(Montreal) The Montreal Alouettes tried hard to get closer to the Argonauts and to first place in the East, but the Torontonians were stronger and came away with the victory at Percival-Molson Stadium, 24-23.
Posted at 7:20 p.m.
Danny Maciocia’s squad got caught with too many players on the field on Boris Bede’s field goal attempt, which missed from 47 yards. But the Argos refused the penalty and took the famous single awarded for a missed play in the Ambrosie circuit to win.
Eugene Lewis tied the game with two spectacular catches in the final minute, including one diving into the end zone to catch Trevor Harris’ pass and make it 23-23 after David Côté converted.
A touchdown from Chad Kelly on a one-yard quarterback sneak with 2:23 to play was the difference in the game. On this offensive push by the Argos (11-6), the Alouettes’ defense (8-9) had twice joined quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thomspon behind his line of scrimmage, but two penalties, for illegal contact on a receiver and grabbing the watch’s facial protector, allowed visitors to continue on their way.
The Alouettes took over at 40 thanks to another good return from Chandler Worthy on 25 yards and were able to tie the game. All in vain.
In doing so, the Argos took the title in the East and the Alouettes finished in second place. They will host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats or the Saskatchewan Roughriders for the Eastern semi-final in Montreal on November 6th.
However, the Alouettes had started the first quarter well. Two good punt returns from Worthy — on 38 and 34 yards — allowed the offense to quickly reach the paying zone on their first two ball possessions. An interception by Jonathan Jones on a pass from Harris intended for Régis Cibasu (returned for 40 yards) and the solid play of the Argos defense, which stopped the Alouettes’ attack three times when it was posted at line of 4, however, cut short the aspirations of the locals.
The Argos then dealt a heavy blow on their next possession: posted to the line of one of the visitors, the offense crossed 109 over seven plays, a sequence crowned by the touchdown of Markeith Ambles on a three-yard pass from Bethel- Thompson.
The Alouettes weren’t able to generate anything on offense for the rest of the half, but went into the locker room anyway, trailing only 7-3.
The second half was exciting, but once again the Alouettes fell short.