The Montreal Alouettes won a hard-fought game over the Ottawa Redblacks, 30-10, in their final regular season home game of 2025. The win allows the Als to stay in the hunt for first place in the East Division. Jason Maas’ team will still need to take care of business and get some help along the way, but they aren’t out of the race for top spot just yet.
On Monday, the Alouettes jumped out to an 11-0 lead less than five minutes into the game and they never looked back.
Here’s how they got the job done on Monday afternoon:
Special teams, special players, special plays:
Special teams were arguably the best of the three units on Monday afternoon. They were terrific.
Safety Marc-Antoine Dequoy swung momentum the Als’ way when he blocked a punt in the first quarter and scooped it up for a touchdown. The major gave the Als an eight-point advantage at the time.
Kicker Jose Maltos followed that up with a 54-yard kick to make it a two-possession game.
Maltos finished the night five-for-five on field including kicks from 53 and 47 yards (twice). But his most spectacular play came at the start of the third quarter when he blasted the opening kickoff a Redblacks player. The ball bounced towards the kicking team and Nate Beauchemin scooped it up to give the Als possession.
“We practiced that kick during the week,” Maltos said after the game. “We were ready to go on that one. It was perfect. I remember when I used to play soccer that was how I would take a penalty kick (laughs).”
Dequoy’s standout performance:
Dequoy had arguably his best game of the season on Monday. Not only did he block the kick and score the first touchdown of the game, but he also came up huge with the Redblacks closing in on the Alouettes’ end zone.
With the Als leading 11-0, the Redblacks managed to get the ball to the Montreal three-yard line. On first-and-goal, Dequoy sacked Redblacks quarterback Dustin Crum. On third-and-goal, the Quebec-born safety knocked the ball away from Braelon Addison in the end zone to force the turnover on downs.
The 31-year-old finished the night with three defensive tackles and one quarterback sack on top of the blocked kick.
A key stretch by Austin Mack
Receiver Austin Mack scored the Alouettes offence’s only touchdown of the game when he hauled in a 47-yard pass by quarterback Davis Alexander.
Mack made a heads-up play, as he made the catch while stumbling. He hit the ground before reaching the goalline but stretched out for the end zone right before being touched by a Redblacks defender. The score was Mack’s first of 2025.
“I should have stayed on my feet, but the ball was in the sun the whole time,” Mack explained after the game. “It was great to be in a great spot with a great opportunity. Davis gave me a beautiful ball, and I just thought that I had to get in the end zone. I had the awareness to get up (laughs).”
He finished the night with five receptions for a team-high 87 yards. In two games against the Redblacks in 2025, Mack has put up 10 catches for 190 yards and one major. There’s no doubt he’s looking forward to next week’s rematch in the nation’s capital.
Snead hits 1000
Receiver Tyler Snead’s three catches for 35 yards allowed him to surpass the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in his career.
The 25-year-old currently leads the Alouettes with 77 receptions for 1015 yards. He’s also found the end zone four times.
“It means a lot,” Snead admitted of reaching the milestone. “It means even more when you can do it at home in a win. It was a big win, and I obviously got to do it with my boys out there.
“We got the ball (after the play). My mom was texting me asking if I got the ball, and I told her: ‘we got it’, so I’ll go hand it to her whenever I’m back at home.”
Defence plays fast/physical
We talked about Dequoy’s performance, but the entire defence played well. They held the Redblacks to 10 points and managed to make life difficult for Crum.
Noel Thorpe’s unit sacked Crum four times and limited him to just 36 yards rushing in the contest. That’s a big part of the Ottawa quarterback’s game and preventing him from extending plays and running free is a big reason why the Als were able to shut the Ottawa offence down.
“We know the type of quarterback he is,” middle linebacker Darnell Sankey, who had a team-high eight tackles, said. “He’s always looking to run. We just make sure to always have someone on him. Whether it was me or whoever – we all contributed.”
Check out this impressive stat: The Alouettes held Redblacks receivers Geno Lewis and Justin Hardy to one combined catch and 10 yards. Lewis caught a ball late in the fourth quarter when the game was essentially over. Keeping a pair of talented receivers like Lewis and Hardy off the board is extremely impressive.
“I didn’t even know that,” linebacker Najee Murray said of holding the pair of Ottawa receivers to one catch. “It always starts with coach Thorpe. He’s the guy with the master plan every week. He helps put us in the best position and we go out there, and we execute.”
What’s next?
The Alouettes will travel to Ottawa to take on the Redblacks on Saturday afternoon at TD Place. This will be the third and final meeting between these two squads this season. The Als have won both matchups so far.
