The Blue Bombers beat the Stamps on a field goal

CALGARY – The Winnipeg Blue Bombers stormed out of the gate to start their 2026 CFL season by beating a team they couldn’t beat last year.

The Bombers beat the host Calgary Stampeders 30-28 in a rally that ended with Sergio Castillo’s 38-yard field goal to win Friday at McMahon Stadium.

Winnipeg, which went 0-3 against Calgary last season, is down by one point with 64 seconds left.

Stampeders quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. had just marched his offense out of the Calgary end zone and 104 yards down the field for the quarterback to score on a three-yard run.

Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros connected with Ontaria Wilson on a 27-yard punt, plus runs of five and eight yards by running back Brady Oliveira put Winnipeg in Castillo’s range.

“It was a wild game,” Collaros said. “Pure CFL football right there. The conditions were crazy. The wind was almost annoying the whole game. I thought we did a good job of handling it in all three phases and playing high-IQ football.

“It feels good to come to somebody’s house and win a game.”

Winds of up to 57 km/h from the southwest at first changed directions by the start of the second half.

Oliveira, Tim White and Bryce Perkins scored for the visitors. Castillo produced 11 rebounds, including two of the only three shots Winnipeg scored in the game.

Winnipeg’s defense tightened up in the second half after giving up three touchdowns to trail 21-16 at halftime.

Adams was sacked three times in the fourth quarter — twice by Jake Ceresna and once by Willie Jefferson.

“The three phases certainly came, but we got a little carried away in Vernon, I think, in that second half,” Blue Bombers coach Mike O’Shea said. “Great effort from the front and that kind of relentless passing, which was at the right time.”

Ceresna recorded three sacks in his debut for Winnipeg. Friday’s game was his first since last September’s Labor Day game at McMahon Stadium when he was an Edmonton Elk.

The 31-year-old ended his 2025 season after that game to deal with a knee injury.

“That’s where my season ended last year, so I just wanted to make sure I had a great game and kind of righted the ship,” Ceresna said.

“I was hurt a lot last year, so it felt good to be running out there and feeling like myself again.”

Collaros completed 17 of 28 pass attempts for 233 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Dedrick Mills and backup quarterback Quincy Vaughn each scored short touchdowns and Erik Brooks had a touchdown for Calgary.

Adams was 17 for 27 passing for 239 yards and a touchdown.

“Long season. Nobody wins or loses the Gray Cup in Game 1,” Adams said.

Calgary’s Jude McAtamney kicked four conversions but missed a 45-yard field goal attempt in the third quarter in front of a sold-out crowd of 17,743 at McMahon Stadium.

“When you play Winnipeg, I swear, it comes down to a 50 percent shot or more. They’ve got their thing going,” Stampeders head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson.

“They beat us in the second half big time.

“In the CFL, you have opportunities to win these close games, you have to win them, especially at home.”

The Stampeders went 11-7 last season to finish third in the West Division ahead of the Blue Bombers at 10-8.

Winnipeg rolled and fell 42-33 to the Montreal Alouettes in the East semifinals. Calgary lost 33-30 to the BC Lions in the West semifinals.

Friday’s first half featured a running back duel. Mills, the CFL’s leading rusher in 2025, ran for 95 yards and a touchdown and Oliveira for 75 yards and a touchdown.

Mills finished with 112 yards on 16 carries and Oliveira compiled 113 on 15 carries in the game.

Collaros, 37, was coming off a mediocre 2025 by his standards with almost as many interceptions (16) as sacks (17). His 3,048 passing yards were his lowest total in five years.

Friday’s game was the quarterback’s first under new offensive coordinator Tommy Condell.

“It felt good,” Collaros said. “There will definitely be some things to clean up. I can think of two or three of the decisions I made, I would have liked to have gone somewhere else with the football in those moments. But for the first game, I thought we did a pretty good job.”

Calgary was without veteran forward René Paredes (groin) and defensive linemen Folarin Orimolade (Achilles) and Jaylon Hutchings (hamstring).

Paredes’ streak of 247 consecutive CFL games since his debut in 2011 ended. First-round global draft pick McAtamney of Derry, Northern Ireland, tied for Paredes on Friday.

Next:

Stampeders: Bye week.

Blue Bombers: Home opener Thursday against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 5, 2026.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version included misspellings of Tim White’s last name and Dedrick Mills’ first name.

&copies 2026 The Canadian Press