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How Als took down Redblacks in regular season opener

If you enjoy good defence and strong special teams play, you definitely had a good time during The Alouettes’ 19-12 win over the Redblacks on Saturday night.

The Als started with an explosive play, as Cody Fajardo connected with rookie Austin Mack for a 61-yard gain on Montreal’s opening drive. The big play resulted in a rushing touchdown for Fajardo, but that was the only major of the game.

The Alouettes weren’t perfect, but they did enough to win a game against a division rival.

Who stood out? What needs to be improved? Let’s look at that and more.

Return of the Mack:

Alright, it’s not a “return” for Mack because this was his first CFL game, but he made quite the impression in his debut.

As we mentioned, Mack caught a 61-yard bomb from Fajardo on the opening drive to set up a touchdown. The 25-year-old finished the night with four receptions and a game-high 120 yards receiving.

“There was a lot of disrespect coming to the Alouettes,” Mack said after the game. “A lot of that stuff is noted for me. I feel extremely blessed. All thanks to God for this opportunity to be here with the Alouettes. It was a beautiful moment, and the fans were tremendous. It’s only one game, so we’re going to ride this wave, have a great bye week and get back to work.”

Mack, who was voted the Budweiser player of the game as voted on by the fans, leads the CFL in receiving at the time this post was written. It’s only one game, but that’s a very encouraging sign.

“He was tremendous,” head coach Jason Maas said of Mack. “Everything we saw in training camp, he showed everybody else tonight. There’s a reason we were excited about him playing. What a debut. I don’t know too many other guys that have had better debuts.”

Offensive line is a work in progress:

I hate piling on the offensive line because when things don’t go well in protection, it’s too easy to blame the big guys up front. There’s a lot that goes into protecting the quarterback. Were they perfect? No. But this is a group that Als fans don’t need to worry about just yet.

“(Ottawa) brought pressure from the secondary quite a few times that we weren’t great at adjusting too, but that isn’t on one player,” Maas said. “It’s not just on the offensive line. That’s what people need to understand.”

Nick Callender, P-O Lestage, Justin Lawrence, Kristian Matte and Landon Rice should be fine coming out of the bye week. This is a new offensive system, with a new quarterback and a new play-caller.

Also, give the Redblacks credit for generating the pressure that they did.

“We just have to clean up some stuff,” Lawrence, who was an East Division All-Star and Grey Cup Champion with Toronto in 2022, said. “We made some great adjustments at halftime. The tough part about the first week of the season is that you’re kind of going in blind to a game. You don’t really know how a defence is going to play stuff…I’m not going to try to sugar-coat it, it wasn’t pretty, but at the end of the day we got the win and I thought we adjusted well.”

The Ciante Evans show:

Evans had an incredible return to Montreal on Saturday night, as he finished the game with two interceptions. He also swatted the final Redblacks pass attempt in the fourth quarter with the Als leading by seven points.

The veteran first played for the Als in 2019 but left the organization to sign with Hamilton in 2020. He re-joined the team this winter as a free agent, and he didn’t miss a beat.

“It was a team win and a team effort,” Evans admitted. “I’m just glad we were victorious tonight.

“We need to work on our chemistry. It was only our first game together, it’s a new group. We have new guys across the board. We have to clean up some things. We gave up some things that we didn’t see, but it’s expected, right? They have their script and their play calls, but at least we get to review this film after a win.”

Najee Murray also registered an interception in the fourth quarter.

The bottom line is, the Als defence forced five turnovers (three interceptions and two turnover on downs) and they held the opposition to 12 points. You can’t ask for much more from your defence.

Special teams were special:

There are so many guys that deserve shoutouts on special teams. Let’s start with the obvious ones. David Cote went 4/4 on field goals, including two from close to 50 yards. In close games, you need as many points as you can get from your kicker, and the veteran was perfect tonight.

Punter Joseph Zema was equally as impressive. He helped ensure that the Als kept winning the field position battle on the field. Both of Montreal’s kickers were elite on Saturday night.

“It’s our third year together,” Cote said when asked about his relationship with Zema, who also serves as his holder on field goals. “We don’t have to speak to understand each other. We spend so much time together every day. When the others are in meetings or on the field, we’re on the sideline putting in work, but we’re always together. He’s become a really good friend. Our timing on the field is good, and we know each other’s tendencies. He holds the ball perfectly each time.”

Players like Tyrell Richards, Zach Lindley, Tyrice Beverette and many others also made a difference covering on Ottawa returns. It was impressive.

The special teams unit also forced a turnover on downs when they tackled Redblacks punter Richie Leone after a bad snap.

The only mishap the unit had was when they lined up offside on a punt that returner Chandler Worthy scored a touchdown on. In the end, the Als got three points on that drive instead of seven, but they still found a way to stay ahead.

Coming up next:

The Alouettes won’t be in action next week, as they’ll enjoy the Week 2 bye. Their next game will take place in Hamilton, as they’ll take on the Tiger-Cats at Tim Horton’s Field on June 23rd.