Tyrice Beverette recovered a pass deflected by Adarius Pickett with just under 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter and returned it 100 yards for the touchdown and the Montreal Alouettes posted a third straight victory, 25-18 at the expense of the Edmonton Elks.
As the Elks (4-11) offense was posted at the Alouettes’ (7-7) 5-line with the score 18-17 for the hosts, Pickett raised his arms, touching Tayler Cornelius’ pass attempt (16 for 28, 273 yards, two interceptions), which found itself behind the quarter, in the hands of Beverette, who crossed the whole field to score the first points for the visitors since the second quarter.
“I had no idea it was 100 yards at all. My legs felt 100 yards, but I didn’t know, Beverette said. It took me a little time to catch my breath, but it was a great game. It was a good feeling to make this key play at such an important moment in the game. »
This is the third interception return of 100 yards or more in Alouettes history and the first since 1999.
It’s also the Alouettes’ first three-game winning streak this season, as they are now 5-1 in their last six outings.
“I would never have thought that ending up with a .500 record would be so good,” said Alouettes head coach Danny Maciocia. When you’re 2-6, being 7-7 makes you feel pretty good. Looks like we haven’t lost in a while. Credit goes to these players, because not so long ago the future looked bleak and they didn’t let up. »
Beverette’s feat came to save the Alouettes’ anemic offense in the second half, but the Alouettes’ defense managed another big play at its goal gate with just over four minutes to go, as it stopped running back Kevin Brown twice with two and three yards to go.
With just over a minute to go, it was the Alouettes’ defense again who came to save the day, when Micah Awe intercepted a pass that was not controlled by Danny Vandervoort. A third turnaround in three consecutive sequences.
This is a very important victory for the Alouettes who thus sign their seventh victory, allowing them to outrun both the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, third in the East at 4-10, as well as the Saskatchewan, fourth in the West with a 6-9 record.
The Toronto Argonauts (8-6) are first in the East. They face the Calgary Stampeders on Saturday night.
For the Elks, it is a 15th straight loss at home, a record for mediocrity in the Canadian League.
“I won’t talk about that streak, so next question,” Elks head coach Chris Jones said.
“That one hurts a little bit,” admitted defensive lineman Jake Ceresna. It’s appalling. I think we were in position to win, but then two or three mistakes ruined everything. »
Dominique Davis, his 11th, and Eugene Lewis scored the game-winning touchdowns, which will end their season with two home and away series against the Ottawa Redblacks and Argos.
Second quarter to forget
The Alouettes led 14-4 at one point, but they had a horrible second quarter, as the Elks scored 14 points, 11 of which came from turnovers.
With the score at 14-7 and after the Alouettes’ special teams had managed a trick play on a fake clearance to put the ball back to the attack, Walter Fletcher committed his first fumble this season, provoked by Ceresna and recovered by Enock Makonzo.
Sergio Castillo took the opportunity to achieve his third placement in this meeting to bring his team to four points behind the visitors.
The next play, Ceresna caused a second fumble when he bored Trevor Harris (14 for 17, 180 yards, one touchdown) to lose the ball. Posted on the Alouettes’ 32nd line, the Elks took advantage of two penalties from the visitors, including one for obstructing Nafees Lyon’s pass in the end zone, to score their first touchdown of the game and regain a 17-10 lead.
On the next kickoff, the Elks added a single. David Côté allowed the Alouettes to return to the locker room just one point behind by scoring the longest field goal of his career with a 52-yard kick. Côté missed attempts from 50 and 56 yards.