The Alouettes had a two-part game, with a very good second half. But in the end, the Montreal squad came up short, losing 34-27 to the Toronto Argonauts, who will represent the East in the Gray Cup final next week.
Although Danny Maciocia’s team led the last two quarters 24-10 in scoring, the largesse in defense in the first half proved too costly in the end.
Noel Thorpe’s troops looked particularly bad on the Argos’ third touchdown of the game, which made it 21-3 in favor of the hosts.
Posted at the Montreal 46 line for a second down and a yard, substitute quarterback Chad Kelly, usually used for sneaking, decided instead to pass the ball to DaVarius Daniels, left alone on the left side by the Alouettes defense . An awkward game at this stage of the season. Daniels easily crossed the rest of the court to register the middle finger.
The Argonauts only needed five plays to cross 82 yards on this sequence, which illustrates well the first half of the Alouettes, who had also conceded touchdowns to Andrew Harris and AJ Ouellette before that of Daniels.
The Alouettes saved the day by scoring 10 points on their next two streaks, including the touchdown on a 36-yard play by Tyson Philpot — the Alouettes’ best element with Trevor Harris in this game — so that the visitors only returned to the locker room 11 points behind. Trifles in the Canadian League.
The Alouettes’ offense revived the debate on the first possession of the third quarter, while William Stanback, quiet until then, carried the ball for 52 yards to bring his team closer to three points after the two-point conversion successfully completed.
After Boris Bede and David Côté traded field goals, McLeod Bethel-Thompson delivered the final blow to the Alouettes by joining Kurleigh Gittens Jr. on a 31-yard play for the hosts’ fourth touchdown, restoring a 10-point priority to the Alouettes. Argos.
Côté made his fourth field goal of the game to bring the Alouettes back to a touchdown, but the defense was unable to stop the Argos attack.