Schoen's 81-yard touchdown helps Blue Bombers down Elks to remain unbeaten
Winnipeg improves to 7-0 for 1st time since 1960 when it won 1st 10 games
Dalton Schoen's 81-yard touchdown catch proved to be the difference as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers remained perfect on the season, defeating host Edmonton Elks 24-10 on Friday.
Winnipeg improved to 7-0 for the first time since 1960 when it won its first 10 games.
Edmonton (2-5) remains winless at home this season and hasn't won at Commonwealth Stadium since Oct. 12, 2019.
"We are confident as a team that when we play our best ball we can win," Schoen said. "It is about us and about executing. We have all the faith in the world in all the guys in the locker room, no matter who it is. As an offence, we are confident the defence is going to get the job done and keep them out of the end zone and get the ball back to us."
"I don't spend a lot of time staring at it [7-0 record] and I don't think our players do either," Bombers head coach Mike O'Shea said. "I think that is part of it.
"We did enough to win. I thought our defence was pretty darn good again. They played a lot of snaps, but holding them to 10 points is pretty good. We scored on offence and had a really nice long drive in the fourth when we needed it. Overall, I am very pleased."
Edmonton responded with a 52-yard Sergio Castillo field goal. Winnipeg kicker Marc Liegghio then countered with a 20-yard boot.
The Elks started the second with a 44-yard Castillo field goal.
WATCH l Blue Bombers improve to 7-0 for 1st time since with victory over Elks:
Collaros closed out the first half with the long TD strike to a wide-open Schoen, who shook off a tackle before scoring.
"There's no consolation prize, we lost by 14 points," said Elks head coach Chris Jones. "We're not a smart enough or disciplined enough football team to win games when it matters.
"We had the lead in two games and then this one here, we should have had an opportunity to go win the game. Unfortunately for us, discipline and intelligence is not something we're strong at right now."
Winnipeg put the game away with three minutes to play on Dru Brown's one-yard touchdown run.
Winnipeg is in Calgary to face the Stampeders next Saturday while Edmonton will be on a bye week.
