen passes and everything because you don't want to rely on Micah and on this side for Winnipeg you also don't want to just try to keep handing the ball off because every time since trev's gone in the game the Riders have been blitzing blitzing to stop the run on first down the fourth quarter begins Winnipeg with the ball and a second and short coming up here strer short yardage quarterback and it's natural situation there to push bit to the right and pick up that first down strer throwing the ball in the second half two for three for 19 yards so notle you talked about it see how much Winnipeg protecting a lead too and wanting to run that clock down but 12 points they lead this one see how they they're approach the offense changes that should be a conversation now of Hey listen we've got a decent lead we've had a 12-point lead let's make sure we milk the clock as much as we can take if you could get rid of one possession for the Riders this game is for first in the west because of the bombers win they would tie BC by record but they already have the season series one and that's Brady Olivera with a good carry to get up to about the 45 so another second and short three four yds to come here for Winnipeg now this is the west standings right now in a bizarre year where we came into labor day with no team above 500 the Lions beat the red blacks decisively yesterday in touchdown Pacific they're at six and six Riders committed 55 and one Winnipeg and 5- six as mentioned if the bombers hang on they would be tied with BC however it's amazing every team below 500 has not happened since 2001 last time it happened it's amazing and of course if the Riders can come back and win they would overtake first place but they got some work to do right now in the bombers hands in a second and three but good work up front Saskatchewan not even close for Brady Olivera there it's a third down and three punting unit coming on for the bombers you can see them going after miles Brown and Caleb Sanders with Micah Johnson now playing offensive guard and really good push up front to for you know then that's the hard part when you run the ball on second and three you just hope to get two yards so you can get to Third and one rod and he can still do the wedge but great stop by the interior front of that Riders defense oh Saskatchewan could use a big special teams play they got the guy back there who can certainly do it and Mario Alford Jamis Shen inside his 35 gets that one away and Alford On The Run gets it inside the 20 up the sideline and tiptoes out at the 30 for Harris and that offense down 12 points Micah Johnson offensive lineman getting ready to go to work again hey it's Willie Jefferson number five for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers pressure coming can he get away no they'll get here's work look out it he's taken back down you're watching the Labor Day Classic on TS let's go says Willie Jefferson interesting choice of green what is he wearing did did he get the memo is he wearing green in a promo yeah he used to play for the Riders he he knows both sides of this one first and 10 is skatan ball at their 30 Harris throwing Kor Harris completing it two to Dante Meyers at his first CFL touchdown earlier back in the first half but Willie Jefferson starring wherever he go started his career with Edmonton and by the way he did get credit for a sack earlier in this game so he's now tied with Micah Johnson who's probably not going to get another sack in this game game cuz he's playing an offense right now with with six sacks on the season what aigs last in sacks the season which is a big change for what they've done but they've changed his roles and responsibilities he no longer has as many one-on-one opportunities and now he's playing more within a system that has more coverage opportunities Forman Rush Harris he gets away for a moment and that one goes and what I mean by that Rod is well Jordan younger defense coordinator for Winnipeg he wants to commit more players into the coverage so the quarterback has no place to throw the football well when you commit more players to the rush that would have given Willie Jefferson more opportunities where nobody can block where he ends up blocked oneon-one now when they Rush three players they're going to double Willie Jefferson it's going to be hard for him to get oneon-one opportunities that's why some of his numbers are down but that's why you cannot complete passes against this Winnipeg defense because they have more players covering the pass second down and 10 the 41 over the middle it's caught hanging on taking a hit from Ric KY that is Myers with a big first down forces catch one rod I got to get my eyes right CU you know what I'm watching I'm watching I'm watching Micah Johnson this whole game but there's a double move on bonds you attack his outside leverage and then you bounce back in you hope your you get this throw before the safety can make a play they do get it all right that's what you got to do against this Winnipeg de you got to attack the corners with double moves and try to run by them whenever you can but I'll tell you Micah Johnson really good job blocking Adam big hill on the pass protection the Right Guard number 57 Johnson throwing again is Harris quickly and that one is down to the 35 as the whistle goes and that's kesan Johnson the receiver for Su scat I like I like what they're trying to do they're mixing up what they're doing they get having some Rhythm they're St we talked about this at start of the half can can they get back to Rhythm football Mark Mueller you know he's under it because he's got to figure out how many calls can I make he's going to be throwing out any special plays any trick plays are going to come out of the game plan cuz Micah obviously has not had any of those reps and you don't really want to put him in that situation second and three quickly to the right that's caught and keeping his feet is Johnson another the big first out for Saskatchewan working it down towards the bomber 15 little fist pump there from Trevor Harris Trevor Harris's ability to throw the ball on the perimeter with speed and quickness is what Winnipeg was worried about quick throws on the outside and another nice block by Micah just staying in Bas are going to tell him hey you keep your feet in front you take those long arms you have and grab on to those defensive lining going to rush him Winnipeg 16 Saskatchewan's down there they're pressing they're down 12 handing off Frankie Hixon working his way down to about the 12 wrestled down there we're in the fourth quarter we're under 9 minutes to go big hill making his presence felt this is one of the things they like to do they like to pre they're going to they pressure off the edge and that forces a handoff and then big hill is there to clean it up and come over the top to make the tackle great to have big hill back yeah for their ability to stop the run missed last week lapo and little surprise the hamstring injury healing quickly as he's back in what a force he is for bomber D quickly again to Johnson inside the 10 down to about the 6yd line and depending on where they spot this football we could be talking about a first and goal coming up here for the Riders it is indeed a first down Saskatchewan once again ball out immediately throw underneath the coverage Johnson just get turns north south and gets the yardage again if you get any yardage on first down this is where you're at what's really helping Micah Johnson is so much three-man Rush by this defense he doesn't have to really pass protect against anybody ryers knocking on the door needing a touchdown little pump F and Zone touchdown sh it again Kean Johnson with the catch that's got the Riders right back into this game Willie Jefferson versus Micah Johnson but the ball's out quick you got a double team on there Terrell bonds you'll run a lot of Slants at the goal line so they fake the slant and then they do the Sluggo slant and go rod goes to the back of the end zone trell bonds jumps the inside move great location by the quarterback great throw and catch the third receiving touchdown for Kean Johnson from Trevor Harris they connected last week in Toronto this is big though it gets them that much closer after an eight play 70 yd sled the Riders by 15 that lead has been cut to five Johnny Augustine back for the kick return along with lucky Whitehead that's after a an impressive touchdown drive with all the patchwork that they've had to do an offensive line for Saskatchewan and the touchdown strike the keesan Johnson from Trevor Harrison's Whitehead on the return and getting it up across the 13 Kean Johnson three touchdowns now for Saskatchewan this season this one in the Labor Day classic to get the Riders within a score he looks at the quarterback some coaches teach players to look in three-step through the drop so he jumps at slant but it's not a slant it's a slant and go so he's eyeballing the quarterback Trevor nods his head and then he cannot recover so great game Planning by the Riders offense that's what happens when you look into the back field as a defensive back and that has put some life back in the crowd here at mosaic Chris Trevor throwing and it's caught two to his friend Drew W Atari and a good pass there by strer to buy the bomber some space moving it out across the 45 diagonal diagonal in a deep dig if all the Diagon the both the seam and the diagonal are covered go to your outside player wall Atari it's man coverage he doesn't like the deeper throws so he throws the dig to his for former teammate from the University of Minnesota Drew wetar pick up of 17 W Atari up to the Winnipeg 49 bombers can feel some pressure now Saskatchewan coming back to get it within five so handing off to Brady Olivera that dual threat to run the football and it goes to number 20 in a short pickup it'll be a second and long coming up here for Winnipeg miles Brown Slants across the guard's face to create basically a Oney gain for a second and long we's see what the Riders want to do against biggest crowd ever at mosaic fired up for another Labor Day classic trying to will the Rough Riders to complete the comeback but emphasis on Saskatchewan defense now in a big second and nine Winnipeg Chris strer in quarterback for the bombers looking off to the right it's incomplete and it's picked up the Riders thinking it's a lateral and coming in CJ revas on that play but it's incomplete and Winnipeg's going to have to pun the Riders plan was to pressure Blitz Blitz strer he's going to throw the bubble screen on the outside he doesn't locate it well enough when it's not located well enough this is what happened so here's the pressure talking about they say Hey listen we're going to make Str throw it we're going to make it throw it quickly you'll see these two players coming you got to throw these screens you got to be always deadly accurate on these screens on the outside clearly a forward pass but Rivas seeing how close it was decides to pick it up just thinking just maybe what happens is you always tell your def all defense they say you do it in practice all the time you do it all the time so you make it a habit for that one time that it is a neg Time of scrimmage for a ladder so Trevor Harris and the Riders getting the ball back here at a punt of 48 yds and that is Shawn Bane on the return the ultra hole challenge is Back featuring Wayne Gretzky and Michael block tune in on TSN plus live after the President's Cup back here at mosaic momentum clearly Swinging The Way of the home side in the third quarter Riders were down they picked up a couple field goals Winnipeg answered back with a field goal but a Saskatchewan touchdown Drive the last time they had the ball here in the fourth quarter and Trevor Harris had keesan Johnson Cory mace wonder how he feels about the atmosphere and the energy in his first Labor Day classic here in Saskatchewan in his first year as headit coach of the Riders Kor Harris from the Saskatchewan 24 out a shotgun throwing oh nearly caught it was there for Bane but he can't hang on second down coming up Brandon Alex Ander was coming off his high hash area maybe Shawn Bane felt that or saw that see Micah Johnson doing his job in the screen but right there it's a little bit little bit high and behind him difficult catch to make and put them in that second situation under 5 minutes to go in the fourth quarter out of all of these Labor Day Classics six decades worth more than half of them 55% have been within a score in the final 3 minutes will it be that story again we were about 4 and 1/2 minutes to go 3227 it's C first down Kian schaer Baker up across the saskat and 35 a dig with at 12 yd in route they move howlet out of the way shaer BAC it's a big Target in the middle of the field great timing and throw by Trevor convert that second and long and again I keep watching uh Micah Johnson on second and long well they're rushing with only three people so he doesn't really have to do any pass protection really it's put on the tackles in these long yard situations Logan furland normally a guard is the center and they go left to Frankie Hixon and Hixon gets it up around the 40 a gain of about four yards on the ground but mentioning the center position with Peter godber getting hurt his replacement uh Zach fry getting hurt as well it is furland moving into Center and you talked about Micah Johnson defensive star moving on to play offensive line Zack fry in his third year at a western with his left arm and a sling snaps have been really good you know you're on your third Center but the snaps have been fine so that was God really good execution by uh the younger guys up front pressure coming and it gets knocked at the the line talked normally how the bombers have been dropping back and not sending as much Adam big hill is down we were sending the heat that time but that's oh another disturbing sight for the bombers to see the great Adam big hill injured again as you said big hill is is coming into the front side a gap Frankie Hickson trying to make the block what you do when the ball's coming when you pressure and you cannot get home you just throw your hand up and knock the ball down I think uh when Frankie Hixon went went to go block biggie think biggy went up in the air and came down on his leg and the head coach mik oay coming out to check in on his star middle linebacker Adam big hill they already lost Zack keris to injury in the first half and big hill just back it was that with a hamstring injury before and back from that he's had calf injuries in the past including one that that that really plagued him in the great Cup last year against Montreal but there was occasions for myself r as an offensive coordinator you know with the bombers all those years I used to actually sometimes maybe a day three or so or in training camp I used to kind of sneak into the back of the defensive meeting room and listen to the those uh defensive meetings and I was so impressed that Adam big hill spoke as much as Richie Hall in those meetings like he just so intelligent total understanding what everybody should be doing like having a coach on the field yeah it just having having another coach on the field like you're saying but just just an outstanding uh just an outstanding leader and everybody responded by him and he was tied up with Micah Johnson seeing him spin out to the right and grabbing the left leg area I don't know Frankie Hixon went in and looked to try to cut him to slow him down and looked like looked like that's what originally hurt him and then when he landed on it the injury issues he's had and Applause here all around here at mosaic for Adam big hill but it's been tough missed a couple of games this year with injuries and barely put weight on that favoring the left leg and Zach KERO is coming out to say a few words to him as well but two of the biggest stars not only this year for the bombers but the last few years in this generation of winning Karis and big hill both out they have forced the Riders to punt for Adam corack Winnipeg still hanging on to a five-point lead and lucky Whitehead is back inside the 30 running off initially to the right and then back to get this one at the 20 Whitehead breaks through good return still on his feet lucky whad gets It Up near midfield for Winnipeg for strer and Company to come back out a 32 yd return longest Return of the Season lucky Whitehead in Winnipeg best thing lucky Whitehead does is he catches it after the catch he just gets north south jumps right inside here and there's a big wall created really good work just keeps pushing it north south some of those returns at the to the wide side of the field Rod they look great but there's just too much space and they get run down you like to go straight north south when you can get the big return and let's face said one of the big changes the bombers this year compared to last is no generan Grant and Whitehead is the fourth different returner Winnipeg has tried to see if they can add some spice to that return play this year you're right yeah missing that explosive play last play before the warning and it is Nick deepsky breaking through and good after the catch by Nick dempy to get up close to another first down he is in Saskatchewan territory love get it the ball to him on the perimeter let's go get around the defense CTV was a big part of CFL broadcasting and CTV is back for the banjo bow these two teams to get it started on ctv's coverage for the balance of the season next Saturday in Winnipeg what what a way to start with these two Rivals about to renew after this Labor Day Clash all those games in CTV including East final he semi before that in the great cup Labor Day classic like look at this Stadium sold out crowd it's this is this is what is so great about the Canadian football league and once again within a possession within a score heading into the final three 220 on the clock scer handing off to Brady Olivera and charging in and that's Demarcus Fields defensive back who is now he was slow to get up he's down again after a big hit to stop Brady olera he got the worst of that although he limits olera to just a one-yard gain Brady's going to wind back all the way across the formation you're he's as he starts to wind this back there's a free defensive back fields is there to make the tackle right squared shoulders it's hard to Brady's going to have a low center of gravity so when Brady's going to hit you he's going to have his shoulders down really going to really going to deliver a blow he's going to be the hammer not the nail rod and yet a good stop by field he he did pay the price the sacrifice there for the rider defense as he is still down and getting some attention from the medical staff yeah that's the hard part trying to figure out okay the previous first and 10 what they do they threw it out to demsky when everyone expected the ball to go to Brady demsky makes somebody Miss first down know now you're still trying to establish the run but this is what creates problems when you can't get any yardage now strer is sitting at a second and nine whether they pressure him or not we will see that's what they did last second and long there there's a pressure to strer what are they going to do this time at stake this Labor Day Weekend first place in the west the winner tonight Takes Over the Top spot strer stringing him out taking him down Malik Carney to force a third down now in what would appear to be a field goal situation coming up for Winnipeg so there is another Blitz that's Saskatchewan's plan they were going to Blitz the quarterback but as they Blitz the quarterback you're going to get three people coming besides the down guys well Winnipeg's running a quarterback draw so they're going to have everybody blocked they just miss the block on the perimeter and then Carney get gets off so you say well why is that you know it's second and nine why aren't you throwing the ball why cuz they want to help the field goal range they didn't want to lose any yardage getting a sack they wanted to be in a better position to get as much yardage to help C this will be a 56 yd Try by Sergio Castillo Castillo he's 8 for 10 this season from 50 plus right down the middle and good again remarkable distance kicker in the Canadian football league is Sergio Castillo who pads his resume earlier this season at two of 60 yards barely missed earlier this season from 61 and he has two over 50 yards he's two for two tonight and a big three to make it an eight-point Winnipeg lead and Rod what I could say about Castillo and some of the great kickers obviously we have in this league now with the rule changes that the league has put in place the last couple of years and I know there's kickoffs now in the last three minutes but through the course of a football game when you can take the ball now at the 40 yd line for a majority of the game you only need two first downs for some of these 50 plus field goal kickers so that's one of the reasons I think there's more kicks and you know the the league has said hey we want to make sure there's more scoring well hey putting the ball at the 40 yard line a majority of the game except for the last 3 minutes is really been something to be able to take the ball at that point two first downs all of a sudden you got these great kickers put you in position to get a field goal well he is a 56 remember Brett lther had one from Midfield 55 yards earlier for the Riders I had it with Justin Medlock for four years like we just get a couple first downs and we're going to kick yeld at a lake like that so Saskatchewan ball and taking it Thomas brra Odon right at the goal line and brra Odon that return gets it up to the 20 it's still a onore game uh the Riders trailing within eight points though and Trevor Harris coming on and it's getting critical now for Saskatchewan you don't see many kickoff returners catching over the top done doesn't get a lot of those reps caught it over the top of his head but this is a huge drive right now right how do they get in Rhythm what are they going to do I assume the bombers are going to play how they've played it all game playing coverage there has been a pressure the last two series that's going to be the chess match right now figuring out and getting productivity on First and 10 they have one and a half minutes to drive down for a touchdown eight points behind Trevor Harris going to work and over the middle and down low for emis that is complete and a first down for Saskatchewan trying to work quickly Tempo offense 127 to go in the fourth hitting these little posts behind the will linebacker just kind of wrapping behind the linebacker throwing it before the safety can get down to make the play Trevor's done that throw a thousand times Harris to the left caught wide open as Kean Johnson and find some room to get it down get it up to the 45 Riders another first down so work quickly here they're going to be using coded words right now telling everybody what to do the hardest part for this right now is Micah Johnson they're going to have to tell Micah what to do every play because he won't know any coded words if they're trying to go Tempo so they're going to have to communicate to him what play is being run Harris bobbled it for a moment and he throws it off and Out of Bounds at the bomber bench this Rider team defeated Winnipeg the last time they met 19 n right here at mosaic July the 19th Saskatchewan improved to 5- one the Riders have not won since four losses in a time so that man Cory Mason saw the great start in this first season settling back to 500 yeah I think what's great too is he's lost his quarterback for a number of those wins they had and they found other ways to win [Applause] defensively and second and 10 caught again Crossman field Cher Baker another Saskatchewan first down attacking the outside getting that throws where he knows he can take that kind of one-on-one throw on the perimeter makes the throw just in front of Terrell bonds and again they're going fast trying to call it Willie Jefferson's now aligned over the center so they're trying to get a mismatch on a young center with Willie Jefferson and that one is caught by Johnson once again Harris working quickly and getting just enough yardage again an impressive drive here oh hum just another dramatic finish for the Saskatchewan Rough Riders who have had a slew with them so far in 24 a little bit too much Rhythm right now for Trevor Harris this is too easy for him will you see some pressure from the bombers Harris is thrown for 326 so far and he completes that one again coverage was there it was tight Nicholls was there but that's schaer Baker that Ry body coming down with another catch yeah throwing the same skinny Post in the Middle Field you're right r a really big body player I can go okay as everybody has expanded out I'm going to throw it on the inside first and 10 wiip 31 riders need a touchdown nearly picked off that was Tony Jones the first one who had a shot at it aiming for emis but just off the fingertips of Jones Tony Jones is going to be working out into this flat Trevor sees this space right here he's trying to throw it just does gets his hand on just about to make the play but forces a second along anyways that would have ended it he could have got a little bit closer to that ball and picked it off 34 seconds eight-point difference riders need the end zone it's a second and 10 at the winipeg 31 it's caught it's a Joe a Joe with his first catch in this game Joe gets it inside the 30 this is a good throw cuz you know you're in three down territory so you get H you get half the distance here so you put yourself in a very manageable third and third and five or third and six here so you didn't have to get it all on that one cuz you know You' got you're in what you call three down territory we're going to take both shots but now they got to get six yards here and a timeout is called by the Riders just to make sure in a critical third down this would be ball game here if they can't convert get the first down 29 seconds on the clock the field goal is no good they need a touchdown and a two-point conversion Trevor scrambled a couple of times this game does Trevor use his legs or do the bombers try to pressure a year ago lther hit a field goal to tie the game with 31 seconds left in Saskatchewan ended up winning in it overtime with a touchdown and a two-point conversion where the two-point Drive failed for Winnipeg that was then 3x two set here pressure look by the bombers here we go and they come this is it Blitz coming and he got hit and it's caught it's caught right down at the one for Samuel emis with Evan Holm there Harris HED he through the ball and emis with a big catch here for the Riders unbelievable at the Oney Y Line making that play the Riders added into their protection to give them that opportunity to get that spot spectacular throw and catch you take that's what you do when it's cover zero Rod when there's what is zero no deep safety you put the ball in the middle of the field and it looked like they're checking the replay to see if he landed breaking the plane but no it was down at the one and so they'll run this play in short yardage here touchdown Flags out Trevor Harris kept it broke the plane of the goal line but Flags did come out this probably will be offsides Winnipeg especially because they went Tempo they kind of ran right up to the line of scrimmage they ran up at the line of scrimmage so the bombers had to adjust quickly too you got to make sure you're you're on side and you I think you're going to see one of the bombers offside so that's going to give them a fresh set of downs the ball can't go any farther than the one but they will get their opportunity lapo this is the 59th Labor Day classic between these two teams in Regina there was one in in Winnipeg so technically the 60th Labor Day classic game only one in history has gone to overtime that was last year if the Riders assuming this penalty is against wiip previous play is under review by the command CER let's have another look here there it is right in the neutral zone okay now they're checking to see whether it was a touchdown and I believe that'll be clearly a touchdown he just needs to get the front part the front plane of that thick goal line and easily does that Command Center will be able to see some of these angles tell us whether it's a touchdown or not so as mentioned only one of these Labor Day Classics between these two has gone to overtime that was a year ago they're a two-point conversion Away by the looks of things to tying this one 14 seconds on the clock after review we have a touchdown offside Winnipeg will be declined yeah well as loud as that was imagine the Uproar if they can get it into the end zone again Trevor Harris needs the quiet though now needs him to calm down and a critical two-point conversion try with 14 seconds to go in the fourth quarter trying to get it to overtime for the second straight year between Saskatchewan and Winnipeg here we [Applause] go either they get the two-point conversion or the bombers would win and the bombers do take a a timeout here uh they get a chance to see the formation they see their three receivers to the field two to the bound on that play get more conversation just get sorted out on what call they make you can see Jordan younger is now pulling looks like ba over is that yeah Brandon Alexander to have one final conversation on what they want to do teams on two-point conversions rod in the CFL usually play some four man or they press you with what's called cover zero where they Blitz everybody like Winnipeg just did and try to overload the quarterback and make the ball out of his hand quickly here we go they got the touchdown but it's all for not if they don't get this they need the two-point conversion to tie this game final seconds Harris Endzone knocked away it hit Tony Jones and the bomber defense denies Saskatchewan in another Labor Day classic finish it looks like Winnipeg is going to hang on and get this Victory with 14 seconds to go in the clock they've hit this read post this post in the middle of the field several times tonight but watch I think he predetermined Trevor predeter predetermined can I get that word out and then watch Jones right here right underneath it to get the stop huge stop huge opportunity you know hats off to the Riders getting the touchdown versus the cover zero but then they just don't make the play versus coverage they made the play versus the blitz they didn't make the play versus the coverage on the two-point from the three that close for Trevor Harris after a 10-play touchdown Drive got them to within two of forcing another overtime and a Labor Day classic between these two but what they have left with 14 seconds is the onside kick and then they still need a miracle to get it down to try a field goal in such a short period of time so the onside kick crew is ready and look who's the Deep back to catch the football Big Willie Jefferson one of the tallest biggest guys they have hands team out the lineman will block in front and obviously we know the ball has for 10s so lather the onside kick up high will Jefferson was the one going for it and it bounced around and the Riders had a chance to recover this it appeared to go 10 yards it appeared to be a great kick it is the sketch football if it was a little right if it was a little bit deeper goes right to Willie if it's a little bit shorter it doesn't go to 10 [Applause] yards really good penetration and what I mean by penetration you got guys running through going to make a play there's Milligan right there the player of the year so far at the CFL right you got to block him so Willie can go get the play another brilliant special teams play by Rand Milligan arguably the defensive player in the year so far one of them anyway and so Saskatchewan well I say wait a second let's wait 12 seconds there's still a little bit of time and they got to get in field goal range Freeman Rush intercepted and that'll do it Evan Hol but a flag is out a flag is out after the pick by Evan Holm and Trevor Harris is pointing that it's against Winnipeg how big a flag would this [Applause] be P fence Winnipeg follow the foul oh my goodness this changes everything Brett lather is going to have a chance to win this game 3 seconds on the clock this I believe is what the Collision is downfield saying that's who they were throwing to bang there's the Collision didn't get an opportunity to make a play for the football two weeks ago Brett lather has his had his worst game in his CFL career he was four for four last week five for five in the Lor day classic last year but what a spot for Redemption and he's already had a 55 y so this I mean is certainly no gimme this is a long kick this is a 60yd try so I say redemption but you can't fault somebody for not making a 60 Y what a moment it could be though if he makes it for lur who as set had a 55 with the contact at the 52 that's where they're placing it so they put it down at the 52 yd line looked for a moment like it was going to be a little bit further down the field Adam corac will put it down at the ryer [Applause] 50 still a long shot but the Riders have a chance on the final play out and down and kick has the accuracy but it's short not quite enough for lther but as said can't fault him on that one that is a long long ways away and Trevor Harris and the riders in another Labor Day classic come oh so close but it's Winnipeg and Mike OA with his 102nd career win to Ty butt grant for first all time among bomber head coaches as Winnipeg is now a five under team after an 0 and four start they lose Zach Kos before halftime but they're now technically although tied with BC in the west standings they have first place in the west by virtue of winning the season series against the Lions an amazing win on the road and would would it it taken great good uh really good play by zacharis in the first half took a score on special teams by the the for the second week in a row for this Winnipeg Blue Bombers football team and a really good really good response you know with a couple of drives to get some field goals when strer had to go into the football game and again you got to make your stops when you make your stops the two-point conversion was huge obviously well it was an admirable comeback by Saskatchewan with the injuries they dealt with and certainly Winnipeg dealing with theirs as well the Riders started the season at 5- one but they are now below 500 at 56 and one and you talk about important games they have another one next week the rematch the banjo bow to the side the season series between Winnipeg and Saskatchewan Okay Tire Labor Day weekend a double header coming up tomorrow thank you for watching this Labor Day classic from Regina Sports Center is next on TSN