The 17th weekend in the Canadian Football League is in the books and it was a very successful weekend for Canadian players. A total of six Canadians registered a touchdown on a winning team.
On Friday, two Canadians registered touchdowns for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in a 55-27 rout over the Edmonton Elks. The Blue Bombers with touchdowns were wide receiver Nick Demski of Winnipeg, Manitoba and running back Brady Oliveira of Winnipeg. Demski in fact had two touchdown catches as he opened the scoring with a 40-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Zach Collaros, three minutes and four seconds into the game, and then put the Blue Bombers up 47-20, 23 seconds into the fourth quarter with an 11-yard touchdown catch from Collaros. Oliveira, meanwhile, had a 33-yard touchdown catch from Collaros to put the Blue Bombers up 23-0 one minute and nine seconds into the second quarter.
Demski had four catches for 117 receiving yards on Friday. On the season, he has 64 catches for 864 receiving yards and five touchdown catches, along with six rushes for 17 yards. Oliveira had 16 rushes for 86 rushing yards, and one touchdown catch for 33 yards on Friday. On the season, Oliveira has 192 rushes for 1107 rushing yards and two touchdown rushes, along with 47 catches for 409 receiving yards and one touchdown catch. With the win, the Blue Bombers improved to a record of nine wins and six losses and lead the West Division.
Also on Friday, three Canadians on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats recorded touchdowns in a 32-29 win over the British Columbia Lions. All three Canadians scored a touchdown late in the game. Wide receiver Kiondre Smith of Markham, Ontario had a six-yard converted touchdown catch from Tiger-Cats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell with five minutes and 10 seconds left in the fourth quarter. At the time, the Tiger-Cats pulled the score within five points, at 23-18 Lions. Then, wide receiver Brendan O’Leary-Orange of Toronto, Ontario had a 10-yard touchdown catch from Mitchell with one minute and one second left to put the Tiger-Cats up 24-23. Then in overtime, running back Ante Milanovic-Litre of Vancouver, British Columbia had the game-winning touchdown on a one-yard run touchdown run.
In the game, Smith had eight catches for 92 receiving yards and one touchdown. O’Leary-Orange had two catches for 25 receiving yards and one touchdown. Litre had six rushes for 15 rushing yards, and one catch for nine receiving yards. On the season, Smith has 61 catches for 755 receiving yards and six touchdown catches; O’Leary-Orange has 13 catches for 205 receiving yards and one touchdown catch, and one rush for one yard; and Litre has 47 rushes for 120 rushing yards and four touchdowns, and five catches for 47 receiving yards and one more major score.
Then on Saturday afternoon, running back Thomas Bertrand-Hudon of Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec had a 26-yard touchdown run for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in a 29-16 win over the Ottawa Redblacks. At the time, the touchdown put the Roughriders up 21-9 with eight minutes and 19 seconds left in the fourth quarter. In the game, Bertand-Hudon had nine rushes for 72 rushing yards and one touchdown. For the season, he has 12 rushes for 85 rushing yards and one touchdown.
