Lowly Cats knock off Alouettes
HAMILTON – They haven’t reached a crisis point, but questions will be raised — again — about a Montreal Alouettes defence that simply hasn’t been good enough too many times this season.
If defence wins championships, how do you like Montreal’s chances at this season’s Grey Cup? We were feeling bullish about the Als’ defenders after the last two games. And yes, against backup quarterbacks — Saskatchewan’s Drew Willy and Toronto’s Jarious Jackson — they looked great, holding their opposition to a combined one touchdown.
Montreal had no such luck Friday night at Ivor Wynne Stadium, with Hamilton’s Henry Burris playing an entire 60 minutes. And Burris was virtually flawless in the Tiger-Cats’ 41-28 victory before 23,784 spectators.
“The defence wasn’t good enough tonight,” Als head coach Marc Trestman said. “But it has been in a lot of games over the last month and a half. We weren’t good enough in any phase. We didn’t appear ready to play collectively, and that starts with me.”
Burris and the Ticats put on a clinic in the first half, scoring first-quarter touchdowns on their opening two possessions, and producing points five of six times they had the ball. On the other, Chevon Walker fumbled deep in Hamilton territory, eventually resulting in a Montreal touchdown.
The score at halftime was 31-14, with Josh Bartel not being forced to punt until the Ticats’ opening second-half series.
Had Burris not taken his foot off the throttle in the second half, the carnage undoubtedly would have continued. As it was, the veteran pivot completed 28 of 32 passes for 326 yards and five touchdowns, matching for the fifth time a career high. Two of those five TD performances have come against Montreal. While Burris was sacked four times, all came in the second half.
The Als have now lost five consecutive regular-season games at Ivor Wynne Stadium, scheduled to be demolished at the end of the season, replaced by a new facility on the same site two years hence.
When Montreal was last here, July 21, it lost by 15 points, 39-24, with Burris passing for four touchdowns. For anyone keeping score, in two games this season at Ivor Wynne, Burris has completed 55 of 62 passes for 686 yards and nine touchdowns. He has been intercepted only once.
The Ticats had lost six of their last seven games, including a string that saw five consecutive defeats. But they took advantage of a beleaguered and weary team that practised only once this week after defeating Toronto last Sunday.
Against Winnipeg a week ago, Hamilton couldn’t score a touchdown and was held to 12 first downs.
The Ticats held the ball for more than 36 minutes while producing a mind-boggling 30 first downs and 462 yards in net offence. And when Burris wasn’t dissecting the Als’ porous defence, tailback Avon Cobourne was cutting a swath through it. Cobourne, the former Alouette, gained 111 yards on 19 carries.