Winnipeg’s Banjo Bowl win and Calgary finally ending its run of outs were the main highlights of Week 6 action in the Canadian Football League.
The Blue Bombers schooled their archrivals Saskatchewan to go two-from-two in their rivalry this season with their comprehensive 33-9 win in the Banjo Bowl. It solidified Winnipeg (5-1) atop the West Division standings.
Related: CFL Power Rankings – Week 6
Given their domination of the Roughriders (3-2) in the Labour Day classic a week earlier, the Bombers went into the game as favourites and showed everyone just why that was on Saturday. In a continuation of their Labour Day form, the Blue Bombers thrilled their hometown fans at a sold-out IG Field. The offence was on fire, led by quarterback Zach Collaros, who went 18 of 23 for 278 yards, including two touchdown passes.
Linebacker Adam Bighill picked off Riders quarterback Cody Fajardo, who left the game in the third quarter after appearing to hit his head on the turf when sacked by Willie Jefferson. Winnipeg’s backup QB Sean McGuire scored three more touchdowns on quarterback sneaks adding to the two he notched in Week 5.
In the second game of Saturday’s triple-header, the Calgary Stampeders (2-4) finally broke their losing streak by downing Edmonton (2-3) 32-16. Stamps quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell was back in the saddle after missing several games because of injury, although he was off the mark a bit.
Calgary’s defence was the story of the game, sacking Elks quarterback Trevor Harris no fewer than seven times and making life miserable for Edmonton’s offence.
The first half was a dour affair, but in the third and fourth quarters, Calgary went to town outscoring Edmonton 23-10 to ice the game.
The third contest of the day saw the B.C. Lions (3-2) dole out more pain to the struggling Ottawa Redblacks (1-4) with a huge 45-13 victory in Vancouver.
Lions quarterback Michael Reilly threw four touchdown passes and an interception en route to the decisive victory, while Redblacks QB Dominique Davis threw one TD and a pick in his first start of the season replacing Matt Nichols.
B.C. return man Lucky Whitehead made one of the game’s main highlights by running back a missed field goal attempt 119 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter that set Ottawa back on its heels, and from there, the Redblacks could never recover enough ground to make a game of it.
Week 6 got off to a low-scoring start on Friday night in Toronto with the Argonauts (3-2) eking out a tight 17-16 victory at home over the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2-3).
Toronto led from start to finish, although they couldn’t get on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter and very nearly succumbed to the hard-finishing Ticats, who fell just short by the final whistle. Hamilton scored a touchdown in the closing two minutes but the extra point conversion attempt by Michael Domagala hit the upright leaving the visitors one point in arrears.
This game was an even money bet and the final score confirmed that. Argos running back John White had one of the standout performances on the night racking up 84 yards on 12 carries.
The win put the Argos into the top spot in the East Division.
Standings
Here are how the standings are shaping up after week six of CFL action.
East Division
| Team | Wins | Losses | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto Argonauts | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| Montreal Alouettes | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Ottawa Redblacks | 1 | 4 | 2 |
West Division
| Team | Wins | Losses | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 5 | 1 | 10 |
| Saskatchewan Roughriders | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| BC Lions | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| Edmonton Elks | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Calgary Stampeders | 2 | 4 | 4 |