The Alouettes kept their chances of hosting a playoff game in Montreal alive and well by inflicting a 28-14 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, in front of 12,602 spectators who braved the cold rain this Saturday in November at Percival-Molson Stadium. .
The victory allows the Montreal football club to stay within striking distance of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who lost to the Toronto Argonauts on Friday.
The Alouettes (7-6) could overtake the Ti-Cats (7-6) for second in the East section if the latter lose to the Saskatchewan Roughriders next Saturday and the Montrealers get the better of the Ottawa Rouge et Noir. the day before.
The Bombers (11-2), who had decided to leave nine regulars at home including quarterback Zach Collaros, took the lead following a blunder by Adarius Pickett on the very first game of the meeting.
The kick return specialist didn’t master Sergio Castillo’s kickoff after just a few steps. Nick Hallett recovered the ball before losing it too, but as he went out into touch, the Blue Bombers took advantage of a very advantageous position at the Alouettes’ 19-line.
Three races later, Brady Oliveira crossed the goal line to give the visitors a six-point lead, with Castillo missing the conversion, a mistake less costly than Pickett’s.
The Alouettes’ offense was sluggish in the first quarter, until his defense shocked him. Najee Murray intercepted one of Sean McGuire’s rare passing attempts at the visitors’ 15 line.
Two games later, Eugene Lewis made a spectacular catch, diving on a precise pass from Trevor Harris to score the first of his two touchdowns to give the locals a slim one-point lead.
Lewis was also behind the Alouettes’ longest game of the day. After the special teams recovered a dropped ball by the Bombers on a clearance – the feat goes to Ty Cranston – Harris handed the ball to Lewis on a side play and Lewis joined Quan Bray, who performed a superb caught beating two defensemen, for a 35-yard game. After a short run from William Stanback, Harris spotted Reggie White Jr. in the back end of the end zone to give the locals a 24-7 lead.
The Bombers moved closer on the next streak with two McGuire’s over 30 yard touchdowns for Dervin Adams’ touchdown, but it was too little too late.
The Alouettes put the game out of the Bombers’ reach once and for all with just over four minutes to go. Chris Ackie then had the third of four interceptions for the locals, who picked up at the Bombers’ 21 line.
David Côté capped the streak with his second field goal of the game, 11 yards, after hitting a 28-yard punt and a punt single earlier.