Redblacks move to first place in East

The Montreal Alouettes had a new head coach on the sidelines but the result on the field didn’t change.

General manager Kavis Reed made his Alouettes coaching debut Sunday as Montreal lost 29-11 to the Ottawa Redblacks for their fifth straight defeat.

Reed took over as head coach on Wednesday after firing Jacques Chapdelaine and defensive co-ordinator Noel Thorpe.

“We made mistakes,” said Reed, who coached the Edmonton Eskimos from 2011 to 2013. “It started with the way I set the team up in terms of the personnel going into the week. I’m culpable for that. When the score reflects this way, it’s not going to reflect on the players, it’s going to reflect on the coaches. “Today we were a bad fundamental team.” Reed’s shuffling of Montreal’s coaching staff — Anthony Calvillo became the team’s offensive co-ordinator and Greg Quick was named defensive co-ordinator — did nothing to boost the struggling team.

Darian Durant started the game at quarterback but was replaced in the second quarter by backup Drew Willy after failing to complete a pass in six tries.

Willy went 12 of 17 for 83 passing yards in relief.

After the game Reed confirmed Durant was still his starting QB. Montreal’s next game is against the Toronto Argonauts on Saturday.

Montreal (3-9), which held the ball for just 19 minutes, finished with 151 total yards and eight first downs. Ottawa had 421 yards on offence and 28 first downs in 41 minutes of possession.

“I was flat,” admitted Durant. “I just didn’t get it done. There’s no excuse. It was a flat out bad performance. As the leader of this team I can’t perform like that.”

It took the Alouettes more than 23 minutes to get a first down.

“I’m trying to get rid of the ball too quickly instead of standing upright and delivering the ball,” added Durant. “When you rush things and rush your footwork, that’s what happens.”

The victory propelled the Redblacks (5-7-1), winners of four of their last five games, into first place in the CFL’s East Division.

Quarterback Drew Tate made his first start of the season in relief of Trevor Harris, who separated his right shoulder last week.