ALS REWRITE THEIR OBIT WITH STUNNING WIN OVER STAMPS
So many things could have gone wrong on this night for the Alouettes.
There were the two early interceptions thrown by quarterback Darian Durant, one of which led to a field goal. The second, when he should have eaten the football and taken a quarterback sack, was an absolutely mind-boggling decision.
There was the third quarter when the Calgary Stampeders, arguably the strongest team in the Canadian Football League — at least they were last season — outscored Montreal 11-0, erasing a 10-point advantage the Als had taken just before halftime.
But in the fourth quarter, when games are invariably won, or lost, in the CFL, the Als rose to the occasion and stunned everyone who already had written off this team. Montreal outscored the Stamps, 14-3, down the stretch for a stunning 30-23 victory before 18,610 rain-soaked Molson Stadium spectators.
“As much as we didn’t get things done right in the past games, I could see there was resilience. It really wasn’t lip service,” Als head coach Jacques Chapdelaine said. “There was always effort, there was always resilience, but there were too many mistakes for us to overcome.
“Although our third quarter wasn’t offensively great ... I didn’t sense any panic on our side. I thought the guys kept themselves focused. We just needed to get a little bit going. I saw some guys gaining confidence as the game went on. There was a certain element of mojo that kind of grew on us as the game went on. That became important in the fourth quarter.”
The Als are now 2-2 heading into a short week and Wednesday’s game at Ottawa, the first time they’ll meet an East Division opponent. An even record is nothing to be ashamed of, considering the Als have met Calgary, British Columbia and Edmonton, perhaps the three strongest teams in the West Division, although Montreal has already played three games at home. And the Als actually will have more rest than the Redblacks, who played late Friday night at Edmonton.
Indeed, the Als and Toronto are tied atop the East Division with identical records, although, for the second consecutive year, the balance of power appears to rest in Western Canada.
Montreal had been averaging 17.3 points through three games and had been held to four touchdowns, the offence struggling to find the end zone. And it appeared history would be repeated on this night.
Following an 80-yard pass to Ernest Jackson to open the game — Calgary safety Joshua Bell fell on the play — combined with an unnecessary roughness penalty against Bell, the Als couldn’t produce from inside the 10. Durant’s pass to Tiquan Underwood was too low, the home team settling for a 12-yard field goal by Boris Bede.
But then the Als went 100 yards in six plays in the second quarter, culminating in a 39-yard touchdown pass to B.J. Cunningham. He was open on the play after defensive-back Osagie Odiase slipped.
There was a defensive touchdown, Branden Dozier recovering a Jerome Messam fumble and returning it 23 yards before halftime.
And then the Als twice drove 75 yards in the fourth quarter to pay dirt, the touchdowns coming from tailback Tyrell Sutton and backup quarterback Vernon Adams.
A week earlier, the Als twice allowed 75-yard B.C. touchdown drives in the fourth quarter. But there would be no letdown, or meltdown, this time.
“I just kept playing football. I’ve been around a long time. I’ve thrown four interceptions, I’ve thrown five interceptions in a game. Interceptions are going to happen,” Durant said. “I put a lot of pressure on myself early and made some mistakes. The thing is I just kept fighting, kept playing. This team believes in me and I believe in my guys.”
Other than the two interceptions, Durant acquitted himself well, completing 17 of 22 passes for 296 yards. Jackson, the division’s most outstanding player last season, when he played for Ottawa, caught four for 118 yards, the majority coming on one play, of course. The Als had 22 first downs and 427 yards’ net offence despite losing the time of possession battle, slightly, by less than a minute. Penalties again proved to be Montreal’s Achilles heel, the home side taking 15 for 130 yards.
“We lost the penalty battle, the turnover battle and still gave ourselves a chance to win,” Durant said. “That shows you how good we can be. Eliminate the problems ... the mental errors, we have the team to make a run at it.”
Nik Lewis caught a modest three passes for 42 yards, including two consecutive plays in the second quarter. On the latter, he passed former Alouette Ben Cahoon, becoming the league’s sixth all-time leading receiver.
“I believe in these guys,” said Lewis, yet again. “We have too much talent. We have to keep building and growing together. We want to build legacies, a new era of Montreal Alouettes football. When I leave here I want to know there’s a new standard from when I got here.”
The Stamps are a team that seems to play when the mood strikes them. A week earlier, at Winnipeg, they outscored the Blue Bombers 20-0 in the second half. But they ran into a far more stingy defence this time.
“That’s the definition of a championship, a great defence,” said linebacker Chip Cox. “We weren’t great tonight. But when it was time to be great, we did what we had to do. We didn’t fold.”
Messam was ejected following his turnover for grabbing Cox’s face mask in the end zone and hurling him to the ground.