With Cody Fajardo out and the Montreal Alouettes looking to avoid a second straight home loss, they needed a spark. It came from the man who, until now, seemed to be the team’s number three quarterback.
In relief of an ineffective Caleb Evans, Davis Alexander allowed the Alouettes to score 17 unanswered points in the second half and snatch a 20-16 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Thursday night at Percival-Molson Stadium.
Sent onto the field to start the second half, Alexander (15-in-18, 178 yards) was brilliant and sounded the wake-up call for the Alouettes (6-1), after they had a worrying first half of the game.
Alexander threw two touchdown passes to Reggie White Jr. of five and 31 yards in the third quarter against the Roughriders’ defense (5-2), one of the best in the league along with that of the Alouettes.
“Everybody stepped up a notch. It wasn’t just me. I’m definitely going to remember (this game) for a long time,” said Alexander, who completed his first 12 passes after coming on the field.
“I just had to get the ball to our key players in attack and make sure I threw accurate passes,” Alexander added in a noisy locker room.
The Montreal team thus found the path to victory after its 37-18 loss against the Toronto Argonauts two weeks ago.
Running back Frankie Hickson scored the Roughriders’ lone touchdown in the first half.
The Alouettes will play their next two games against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, starting with a stopover at Tim Hortons Field on Friday, August 2. The same two clubs will meet again in Montreal on Saturday, August 10.
Hickson takes over
The Roughriders showed up in Montreal without their excellent running back AJ Ouellette, but it didn’t show in the first half.
Hickson took charge, racking up 98 of his team’s 100 rushing yards in the first 30 minutes on just 12 carries.
His performance helped the visitors build a 16-3 lead midway through the clash.
In the first quarter alone, Hickson rushed for 68 yards, including a 20-yard run around the left side of the Montreal defense for the only touchdown of the first half.
The Roughriders also had the merit of presenting a much more diversified offensive strategy than the Alouettes during the first half, with 18 passes attempted on 32 plays.
For their part, the Alouettes only attempted three runs out of a grand total of 23 plays, for a meager harvest of four yards.
Shea Patterson led the backup quarterback battle in the first half with 13 completions of 17 attempts for 138 yards.
As for Evans, he completed nine of his 17 passes for gains of only 91 yards, in addition to committing two fumbles, including one which led to the Roughriders’ first touchdown.
His only interesting series was his first of the game, when he orchestrated a seven-play, 46-yard drive that ended with a 16-yard field goal by Jose Maltos.
His performance saw him sidelined early in the second half, to the benefit of Alexander, who quickly came into his own.
“It’s not always the quarterback’s fault, but sometimes you need a spark and this time it was clear we needed one. And it came,” head coach Jason Maas said.
Alexander said he was informed seconds before the end of the first half that he would take over from Evans.
“You never know when your turn is going to come, right? It could have been earlier, it could have been later. The important thing is to be ready to jump on the field,” Alexander said.
“It’s a moment I’ve wanted my whole life, it’s a moment you think about all the time. It’s about trusting the game plan, trusting your preparation. And I’ll say it again; these guys are the best receivers in the league. You just have to find a way to get them the ball.”
On the first series of the second half, Alexander led a 42-yard, seven-play offensive drive that ended with a five-yard touchdown pass to White Jr.
Alexander notably made a key play on second down and 13, completing a 30-yard pass to Tyson Philpot at the Roughriders’ 15-yard line.
“It was a play that gave us a big boost,” noted the Alouettes quarterback.
Alexander didn’t stop there. On his second offensive series, he orchestrated a 96-yard drive that he capped with a second touchdown pass to White Jr., a play that covered 31 yards, with 93 seconds left in the third quarter.
Suddenly, after Maltos’ conversion, the Alouettes led for the first time in the match, by the slimmest of margins, 17-16.
Alexander failed to complete a hat trick, his third offensive series ending in a 21-yard field goal by Maltos.
Evans contributed to this sequence by going to get two first downs on sneaks by the quarterback. Above all, the work of the Alouettes’ offensive unit allowed them to use up almost seven precious minutes in the fourth quarter.
The Alouettes’ defense did the rest by stopping a final offensive push by the Roughriders.