Bombers blast Riders in Banjo Bowl

A big CFL showdown quickly became the famously one-sided shootout at the O.K. Corral on Sunday afternoon near the banks of the Red River.

Quarterback Steven Jyles and runner Fred Reid were a perfect Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday as the host Winnipeg Blue Bombers ambushed the Saskatchewan Roughriders 31-2 in the seventh iteration of the Banjo Bowl.

With the win, the Bombers broke off a five-game losing streak by improving to 3-7 in the CFL East.

"We had a great team win and I'm fired up about that," said Jyles, who spent the past two seasons as a backup in Saskatchewan. "I told the guys, 'If we keep playing like that, we'll go a long ways in the season.'"

Saskatchewan fell to 6-4 and is now six points back of Calgary. The two teams meet next week in Regina, where the fans will be restless and a defeat there could tell the tale of how the West was lost.

"In all phases, we just didn't get it done," Saskatchewan quarterback Darian Durant said. "We had three penalties to take away turnovers. We would move the ball and then we'd stall."

Durant said the loss won't hurt his team's motivation.

"We were [6-4] at this time last year and made it to the Grey Cup," he noted of the championship game the Riders lost to Montreal.

"We're not going to hang our season on one game. We know what we're capable of, it's just about making it happen."

Jyles was 19-of-23 for 169 well-placed yards (no interceptions), while Reid added 148 on the ground for a Winnipeg club that has gritted its way through a tough first half that's included four losses by seven points or fewer. It has also endured the loss of starting quarterback Buck Pierce.

"I felt good out there," said Reid, who rushed for 111 yards in the first half, including TD runs of eight and 61 yards. "My legs felt fresh. I felt like a new man out there."

Gritty defence

A magnificent effort from the Bombers' front seven kept Durant on the run all game, stuffed any running attack and limited the Green and White attack to two measly singles.

Another huge factor were the three penalties by the Riders that wiped out a trio of Winnipeg turnovers, the first two of which could have changed the game. 

"We haven't been doing so great the past couple of weeks," said Reid. "We started coming out practising hard and trying to get better and it's coming together.

"It's going to come together right at the perfect time we need to head down the stretch so we can make a run at the playoffs."

Saskatchewan had won the last two Banjo Bowls, but with this victory the Bombers are now 4-3 overall in the event.

"Banjo Bowl" was coined in 2004, the season after then-Winnipeg kicker Troy Westwood was quoted as saying people from Regina were banjo-picking in-breds. He later "apologized" by saying most people in Saskatchewan did not know how to play that instrument.

All over early

Jyles was up on his horse from first possession, moving the Bombers smartly down the field, helped by a key interference call against Lance Frazier that wiped out an interception and put the ball first down on the seven.

Reid took it from there, bulling into the end zone for the touchdown and a 7-0 Bombers lead.

Fortune smiled again on the blue and gold as the subsequent kickoff was lost in the high sun by Dominique Dorsey and recovered by Brandon Stewart for Winnipeg.

That led to a Justin Palardy field goal and it was 10-0 before all the parking lot partyers had made it to their seats in the sold-out stadium.

More momentum — Odell Willis stopped Wes Cates on a third-and-one gamble by Saskatchewan to force a turnover on downs.

Two series later, Jyles handed the ball to Reid for a simple inside run.

But the Bombers' back danced through the front line and the linebackers, then accelerated past the secondary into the open range for a 61-yard touchdown that increased the lead to 17-0 over a stunned Riders side.

A few minutes later, Jyles hit Chris Davis on a key reception to the six and then, after throwing another interception that would be called back by interference to Frazier, the Bombers sent backup quarterback Alex Brink in to run the ball over for a 24-1 lead at halftime.

That second Frazier call was a weak one, but the Riders had already put themselves in the tough spot themselves.

A 40-yard toss from Jyles to Chris Davis early in the fourth ended any hope of a Riders comeback.

Winnipeg defensive tackle Doug Brown tempered his excitement over the victory.

"We can't get caught up in getting too excited about it," Brown said.  "We're still a 3-7 team right now.

"The second part of this deal is we have to go out to Toronto [next week] and break our winless streak on the road. It's not the time to be sporadic with our wins right now. We need to put a bunch together and we'll have our work cut out for us next week."