Brown goes down, so do Blue

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers suffered one of their most embarrassing and inexcusable losses in recent memory on Thursday night.

A one-win B.C. Lions team — featuring a rookie quarterback making his first career start, a rookie running back making his first career start and two backup offensive lineman in action — somehow, someway dealt the Blue and Gold a 35-19 defeat in front of 31,509 disgruntled fans at Princess Auto Stadium.

The Bombers, now 1-4 on home turf this season, have dropped back-to-back games to fall to 4-4. The Lions improved to 2-5.

While Kaidon Salter didn’t dazzle with his arm, the young Lions pivot played mistake-free football and was at the centre of a relentless ground attack.

Salter — a 23-year-old out of Colorado who is the cousin of former Lions quarterback Casey Printers — ran 10 times for a whopping 160 yards in relief of starter Nathan Rourke, who is out with a shoulder injury.

While Emani Bailey started at tailback for the Lions, it was his backup and fellow rookie Zander Horvath who stole the show with 17 carries for 191 yards and three touchdowns.

Horvath, a seventh-round pick by the Los Angeles Chargers in the 2022 NFL Draft, entered the night with a dismal 2.74 yards per carry average on his first 23 touches in the three-down loop.

The Bombers surrendered a season-high 377 rushing yards. Prior to this week, the most they had given up in a game this year was 171.

The Blue and Gold were in the driver’s seat with under 10 minutes remaining and a 16-13 lead. They then veered off track with quarterback Dru Brown leaving the game with what appeared to be a lower back injury after getting crunched by linebacker Parker McKenna on a scramble.

Rookie Canadian quarterback Taylor Elgersma entered the contest and completed a 10-yard pass to Tim White which ultimately led to Sergio Castillo booting a 49-yard field goal to go up 19-13 with six and a half minutes remaining, but it was all downhill from there.

Brown had a conservative outing by completing 18-of-21 passes for 180 yards and one touchdown.

Salter — who had done next to nothing with his arm up to this point — made the Bombers pay for once again settling for three points by finding receiver Jermaine Jackson for a 24-yard TD to take a 20-19 advantage with 4:41 left on the clock.

The visitors delivered a knockout punch on their next touch with Horvath taking off for a 58-yard score. The Lions proceeded to score on a two-point convert to go up 28-19.

Elgersma then fumbled, allowing the Lions to rub salt in the wound with another Horvath touchdown — this time a 35-yarder — to make it a 35-19 ballgame.

Salter connected on 7-of-15 passes for 96 yards and one touchdown.

The Bombers, who are ranked last in the league with two picks in eight games, once again failed to intercept a pass.

Halfback Deatrick Nichols had two glorious opportunities — one in the first and another in the third — but dropped them both.

Star defensive end Willie Jefferson took down Salter in the third to extend his sack streak to four games. The last time Jefferson, who is one of the very few bright spots on the team despite being 35, had four consecutive games with sacks was back in 2023.

The Bombers opened the contest with a pair of field goals. On their first drive, a White touchdown catch and run was called back for a holding penalty on Ontaria Wilson — leading to a chip shot by Castillo.

Castillo banged through another short attempt after the Lions fumbled on their second touch. Receiver Nick Cenacle was in motion when the ball was snapped and accidentally hit him for a fumble. Bombers linebacker Jaylen Smith pounced on it.

Despite being inside the eight-yard line on both possessions, Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea opted to play it safe each time and take the points.

The second quarter was uneventful with both teams exchanging punts until the Lions hit pay dirt on the final play of the half with Horvath punching in a score from one-yard out to take a 7-6 lead.

The Bombers have trailed at the half in seven of their eight games and have been outscored 128-92 in the opening two quarters this season.

Salter had three completions in the first half but ran seven times for 79 yards.

The Blue and Gold regained the lead early in the third with yet another Castillo field goal, this time a 32-yarder. The Lions struck right back thanks to Salter scampering for a 40-yard gain to set up a 43-yarder from Whyte to climb ahead 10-9.

The Bombers finally showed signs of life on offence on the final drive of the third frame when Brown connected with White in the back corner of the end zone for a two-yard touchdown. The TD was set up by Brown connecting with Wilson for a 37-yard strike four plays earlier.

Outside of that, it was an incredibly quiet evening for the air attack.

Bombers running back Brady Oliveira had 19 carries for 107 yards. Heading into the week, the Lions were holding opponents to 54.8 rushing yards and a 3.5 yards per carry average.

The Bombers are on a bye next week. They return to action on Aug. 14 when they host the Ottawa Redblacks.

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