MONTREAL – Heading into the Montreal Alouettes’ Week 4 tilt against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the Als will be missing their starting quarterback and two of their top receivers, leaving everyone to wonder – can they still get the job done?
With starting pivot Kevin Glenn sitting out of Friday night’s game with an inflamed eye, it will be Rakeem Cato who will take over the Als’ offence, hoping to find a spark among the depleting receiving corps.
Cato will be without S.J. Green, who is out for the season with a knee injury, and Kenny Stafford, who was placed on the six-game injured list.
Duron Carter will be an option on Friday night, as he is expected to play this week while his one-game suspension is still pending an appeal. In Carter’s first two games this season, he has 11 catches for 132 yards and one touchdown and three carries for 47 yards rushing.
Making sure the Als keep their focus on who’s in the game, and not who’s out, will be essential to pulling out the win.
“Regardless who plays, our goal remains the same: ensure that the opposition does not score a touchdown and that their possessions end with a kick – either a field goal attempt or a punt,” safety Marc-Olivier Brouillette told MontrealAlouettes.com. “So, whoever is injured or on the sidelines, our mindset does not change.”
Cato and company will take on the Tiger-Cats’ tough defence that has allowed the lowest average yards per play of any team this season. Their opponents are averaging just 5.2 yards per play and are second in defence at just 303 yards per game allowed.
Linebacker Simoni Lawrence has been a large part of Hamilton’s defensive success. He currently sits seventh in the league with 18 tackles, two sacks and one interception returned for a touchdown. Keeping Lawrence under control will be vital for Montreal if they want to make sure Cato can get comfortable in his first game.
Back in Week 2, Montreal squared off against Trevor Harris and his high-octane offence and was handed their first loss of the season in their home opener. This week, they’ll look to get their first win on home turf against a struggling Tiger-Cat club.
Since their Week 1 victory against the Toronto Argonauts, the Ticats have lost two games in a row, both in their home stadium – a place that was once a nightmare for opposing teams. The first of the two losses was to BC, where the Ticats only managed to score three points, the second was a better effort but they ultimately lost 28-24 to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
“We’re focused on us and playing Ticat football,” Owens told Ticats.ca. “We haven’t shown that since Week 1. We’re trying to get back to that. Maybe being on the road, that’s going to be the time for us to be able to do that because we have to.”
The Tabbies did, however, get some good news this week with starting quarterback Zach Collaros participating in practice and being removed from the six-game injured list.
But, with the timeline of Collaros’ return unknown, the ‘Cats will still look to Jeremiah Masoli to lead the charge.
“Historically, we have always had very good games against Hamilton,” said Brouillette. “It’s certain that the loss of Collaros at the start of last season affected them somewhat, but Masoli is an experienced player and an extremely dangerous athlete. We’ll have to give a really strong effort if we want to win this game.”
That strong effort has to emerge on both offensive and defensive sides of the ball, but especially when Hamilton’s star receivers are on the field.
Montreal’s defence will have the task of containing the trio of Andy Fantuz, Luke Tasker and Owens who are all in the top eight receivers in the league. Fantuz has 21 receptions for 245 yards and a league-leading 11 second down conversion catches so far this season. Tasker has 23 catches for 242 yards and Owens has 17 for 228 yards and two touchdowns.
If Montreal can figure out a way to get its new-looking offence clicking and can capitalize on a Hamilton offence that turned the ball over six times last week, the Als will have a good chance at improving their record to 2-1.
“The offence, the defence and special teams have to execute during the game,” running back Brandon Rutley told MontrealAlouettes.com. “If the three units do their job, we’ll have a victory under our belts in front of our home fans.”
Cato will look to get his first win of the season for the Alouettes in place of star quarterback Glenn, and Masoli will hope to lead his Ticats back into the win column on the road.
Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. ET and can be seen live on TSN and on TSN Radio 690.
