Follow MONTREAL ALOUETTES

© 2024 Montreal Alouettes. All rights reserved.

How Alouettes dominated Redblacks on Thanksgiving Monday

The Montreal Alouettes (9-7) completed a four-game sweep of the Ottawa Redblacks (4-12) by beating them, 29-3, on Monday afternoon at Percival Molson Stadium. The win keeps the Alouettes ahead of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for second place in the East Division.

The defence turned in a remarkable performance, as they limited the Redblacks to a single fourth quarter field goal.

Beating the same team four times in one season is never easy, but the Als made it look simple the last two weeks.

“It’s never easy when you play a team back-to-back,” linebacker Tyrice Beverette, who scored a touchdown off a fumble in this game, said. “They know your tendencies; they figure out what you’re doing last week. For us to come out like lightning like that, it was very fun. We have a lot of new pieces this year and for us to start playing like this and clicking like this at this time is very crucial.”

DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE:

Not much went wrong with the defence on Monday afternoon. They limited the Redblacks to three points and 180 yards of net offence, which is outstanding. The Als also got five quarterback sacks from five different players (Beverette, Lwal Uguak, Mustafa Johnson, Shawn Lemon, Reggie Stubblefield).

Stubblefield, who continues to impress, was credited with a strip-sack, as he knocked the ball out of Redblacks quarterback Nick Arbuckle’s hands, which led directly to the Beverette touchdown. That was the eighth touchdown of the season for the Alouettes defence and the second for the Als linebacker.

“With this defence, you have to pick your poison,” Beverette added. “If you go to the field side, you’ll get a guy named Stubblefield and if you come to the boundary side, you’re going to meet me. It makes it very fun; it makes it very easy. When we all play together and we play fast, good things happen.”

The defence made play after play against Ottawa’s young starting quarterback, Dustin Crum, who finished the game 5/13 for 72 yards passing. He didn’t have a single rushing attempt in the game.

The Als have allowed just 29 points during their current three-game winning streak, which is a ridiculous number in any league but especially in the CFL.

Every quarterback sack was important, but there was one that was a little more special than the rest. Shawn Lemon’s sack of Crum was the 100th of his career. He became just the 13th player in CFL history to reach that milestone.

“Nobody wanted to be Mr. 100,” Lemon said of the quarterback’s he’s faced lately. “I knew everybody was going to try their hardest to stop me from getting it, but I couldn’t be more thankful to play for coach (Noel) Thorpe. He puts me in a position to do what I do best.”

Lemon’s parents drove from Washington, D.C. to be in attendance for this important moment.

“Funny story: When I was in high school going to take my first visit the university of Connecticut, my dad started his famous line, which was ‘we’re not driving here for nothing’ (laughs).’ He told me the same thing this week…I’m just glad I was able to make that happen with them in the stands,” he said.

OFFENCE MOVES THE BALL

The Alouettes offence took some time to get going, but they managed to go into the half with an 8-0 lead thanks to a 38-yard touchdown pass from Cody Fajardo to Tyson Philpot. The Als receiver has scored a touchdown in three of his last four games. He led the team in receiving yards, as he accumulated 90 on six receptions.

“I feel great,” Philpot said after the game. “I’m finally hitting my stride. I’m feeling comfortable and it’s just a testament to how hard we work as an offence.”

Fajardo has a solid game as well. He finished the game with just four incompletions, as he was 28-for-32 with 272 yards passing and one touchdown. He also added 27 yards on three rushing attempts.

“Anytime it’s raining like this, you want to be efficient,” Fajardo explained. “Our defence was playing great, so you want to be efficient and try not to turn the ball over and give them a short field. It feels pretty good to be that efficient. Our offensive guys did a great job of accumulating yards after the catch…I’m just proud of this group and the way we’ve played the last couple of weeks. It’s been a full team effort: offence, defence and special teams. We’re playing the right football coming down to the playoffs.”

Quarterback Caleb Evans had the other offensive touchdown for the Alouettes on Monday afternoon.

QUICK HITTERS

James Letcher Jr. looked very comfortable filling in for Chandler Worthy for the second week in a row. The Redblacks did a better job limited Letcher in the return game, but he still took a punt deep into Ottawa territory in the fourth quarter.

Canadian receiver Jake Harty had one reception and two special teams tackles against the Redblacks on Monday. He now has seven special teams tackles in his last three games.

SHORT WEEK:

The Alouettes will travel to Edmonton to take on the Elks on Saturday. Playing two games in five days is never easy, and it’s even more difficult when you have to travel across the country. That game will be played at 4:00 p.m. ET.

The Als can clinch second place in the East Division if they beat the Elks OR if the B.C. Lions beat Hamilton on Friday night.