Ticats limp into playoffs

HAMILTON— Antonio Pipkin threw a touchdown pass and ran for two others as the Montreal Alouettes held on for a 3028 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the regular-season finale for both teams Saturday night.

Montreal (5-13) earned its second win in a row to finish third in the East Division standings ahead of the Toronto Argonauts (4-14).

Hamilton (8-10) came in having cemented second in the East Division and thus rested most of its starters, including quarterback Jeremiah Masoli. The Ticats host the B.C. Lions in the conference semifinal next Sunday riding a three-game losing streak.

The Ticats had a shot at a lastsecond win, but Lirim Hajrullahu missed a field goal from 49 yards out on the game’s final play. Pipkin’s one-yard TD run at 14:24 of the third quarter staked Montreal to a 30-18 advantage. It was set up by Ty Cranston’s recovery of Terrell Sinkfield’s fumble on a kickoff at the Hamilton 19-yard line.

Ticats quarterback Dane Evans, in his first CFL start, found Mike Jones on a 26-yard touchdown pass at 4:34 of the fourth. That cut the deficit to 30-25 before a generously announced Tim Hortons Field gathering of 23,381.

Evans later drove Hamilton to the Montreal 19-yard line, but the Ticats had to settle for Hajrullahu’s 20-yard field goal at 12:42 of the fourth quarter to trim the Als’ lead to 30-28.

Evans finished 22-of-37 passing for 315 yards with two TDs and two interceptions. Jones had five catches for 114 yards and the TD, Bralon Addison recorded seven receptions for 103 yards and a touchdown while John White ran for 88 yards on nine carries.

Quarterback Johnny Manziel made his eighth start for Montreal. He completed four of five passes for 59 yards before giving way to Pipkin in the second quarter.

Pipkin finished 8-of-15 passing for 217 yards while rushing four times for 21 yards. Eugene Lewis had two catches for 105 yards and two TDs for Montreal while William Stanback made four receptions for 100 yards.

Bede kicked three converts and a field goal for Montreal.

Hajrullahu booted three converts, a single and two field goals.