Despite a hot start and a late touchdown, a sparse version of the Montreal Alouettes lost their flag on the last play of the game 25-23 at the expense of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in their first preseason game for the 2022 season. the Canadian Football League on Saturday at Tim Horton’s Field.
Posted yesterday at 10:35 p.m.
After a touchdown followed by a two-point convert to take a 23-22 lead with less than a minute to go, the Alouettes committed a costly penalty. The latter allowed the Ticats to take a final placement and save themselves with victory.
“It’s a pretty crazy preseason game. That’s for sure. I can tell you that at the end of the game it didn’t look like a preseason game, it went one way or the other,” analyzed Alouettes head coach Khari Jones.
Like the end of the match, the start of the match was explosive. The Alouettes scored a touchdown on the first possession of the ball before retreating to the locker room with a 15-10 lead.
On their return, the Tiger-Cats scored 12 unanswered points. A lead that held until the last moments of the game.
“We struggled in the second half, but the guys came back with a big touchdown late in the game – which we would have hoped was a win…” Jones noted.
The Alouettes had a touchdown and then Krishawn Hogan caught the ball on the convert to give the team a 23-22 lead. A lead that was short-lived due to Tadhg Leader’s 35-yard kick.
“I thought it was there. I really wanted to give the victory to the team. We’ll get it in the next game, ”dropped Hogan, the star of the day.
“Losing with 15 seconds to go taught us a lesson. Much like last year, we saw that a game isn’t over until it’s over,” Jones said.
Receiver Hogan caught 11 passes and had 102 yards in the loss. And his performance did not go unnoticed among his people.
“Krishawn shone during camp. He is quite physical and he uses his body quite well. He was dropped from the NFL due to a few injuries he suffered. So, I’m happy that he was able to play the four quarters and that he caught several passes,” analyzed Alouettes quarterback Trevor Harris.
He worked super hard at camp and studied the playbook well. I’m glad he had that opportunity and took it,” Harris said.
The head coach agreed.
“I wanted to see Kershawn in a game situation and he didn’t disappoint. He caught several fly balls in traffic and gained yards after catches. He made a name for himself,” Jones added.
Jones decided to trust several young players and give everyone playing time in preparation for the cuts. The Montreal club will have to reduce its formation to 75 players by Sunday midnight when 76 players were in uniform for the meeting.
“As crazy as it sounds, in four years this is my first preseason game. It’s hard to give everyone a chance to shine, but I feel we managed to do it. We have some tough decisions to make, but at least I think everyone had a chance to show off their skills,” Jones said.
Jones, hired after training camp in 2019, didn’t get a chance to coach a preseason game in 2020 because the season was canceled due to COVID-19. The shortened schedule for the 2021 season – again due to COVID-19 – did not include preseason games.
Among the notable absentees, star defensive back Greg Reid (injured), receivers Geno Lewis, Jake Wieneke and Quan Bray, running back William Stanback and quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. were all sidelined for the duel.
Besides veteran Harris, who had 124 yards, Jones sent three other quarterbacks into the fray. Davis Alexander, Dominique Davis and Ben Holmes had 106, 95 and 38 yards through the air, respectively.
Harris spotted Reggie White Jr. on four yards and the Sparrows scored the first major of the game while Alexander was credited with the Alouettes’ other touchdown on a one-yard run.
Alouettes kicker David Côté has recovered from a bad start. After missing the conversion following the initial touchdown, he had three field goals in the first half – 32, 31 and 37 yards respectively.
Quarterbacks Jalen Morton and former Alouettes Matthew Shiltz scored the touchdowns for the Ticats. The Ontario formation also managed three placements.
Dane Evans also served as a quarterback for the Tiger-Cats.
The Sparrows will play a second and final exhibition game Friday in Montreal against the Ottawa Redblacks. They will then open the 2022 season on Thursday, June 9 in Calgary against the Stampeders.