The Alouettes dropped a heartbreaker in Hamilton, as they lost on the final kick of the game, 25-23. There were plenty of positives that came out of this game, but there were some things to work on as well.
The offence came out of the gate looking sharp, but they lacked struggled to sustain drives in the second half. That isn’t uncommon at this time of year. After all, many of the players that are on the field at that point of the game have limited CFL experience and several more won’t be on the roster once the regular season begins.
TREVOR HARRIS LOOKS SHARP
Trevor Harris got the start in the game and he played most of the first quarter. The veteran finished the game 9-for-12, with 124 yards passing and a touchdown.
The Als offence put together a remarkable opening drive. Harris was able to complete passes Reggie White Jr., Kaion Julien-Grant, Hergy Mayala and Krishawn Hogan. Harris finished the drive with a four-yard touchdown pass to White Jr. to give the Als a 6-0 lead.
“It felt good,” Harris said. “We had two series and we had two scoring drives, but I just wish we could have finished the second one. With guys like Reggie White Jr., Hergy, Kaion and Dante Absher and all the guys we have out there right now, it makes it pretty darn easy.”
DAVIS ALEXANDER STEPS UP
Rookie quarterback Davis Alexander got an opportunity to play in the fourth quarter and he left his mark on this game.
With less than three minutes to go in the fourth quarter and the Als trailing 22-15, Alexander marched the offence up the field. Not only did he score a touchdown on a quarterback sneak in the final minute of play, he also completed a pass to Hogan for the go-ahead two-point convert.
The 23-year-old was 11-for-14 for 106 yards in the loss.
KRISHAWN HOGAN GOES OVER 100 YARDS
Hogan was one of the few players that suited up from start to finish on Saturday night.
He stood out for all the right seasons. The 27-year-old caught 11 balls on 12 targets for 102 yards. His longest reception was 18 yards.
“The coaches told me (Friday) that I was going to play the whole game,” Hogan said on Saturday night. “I haven’t done that in a while, so it was definitely a test. But I felt good.
“I felt like I was having a solid camp. There’s always plays out there that you want back, but I felt I put together a really solid camp. Our whole receiver group is really strong, so I don’t really know what they’re thinking upstairs as far as the coaching staff is concerned. Practice is one thing, but what you do out there during the game is a little different. I was happy to have a good game tonight.”
After the game, Hogan admitted that he banged up his shoulder early on and he also suffered cuts on his face and on his leg.
DEQUOY MAKES PLAYS ON D AND SPECIAL TEAMS
Marc-Antoine Dequoy got starting reps at safety in the second half of the game. The former University of Montreal product came up with a pair of tackles on defence, including one on a Hamilton two-point conversion attempt. He also added a pair of tackles on special teams.
There was a heavy rotation on defence throughout the game, as 25 different players were credited with at least one tackle.
DAVID COTE PERFECT
Second-year kicker David Cote was a perfect 3-for-3 on field goals in this game. He made kicks from 32, 31 and 37 yards.
All of his field goal attempts came in the first half.
PENALTIES
Penalties often came back to haunt the Alouettes in 2021, and that continued on Saturday night.
After they went up by one point with 15 seconds remaining in the game, the defensive back Robert Hayes was flagged for pass interference, which helped set up Hamilton’s game-winning field goal.
In total, Montreal had 13 penalties for 184 yards. The pass-interference penalties to Hayes and and Jarnor Jones made up most of that yardage.
“I hope so,” head coach Khari Jones said when asked if he chalks up the penalties to many players playing in the preseason. “You still can’t accept those and you can’t put them off as preseason because they matter. Playing disciplined and detailed football matters. We weren’t as disciplined and detailed as we needed to be. We were in spurts, but we’ll get there.”
ROSTER CUTS
The Alouettes will need to shrink their roster to 75 players by Sunday at 11:59pm ET. Rookies that come through the Canadian College Draft do not count towards that total.
