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Article October 19, 2022

Als still in the hunt for first place in CFL’s East Division

HARRIS, TREVOR #7 of the Montreal Alouettes

On the morning of Aug. 11, there weren’t many CFL fans that would’ve predicted that the Alouettes would be fighting for first place in the CFL’s East Division in October. After all, the Als were 2-6, and they were on the verge of taking on the Blue Bombers in Winnipeg. But that’s the night when things changed for the better.

Despite trailing by a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, the Als rallied to tie the game, and they eventually won in overtime, 20-17. Since then, the Als have rattled off six wins in eight games. They’re 8-8 heading into this home-and-home stretch against the Toronto Argonauts, which will determine who gets a bye to the East Division Final.

“Just walking into the locker room after that game, you just sensed that the football team was coming together because there was a sense of belief,” general manager and interim head coach Danny Maciocia said. “They knew deep down inside that if we can all come together and push through this, anything is possible.”

Clinching first place isn’t going to be easy, as the Als need to sweep this mini-series against the Argos. Of course, they have to start with this Saturday’s game at Percival Molson Stadium, which is a place the Argos haven’t won since Oct. 12, 2015.

The last time the Argonauts played at Molson Stadium was Oct. 22nd, 2021. The Alouettes defence picked off starting quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson four times and Als running back William Stanback rushed for 203 yards. As you’d imagine, the Als won 37-16.

In fact, Bethel-Thompson has never won a game in Montreal, as he’s 0-3 as a starter in road games against the Alouettes since entering the league. He also lost a “home” game to the Alouettes in Moncton in August of 2019, which means that he has never beaten the Als away from BMO Field in his career.

There’s no denying that the 34-year-old has put together an impressive season though. He currently leads the CFL in passings yards, with 4,491, and he ranks third in touchdown passes, with 21. His 14 interceptions put him in a tie for second most with Redblacks quarterback Nick Arbuckle and just one behind Tiger-Cats pivot Dane Evans.

“We’re just preparing for their offence,” strong-side linebacker Adarius Pickett said on Tuesday. “(Bethel-Thompson) does spread the ball around well to all his receivers. We just need to understand what they want to get accomplished. They’re running back (A.J. Ouellette) has stepped in and replaced Andrew Harris, and he’s done a pretty good job the last two games. We need to make sure we can stop the run first and make them a one-dimensional football team, but Bethel-Thompson is having a good season.”

The last time these two teams played, it was the Argos that came out on top in a nail-bitter, 20-19, at BMO Field in June. That loss all those weeks ago has made clinching first place a little more difficult for the Alouettes, but it’s far from impossible.

The challenge will be to not look at this as a two-game series. Instead, the Als need to approach it one game at a time. Deal with the Argos in Montreal, then fight for first next Saturday.

“You can’t think beyond this week,” Maciocia added. “This has been our motto the last two months. We have to take it one week at a time and we need to try to be 1-0. Just win this football game and don’t look beyond this week. For the most part, at least in the last couple of months, that’s resonated with a lot of our players. It’s going to be critical to just stay the course and just stay focused with the task at hand, which is this game Saturday afternoon in Montreal.”