First place on line in Montreal
Both teams are looking to extend three-game winning streaks
MONTREAL—Head coach Khari Jones says his Montreal Alouettes are exactly where they want to be: playing for first place in the CFL East at Percival Molson Stadium on a Friday night.
A win over the rival Argonauts would put the Alouettes ahead of Toronto. Both teams are looking to extend three-game winning streaks.
“I think the guys are really excited about it, I want them to be excited about it. You want to be in these types of situations,” Jones said.
“It’s a good thing. When your team is progressing and going at different levels, you need some games like this to test yourself and see where you’re at.”
Quarterback Matthew Shiltz will start a second straight game for Montreal (5-4). Filling in for the injured Vernon Adams Jr., Shiltz picked up his first CFL win last week against Ottawa.
Montreal acquired veteran quarterback Trevor Harris last Sunday in exchange for defensive end Antonio Simmons. Shiltz said he and Harris have spoken this week but he won’t let the news affect his preparation.
“My mentality, from even back when I was backing up Vernon, is just staying ready and, if I’m called upon, to go win football games,” Shiltz said. “That mentality is the same whether I’m No. 1 on the depth chart, No. 2 or whether I’m on the practice roster.
“I’m going to keep preparing as a starter, keep leading, keep going out there to win football games until I’m told that it’s not my job anymore.”
Shiltz added the Alouettes are “a hungry group” that understands what the opportunity to fight for the top spot in the conference represents.
For him, playing Toronto is a great first test as Montreal gets ready to take on the top two teams in the Western Conference, Saskatchewan and Winnipeg twice, in the following three weeks.
“We’re excited but at the same time there’s not one guy in the locker room that’s content with what we have done right now or where we’re at right now,” Shiltz said.
“If you ask me, I still don’t think we’re playing our best football as a team so there’s still a lot more to give and I think guys in the locker room see it that way, too.”
The Argos (6-3), coming off a bye week, scored 19 points in the fourth quarter to win in Hamilton in their last game.
“We gotta use this momentum. We got another tough one this week,” Argos head coach Ryan Dinwiddie said. “Just to go out in Hamilton and win on the road, we haven’t done that in I don’t know how long. So we have another tough challenge in Montreal as well.”
Toronto will not look down on the Alouettes. “Just when Montreal feels like they’re out of it, they come back and start winning games,” Dinwiddie said.
“We know it’s going to be a great environment, we’re going to have to handle some crowd noise and go in there and get a win on the road, which is tough to do.”
Toronto will be led by quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson, who has thrown for 1,314 yards and nine touchdowns.
“I just think he’s really grown into the system lately,” Dinwiddie said. “The first day we brought him back (as the starter) five weeks ago, the ball was jumping out of his hands, his reads were clean, he was anticipating, so I see that growth there. He’s got two interceptions but they’ve been on twopoint plays. In my opinion, he hasn’t thrown a pick all season.”