MONTREAL — Almost everyone in the stadium knew the ball would land in Brady Oliveira’s hands, yet the Montreal Alouettes couldn’t stop him.
The Canadian running back tore through Montreal’s defence for 210 total yards from scrimmage, leading the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to a 26-13 win over the Alouettes despite the loss of receivers Nic Demski and Jerreth Sterns on Thursday night.
"I just want to help this team win games. This is a massive game for us, we really needed to win,” Oliveira said. “We faced a lot of adversity. Proud of the guys for stepping up.
“When guys go down, another guy's going to come in, make the most of the opportunity, and honour your brother that has fallen. And I think that's exactly what we did.”
Oliveira, the CFL’s reigning Most Outstanding Player, also scored a pivotal touchdown with 8:28 left in the fourth quarter to give Winnipeg (6-4) a 23-13 lead.
He finished with 137 rushing yards and added 73 through the air on nine receptions — and nine targets — on a dominant night.
"Special with the football in his hands,” Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros said. “Being able to almost run that out was huge for us.”
Collaros was an efficient 27-of-31 passing for 263 yards and one touchdown for the Bombers, who won their second in a row after a walk-off victory over the Ottawa Redblacks last week.
Demski caught a touchdown pass before exiting with an injury in the second quarter, then Sterns left the game after a hard hit just before halftime. The Bombers didn't have an update for either player after the game.
The double-whammy forced Winnipeg to field short-yardage QB Chris Streveler as a receiver in the second half — and Montreal still didn’t have an answer as Oliveira repeatedly carried the Bombers to first downs.
"He had a great game tonight, and obviously we didn't do enough to stop him,” Alouettes head coach Jason Maas said. “He made a lot of plays, even running the ball and catching the ball. We'll have to look at that and address that.”
The injury-plagued Alouettes, meanwhile, lost their fourth game in a row and fell to 1-6 without franchise quarterback Davis Alexander.
In his first CFL start, fourth-string QB James Morgan finished with 198 passing yards on 18-for-33 completions, one TD and two interceptions for Montreal (5-6), which started a different player behind centre for the third consecutive game.
Morgan, a 28-year-old from Green Bay, Wisc., often sprayed passes wide and behind receivers in his second CFL appearance.
"It's a challenge for us, but that's part of football,” Morgan said of Montreal’s record without Alexander. “I don't think that anybody here is looking at it as demoralizing. It's tough, this has been a tough stretch for us, but tough times make hard people.”
"There's obviously gonna be a lot of stuff that I'm gonna have to improve at. That's for sure,” he added.
Alexander Hollins caught a game-high 132 yards on five receptions, while Tyler Snead caught Montreal’s only TD before 20,310 at Molson Stadium.
Alouettes third-string QB Caleb Evans suffered a season-ending knee injury in last week’s 36-18 loss to the B.C. Lions and joined Alexander (hamstring) and backup McLeod Bethel-Thompson (elbow) on the six-game injured list.
Montreal was also down top receivers Austin Mack and Tyson Philpot, safety Marc-Antoine Dequoy, returner James Letcher Jr., defensive back Dionte Ruffin, offensive lineman Justin Lawrence and defensive lineman Mustafa Johnson.
After Montreal held Winnipeg scoreless in the third quarter, the Bombers finally broke through when Oliveira found an opening on a three-yard run into the end zone to cap a 10-play, 80-yard drive in the fourth quarter.
"I thought he ran really hard,” Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea said. “The offensive line did a great job leaning on him all game, and then it paid dividends certainly near the end."
Bombers kicker Sergio Castillo added to the lead with a 41-yard field goal to put Winnipeg ahead 26-13 with 2:37 remaining.
Morgan led the Alouettes to the Winnipeg 38 with three first downs late, before throwing a pick to Trey Vaval.
Castillo went 4-for-4 on field goals, while Montreal’s Jose Maltos Diaz was good on both his attempts, including a 38-yarder.
In the first half, Demski caught a two-yard toss from Collaros with six seconds remaining in the first quarter to give the Bombers a 10-3 lead after a Montreal roughing-the-passer penalty.
The Alouettes responded to tie when Morgan found Snead on a four-yard TD pass at 11:24 in the second quarter. Snead also sparked Montreal’s drive downfield by throwing a 44-yard bomb to Hollins on a well-executed trick play for his second career completion.
Under pressure, Morgan aired out an easy interception for Evan Holm at the centre of the field, leading to a second Castillo field goal from 20 yards out with 2:45 remaining in the half. Castillo added another to put Winnipeg ahead 16-10 after two quarters.
UP NEXT
Alouettes: Host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sept. 6 after a bye week.
Bombers: Visit the league-leading Saskatchewan Roughriders on Aug. 31.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 21, 2025.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
