Als face Redblacks on Friday night
The Montreal Alouettes will hit the road for the first time in 2025 when they take on the Ottawa Redblacks at TD Place on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. ET (TSN, RDS, TSN 690, 98.5 FM). The Alouettes have had quite a bit of success against the Redblacks over the last few years, as they have won 10 games in a row at TD Place and eight straight against Ottawa.
Here’s what you need to know about the game:
Des Holmes starts at left tackle/Charleston Rambo won’t suit up
The Alouettes will have a new starting left tackle on Friday night. Through his steady performance in training camp, Holmes earned a spot on the practice roster. Now, he gets an opportunity to suit up in place of Nick Callender, who is out with a foot injury.
This will be Holmes’ first career CFL game and start. As if that’s not enough, this matchup should provide Holmes with a little extra motivation, as he was a member of the Redblacks for parts of the 2023 and 2024 season.
The 25-year-old, who signed with the Als last February, played at Penn State for four years before transferring to Arizona State.
As for Callender, head coach Jason Maas mentioned that the injury shouldn’t keep him out long-term. The 30-year-old was the starting left tackle during the team’s Grey Cup run in 2023, and he was also named All-CFL East Division in 2023 and 2024.
There’s another change on offence, as receiver Charleston Rambo (personal reasons) will not suit up. Returner James Letcher Jr. will play a larger role on offence, as he’s listed as the starter at wide receiver.
Redblacks without starting QB
The Redblacks are off to a 0-1 start after their Week 1 road loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders last Thursday.
On Wednesday, they announced that they’d be without their starting quarterback Dru Brown, who was hobbled after taking a hit in the game against the Riders. With Brown unavailable, Ottawa will turn to former Als quarterback Matt Shiltz.
“They’re a tough, physical football team,” Maas said of the Redblacks. “When you go into Saskatchewan and play them the way they did, I mean, you take away a couple of plays and that game could have gone differently. We know every time we play those guys; we have to be ready to go, especially in their house. We’ve been fortunate enough to come away with some victories over there grinding them out. That’s what we’re expecting to do now.”
Transactions:
The Alouettes announced that they have released National defensive back Vincent Delisle.
