In a repeat of the last Gray Cup final, won 28-24 by Montreal, the Alouettes once again defeated the Blue Bombers, this time by a score of 27-12, Thursday night in Winnipeg.
The Blue Bombers were hoping to start the new campaign strong in front of their fans, having gone 31-3 at home in their last four seasons.
Tyson Philpot scored two touchdowns for the Alouettes. Cody Fajardo completed 20 of his 28 pass attempts. He accumulated 254 passing yards, including 141 via catches from Philpot.
Fajardo’s two touchdown passes were also to Philpot.
For the Blue Bombers, Zach Collaros completed 20 of 33 passes, but did not complete a single touchdown pass. He showed aerial gains of 209 yards.
On the Blue Bombers’ second offensive drive, defensive end Shawn Lemon was sacked on second down, and Winnipeg had to punt again.
Collaros returned to the field quickly, as Brian Cole intercepted a pass from Fajardo on second down and 10 yards.
After two failed touchdown attempts, the Blue Bombers scored the first three points of the game on a field goal.
Bryce Cosby recovered a ball following a turnover during the Alouettes’ punt to allow Fajardo’s attack to get on the field near the end zone.
Philpot, who scored the final touchdown of the 2023 Gray Cup game, then caught a touchdown pass. The Alouettes led 7-3 at the end of the first quarter.
The Alouettes added another touchdown six minutes into the second quarter.
During a third try and the goals, Caleb Evans slipped between the players to score the middle finger.
The Alouettes led 14-3 following the conversion.
The Blue Bombers seemed to have a good first offensive breakthrough at the end of the half, but Marc-Antoine Dequoy came to interrupt everything by intercepting a pass from Collaros.
The Winnipeg team missed a field goal with less than 20 seconds left in the first half, but the sequence continued and they were awarded a safety touchdown. The score was 14-5 at halftime.
Another lost ball by the Blue Bombers allowed the visitors to return to attack. David Côté added three more points with a field goal in the next minute for the Alouettes.
With 35 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Reggie Stubblefield had to leave the field with the help of a cart. Wanting to head towards Collaros, Stubblefield appeared to lose his footing and fall awkwardly after contact with a Blue Bombers player.
Côté made another field goal with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game and the Alouettes led 21-6.
Philpot scored his second touchdown of the game to add to his team’s lead, 27-6. His second major was 76 yards. Côté, however, missed the convert by one point.
The Blue Bombers scored their first touchdown with 1:08 left. Johnny Augustine weaved his way through the Alouettes at the goal line to make it 27-12. Sergio Castillo, who had only made three field goals, then missed the convert.
Castillo missed field goal attempts from 38 and 40 yards.
Côté made field goals of 19 and 22 yards, in addition to completing two of his three converts.