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Despite its offence not scoring any touchdowns, Montreal outlasts the Calgary Stampeders 25-18 before 18,098 Molson Stadium spectators.
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We’ve seen this movie before.
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An Alouettes defence that has spent too much time on the field because of its struggling offence, fails to make the game-changing stop at the end because the players are too tired. Except that didn’t happen Sunday night when the unit stood tall and made the difference.
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The Als outlasted the Calgary Stampeders 25-18 before 18,098 Molson Stadium spectators — many of whom left the venue after lightning in the area delayed the start of the second half by 34 minute. The victory evened Montreal’s record at 3-3 and ended a three-game losing streak, while the struggling Stamps fell to 2-5 and might be in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
Despite coming off a bye in the schedule and having two weeks to prepare, the Als won without scoring an offensive touchdown. The only trip to the end zone by either team came on cornerback Kabion Ento‘s 52-yard interception return early in the second quarter. It marked the first pick-six by a Montreal player since last Oct. 1, when linebacker Tyrice Beverette returned an interception 100 yards against Edmonton.
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Instead, the teams combined to produce 12 field goals, one short of the CFL record in a game. The Als’ David Côté and Calgary’s Rene Paredes, who played at Concordia, each split the uprights six times. Paredes tied a career-high with a 53-yarder, while Côté missed one from 37 yards for a single along with a convert — three points that might have loomed large had Calgary produced a game-tying touchdown at the end.
And that appeared to a likely scenario after Tommylee Lewis returned a punt 33 yards to the Montreal 32 with 38.4 seconds remaining in regulation time.
Ento, who switched cornerback positions on this night, provided stellar coverage on first down, while a second-down pass also fell incomplete. But Calgary received a reprieve when Mustafa Johnson was penalized for roughing the passer. The visitors eventually advanced to the Als’ 10-yard line with 23.1 seconds remaining before the drive stalled — Jake Maier’s third-down pass sailing over the head of Luther Hakunavanhu, covered by Kordell Rodgers, who also intercepted Maier on Calgary’s previous possession.
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“I just trusted my abilities and trusted my teammates and I just made a great play on the ball,” Rodgers said. “We trusted ourselves and went back to the basics (defensively). We were in a grey area, on a three-game losing streak. We knew we had to get back on the winning track.
“Third down, seconds left, I knew they had to throw the ball into the end zone. I’m a rookie. I felt like they were going to throw it at me.”
“We figured it was going to be on us,” Ento said. “That’s when the game gets fun, when the game’s on you. It’s a crazy league in the CFL. I’ve only been here a short amount of time, but the last three minutes is wild. We knew it was going to be on us.”
Ento struggled in the Als’ last game, a loss to Toronto, and might have had a bull’s-eye on his back against Calgary. But despite the Stamps’ futile attempts to exploit him, Ento loomed large, atoning for whatever transgressions of inexperience he might have previously committed.
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“Every down is important to me,” he said. “I just care about playing hard for my brothers, just making sure they trust me and I play hard. I have to have a one-play mentality.
“I know what happened the last game. I figured I might have a target on my back, but none of that matters. Nobody cares about what I did the last game. Nobody’s going to care about what I did this game when we get to the next game.”
Co-ordinator Noel Thorpe added some different wrinkles to his defence, frequently going with only three down linemen. Following the addition of rush-end Shawn Lemon, the Als, who had a league-low seven sacks this season, got to Maier Maier three times — although none by Lemon.
Montreal’s offence, however, remains inconsistent at times; the play-calling by head coach Jason Maas bewildering on occasion. Tailback William Stanback had five carries for 53 yards in the first quarter alone, but then didn’t receive another carry until late in the second period.
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The offence lacks imagination, and failed to run a play-action the entire opening half. Kaion Julien-Grant and Austin Mack combined to catch half of quarterback Cody Fajardo’s 16 completions, meaning the Als continue to seek a third receiver option. But at least Fajardo was sacked only once.
“I know that’s our team out there — the way they fight and get after people,” Maas said. “We had six scoring possessions. I don’t know if we struggled. When you score on six possessions, field goals or not … we look at the plays we probably could have made, maybe put that game further ahead? Those are the things we need to work on.
“We do need to get better (on offence) absolutely. It just comes down to execution at times and better play-calling on my part at times. We’ll look at everything and try to get better.”
The Als are in Hamilton Saturday night.
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