“I’ve been around football long enough to see the mistakes, but I also saw that we limited the penalties. We played clean and good, solid football in the first half.” Those were Coach Sherman’s words to his locker room after Saturday’s pre-season game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Percival Molson Stadium. “We saw what formula we can use to win this season. Play smart, play tough, play together.”
Indeed, the Alouettes starters were ready to get off on the right foot in front of their home fans. The team’s performance in the first half in their second and final pre-season game was solid. “We saw what formula we can use to win this season. Play smart, play tough, play together,” added the Head Coach.
Check out the highlights from the game, which Hamilton won by a score of 30 – 15.
1-The Alouettes added numbers to the scoreboard in their first offensive series by notching three points courtesy of a Boris Bede field goal. Starting quarterback Drew Willy showed his scrambling ability by running for 14 yards, and a completion to Tyrell Sutton (we’ll talk more about Sutton in a moment) for an 8 yard pick-up on second down that gave the Montreal kicker a shot at a field goal from 26 yards out. Et voilà, the first points of the game were in the book.
He might not be the most daring of quarterbacks, Drew takes a risk-free approach to the game and his quick releases should allow the offence to safely amass some yardage this season.
2-OK. When talking about the offence, we have to talk about Tyrell Sutton. True to his self, he arrived this year in top shape, clearly showing that even at 31 years of age he’s not ready to slow down. The running back ran the ball six times for 18 yards and a touchdown (the team’s first of the year), and also had five catches for 42 yards. But it’s not just the numbers when it comes to Tyrell. His blocking abilities definitely gave quarterback Drew Willy some extra time on several plays.
3-The first touchdown of the game, scored by Tyrell Sutton, was the result of good teamwork. Starting from the Hamilton 44-yard line, Drew Willy was able to quickly get the team downfield with the help of ball carriers Sutton (a 12-yard run) and Patrick Lavoie (an 11-yard gain), along with receiver / new secret weapon on offence Eugene Lewis (11-yard completion). The series that lasted almost 2 minutes and 30 seconds ended with Sutty’s touchdown on a 10-yard run.
4-Fans came out to cheer their Als on Saturday afternoon, but many came out as well to catch their first glimpse of Johnny Football and how he is adapting to the CFL. Slightly less than three minutes after coming into the game in the second quarter, Manziel threw a 3-yard TD pass to running back Alex Green, giving Hamilton their first touchdown on Montreal soil this season. We saw a Manziel who didn’t lose anything of his ability to use his legs in the box and who might just be a perfect fit for the CFL.
5-The Ti-Cats may have had the upper hand on the Alouettes, the starting team on defence still showed that the pieces of the puzzle were coming into place. Communication – which players like Jermaine Robinson and Branden Dozier spoke about the need to continue to improve upon – already appeared to be a lot better in Saturday’s first half than it was in the pre-season game against Ottawa. Special shout-outs go to:
–Jamaal Westerman, who had a solid tackle on running back Alex Green at the 10:30 mark in the first quarter, forcing the Ti-Cats back four yards. And because two Westermans are better than one… his brother, Jabar, was the first to sack Manziel.
–Henoc Muamba, who ended the game with six tackles (including one on special teams), as well as a quarterback sack, shows that Kavis Reed was right… his return to Montreal bodes well for defensive coordinator Rich Stubler and the team as a whole, which is looking for new leaders in the locker room.
–Mitchell White, who had an interception that put the brakes to the Tiger-Cats first drive of the second quarter.
–Dominique Ellis, who had a tackle on special teams (for a two yard loss) in the first quarter, resulting in Hamilton’s offence to start at their own 11-yard line. It ended-up as a rather unproductive series for the Ti-Cats and, ultimately, led a few minutes later to Sutton’s touchdown.
6-Although we didn’t like it, we can’t go without mentioning it: Hamilton defensive back Joel Ross’s interception, which set the tone for the fourth quarter. Ross not only snagged Garrett Fugate’s pass, he also rubbed salt in the wound by returning it 38 yards for a touchdown and gave the Ti-Cats their first lead of the game.
7-And we can’t forget to talk about some of the rookies who made an impact:
-Running back Ryder Stone who carried the ball six times in the second half for 19 yards.
-Defensive lineman Khadim Mbaye who registered his first quarterback sack as a professional. Remember, Khadim spent his university career as a linebacker, but he’s been practicing with Bert Hill’s defensive line since the start of training camp. He’s obviously a quick study.
If you weren’t at the stadium on Saturday, don’t worry, we won’t hold it against you… And you’ll have the chance to redeem yourself on June 22 with our first Budweiser Friday Night Lights game of the season! Beer will be only $7 for the entire game and we have some other awesome promotions as well. To find out all about them, simply click on the button below.
