2023-06-24 03:46:26
SUMMARY
The game got off to a bad start at Tim Hortons Field for the Montreal Alouettes, but their defense and special teams turned the tide and the visitors never looked back in a 38-12 win over the Tigers. Hamilton Cats.
For a second consecutive game, the Alouettes’ defense (2-0) did not allow a touchdown and even scored one, on the interception brought back on 71 yards by Wesley Sutton. The latter thus went from words to deeds after having indicated this week that he wanted to be recognized as the best defensive player in the league. The special teams also scored a major, an important play that turned the tide in the first quarter.
With the score at 6-0 for the Ti-Cats (0-3) after a shaky start to the game from the visitors, the Alouettes’ defense forced the home side to clear. Chandler Worthy then took advantage of good blocks from his teammates to bring the ball back 77 yards to give the Alouettes a 7-6 lead.
Cody Fajardo took his ease and masterfully led the attack. The quarterback had 178 passing yards in the first half. He notably joined Austin Mack who made a superb 48-yard run to register his first touchdown in the Canadian League. Mack will add another in the second half.
Fajardo then capitalized on Ciante Evans’ third interception of the season, hauled in for 39 yards. After catching Cole Spieker for 30 yards, Fajardo capped that short push with a four-yard run for his second touchdown of the season.
The Alouettes returned to the locker room with a 21-9 priority.
Evans has already matched his 2022 total interceptions and is just two shy of his career high of five, set with the Calgary Stampeders in 2017.
It continued in the second half. The Alouettes put an exclamation point to this convincing performance at the end of the game. With a rush of 40 yards, William Stanback reached the plateau of 3000 career yards per rush. He needed 42 at the start of the game; he finished with 69 in nine races. He added 37 yards on three catches for a total haul of 106 yards.
Stanback also brought the Alouettes into the paying zone with a 25-yard pass and run on the next play. The streak ended with David Côté’s only field goal of the game, over a distance of 15 yards.
His vis-à-vis Marc Liegghio, on 13, 39, 31 and 44 yards, was the only one to put the Tiger-Cats on the mark.
The only downside is the number of bags that Cody Fajardo suffered again. Criticized for allowing six sacks in Week 1 to the Ottawa Redblacks defense, the Alouettes’ offensive line looked better, but the Tiger-Cats once again managed to join the Birds quarterback four times behind his line of scrimmage. If it is all the same an improvement, work remains to be done on this side.
That didn’t stop Fajardo from completing 19 of 25 passes for 292 yards and two touchdowns, stats that translated into an excellent efficiency rating of 140.8. Keion Julien-Grant was his favorite target with eight attempts. The Canadian receiver caught six of those passes for 94 yards.
Mack finished the game with 81 yards on five catches. The rookie has now passed for 200 yards and scored two touchdowns in his first two CFL games.
In addition to not giving up a touchdown for the second game in a row – a feat they hadn’t achieved since August 2009, Noel Thorpe’s defense was tough on the ground game, limiting the Tiger-Cats to just 38 yards on nine carries.
In the loss, Matthew Schiltz had his second career passing 300+ yard game. The local quarterback completed 25 of 47 passes for 345 yards, but two interceptions left him with a paltry 59.3.
Schiltz will need to perform better if the Ti-Cats hope to get their season back on track, as he is expected to be the starting quarterback until mid-August: Hamilton has Bo Levi Mitchell on the injured list for six meetings before the game. The quarterback acquired on the free agent market last winter was injured in the game against the Toronto Argonauts last week.
The Alouettes will be back at Percival-Molson Stadium next Saturday, as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2-1) will be the visitors. The Bombers will have the rage in their hearts for this duel, they who have just been beaten 30-6 by the lions of British Columbia.
The Montrealers will wear their new third jersey for the occasion. All in red, it pays homage to the uniforms of the 1940s, 1950s and early 1980s editions.
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