Schoen shines again

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This article was published 10/10/2022 (1321 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In what’s been a wild, wild West Division in the CFL this year, one thing has remained consistent.

For the second straight season, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have clinched first place, the result of a 48-11 dismantling of the Edmonton Elks at IG Field Saturday. Like last year, it has come weeks before the end of the regular season, creating an ideal situation for the 14-2 Bombers, who have a pair of games against the B. C. Lions and two byes ahead of hosting the Western Final on Sunday, Nov.13.

As for the 4-12 Elks, Saturday’s defeat provided the proverbial final nail in the coffin, as they’ve been officially eliminated from the playoffs. Edmonton has lost seven straight to Winnipeg — the longest losing stretch between the clubs in their decades-long history.

There’s a lot to look forward to for Bomber fans down the final stretch of the campaign, as Winnipeg prepares for its bid at a third straight Grey Cup. Before we look too far ahead, let’s take a look back at Saturday’s win in the latest edition of 5 Takeaways.

1) It was one of a couple games this season the Bombers offence slammed their foot on the gas right from the get-go, enough to hit cruise control for the final two quarters. But just because they probably could, doesn’t mean they did.

Much like the Banjo Bowl win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the offence found the end zone early and often, scoring touchdowns on their first four drives to take a commanding 28-8 lead into halftime. They had a bit of a lull to start the second half, going scoreless in the third quarter, only to erupt for 20 points in the fourth frame on a pair of touchdowns and field goals.

The 503 yards of offence — 367 passing and 136 rushing — was the most the Bombers have put up this season and the first 500-yard game since a win over the B.C. Lions last October. Offensive co-ordinator Buck Pierce proved once again he’s among the most brilliant offensive minds in the game and his stock is on the rise to become a head coach.

One can only imagine how much better the offence can and will be with the return of receivers Greg Ellingson and Drew Wolitarsky. While Wolitarsky’s timeline remains unclear, Ellingson is expected to return before the end of the regular season.

2) What was most impressive about the offence was how dominant they were in every area of the attack. The only challenge is where to start heaping praise.

The offensive line had one of its best games of the season, establishing the line of scrimmage early to give quarterback Zach Collaros time and space to pick apart the Elks’ D. Collaros completed his first 10 throws before finishing 15-of-19 for 243 yards and three touchdowns — he has a career-high, and league-leading 35 on the year — to one interception.

In fact, all three quarterbacks threw for a touchdown pass, with Dakota Prukop hitting running back Brady Oliveira for his first receiving score and Dru Brown coming in late in the fourth to find Dalton Schoen on a 65-yard dart. The last time that happened was nearly 30 years ago, during the 1993 season, when quarterbacks Matt Dunigan, Sam Garza and Tom Porras all combined to pass for touchdowns in a game.

Oliveira, who finished with a game-high 14 carries for 61 yards, also added a rushing touchdown, marking his fourth of the season. Receiver Nic Demski also continued his tear of late, extending his touchdown streak to six games — with eight over that stretch — on a night he had five receptions for 92 yards and 22 rushing yards on three carries.

3) It might sound like a broken record at this point, but until Schoen stops breaking records and tearing up the CFL in his first season it’s going to continue to be a regular occurrence in this column.

Schoen has been the obvious choice for CFL rookie of the year for some time, but he took things to a whole new level against the Elks. The 25-year-old Kansas native registered three touchdowns, adding to his league lead, now at 14.

Schoen had seven catches for 162 yards, bringing him to 1,275 yards — another league-high. To put things into perspective, Hamilton’s Brandon Banks was named the CFL’s most outstanding player in 2019, after finishing the season with 1,550 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns.

I’m not sure we get to that point, as that season was a down year for quarterbacks, with several pivots out with injury, and with Collaros making a strong bid to repeat as MOP. But Schoen has been nothing short of impressive and he’s shown zero signs of slowing down.

4) It was a boring game for the defence, which is meant as a compliment. Perhaps tidy is a better choice of word.

Either way, the defence was stingy for a majority of the evening, allowing just 11 points, a mere three in the second half, and a meager 261 yards of offence. The lone blemish came in the second quarter on a 59-yard touchdown pass to Dillon Mitchell, who beat veteran defensive back Winston Rose up the left sideline.

Linebacker Adam Bighill had a game-high nine tackles, newcomer Keion Adams and Casey Sayles each had a sack, with Sayles’ leading to a fumble recovered by Les Maruo. Elks QB Taylor Cornelius completed fewer than 50 per cent of his passes (11-of-24) for just 137 yards.

The defence is even more banged up than the offence, with defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat, linebacker Kyrie Wilson and defensive backs Nick Taylor and Demerio Houston still out of the lineup. Credit to rookie DBs Evan Holm and Jamal Parker for showing improvement week to week, as opposing offences continue to test their inexperience on the field-side of the secondary.

With some of those battered bodies expected to return before the playoffs, it bodes well for the Bombers depth on defence heading into the most important time of the season.

5) It will be interesting to see how head coach Mike O’Shea decides to use the next month to prepare for the postseason. Winnipeg has tied the franchise mark for most wins in a regular season, but beating that record will be the furthest thing from O’Shea’s mind.

Asked about his plan after the game Saturday, O’Shea said it was too early to talk about, adding he would gather with the staff for a meeting over the weekend. In the meantime, we do have last year to look back on as a reference.

The only real difference from last year is the Bombers had a bye in the final week of the regular season, meaning there was a two-week gap between their last game and the West Final. Whereas, this season Winnipeg has a bye between their two remaining games and then one more afterwards.

Last year, the Bombers sat several players in the second-last game, and then dressed a veteran lineup in the season finale, only to pull a handful of starters by halftime. That could very well be the plan this year.

I predict the Bombers use the final two games to rest players who are badly banged up, while using some players coming off lengthy injuries and giving more time to depth guys who have taken few to no meaningful reps on either side of the ball. Whatever they decide, ensuring Collaros is healthy is priority No. 1 — he’s the key to the Bombers earning an illustrious threepeat.

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton