A 3–1 record after four games.
Alouettes lose to Ticats in Hamilton on Friday
The Montreal Alouettes suffered their first defeat of the 2025 season, as they fell 35-17 to the Tiger-Cats in Hamilton on Friday night. This was far from being the best performance of the year, but there are always things to learn in defeat.
This is the first time the Als lost a game in June with Jason Maas as head coach. They now own a 9-1-0 record this month since 2023.
So, what happened on Friday night? Let’s break it down.
Lack of offensive production:
There’s no getting around it, the offensive unit struggled tonight. It’s always easy to blame the quarterback when things go wrong, but it just seemed like everybody on the field was out of sync. Was it a perfect performance from McLeod Bethel-Thompson in his first start as an Alouette? No. But it’s not fair to put the entire loss on him. It was a weird night, and the offence needed to be better, but Bethel-Thompson is an experienced quarterback that can bounce back in a big way.
The biggest thing that hurt the team tonight was the two turnovers that led directly to Tiger-Cats touchdowns. The first one was a deflected interception that linebacker Devin Veresuk returned for a touchdown. The Ticats defence added a second major when a snap that got away from Bethel-Thompson was picked up the end zone by Julian Howsare late in the fourth quarter.
“That’s a big swing right there,” receiver Tyler Snead said after the game. “Sometimes it’s not a seven-point swing, it’s a 14-point swing. If you take both of those turnovers away, it’s an 18-17 game with three minutes left in the fourth…There’s a lot to learn from this loss. We didn’t play our best tonight, and we know that. We just have to be better.”
Special teams swings momentum:
The Alouettes special teams played pretty well on Friday night. Jose Maltos made all three of his field goals, James Letcher Jr. broke off a couple of impressive returns, and the kick-coverage was pretty good. Unfortunately, there was a huge play in the third quarter that helped Hamilton regain the momentum of the game.
Punter Nik Constantinou completed a pass to Tyler Ternowski on third down to extend the Ticats drive. They ended up kicking an important field goal a few plays later.
“They kept their drive alive,” linebacker Alex Gagne said. “It’s like forcing another turnover. They tried to create a spark and a turnover. We were able to do it early in the game when we went after the ball, but we have to be able to capitalize on those plays and keep the momentum on our side.”
Defence takes ball away:
The defence turned in another solid effort tonight. As Snead mentioned, 14 of the 35 points scored came directly off of offensive turnovers. Yes, the Ticats managed to go on long drives at times, but those things happen in the CFL.
On the opening drive of the game, the Als managed to force a turnover on downs on a quarterback sneak, and minutes after an interception by Ticats defensive back Jamal Peters, linebacker Geoff Cantin-Arku and defensive back Lorenzo Burns forced a fumble that Cantin-Arku recovered.
Unfortunately for the Alouettes, that wasn’t enough to get them a third consecutive victory on the road.
What’s next?
After a grueling three-game road trip, the Als will get a well-deserved three days off this week. They’ll be back on the practice field on Tuesday. They will host the B.C. Lions on Saturday night at Percival Molson Stadium.
