(Ottawa) The Montreal Alouettes ensured they would play at least one playoff game at home with a 24-12 victory over the Ottawa Redblacks on Saturday afternoon at TD Stadium.
In addition to inflicting a first home loss on the Rouge et Noir (8-5-1) this season, the Alouettes (11-2-1) extended their unbeaten road streak to seven (6-0-1) in 2024.
Furthermore, the victory ensures that the Alouettes will have the tiebreaker in their favor if ever the Rouge et Noir were to catch up with the Montreal team in the standings.
Dionte Ruffin, on a 79-yard interception return in the first quarter, and quarterback Cody Fajardo, from the one-yard line in the second quarter, scored the Alouettes’ two touchdowns.
PHOTO SPENCER COLBY, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Wide receiver James Letcher Jr. (89)
Fajardo (16-for-27, 226 yards) appeared to hurt his ribs in scoring his major, but he remained at his post until the end.
Jose Maltos missed one of his two conversion attempts, but he recovered with three field goals. Joseph Zema added two singles on as many 58-yard punts.
Solid once again, the Alouettes’ defense only conceded one touchdown, that of Justin Hardy, in the third quarter, on a 25-yard pass from Jeremiah Masoli (17-in-26, 218 yards).
Masoli replaced Dru Brown (8-for-16, 69 yards), who injured his ankle in the second quarter.
Lewis Ward added field goals of 18 and 44 yards.
Jason Maas’ men now need just one win to secure first place in the Eastern Division. The Alouettes will try to make that goal a reality next Saturday at BMO Field, against the Toronto Argonauts.
Defense holds the fort
After the first 15 minutes of play, the Alouettes led 7-3. They acquired this lead solely thanks to their defensive unit because the attack produced nothing.
During this first quarter, the Alouettes were limited to eight offensive plays, gains of 20 yards and only one first down, obtained by Fajardo thanks to an eight-yard run in the last moments of the quarter.
Meanwhile, the Alouettes’ defense was able to assert itself at the right times, even though it allowed six first downs and gains of 102 yards.
PHOTO JEFF MCINTOSH, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Nafees Lyon (8) clings to Cameron Echols-Luper (17)
She notably imposed herself by making two interceptions at the expense of Brown, including one that Ruffin returned to the end zone.
Fajardo, however, recovered in the second quarter, completing six of 10 passes for 135 yards, including a 53-yarder to Charleston Rambo that set up a 17-yard field goal by Maltos.
During the previous series, the Alouettes had scored their first offensive touchdown of the match, helped by two important penalties to the Rouge et Noir.
The first of these infractions, the failure to respect immunity, allowed the Alouettes to begin their offensive series from their 26-yard line, and therefore, from a less uncomfortable position.
Then, defensive back Alijah McGhee was caught for obstruction against Tyler Snead, giving the Alouettes a 27-yard gain, up to the Rouge et Noir 20-yard line.
Three plays later, Fajardo snuck into the end zone to give the Alouettes a 14-3 lead. Maltos missed the conversion, however.
Maltos recovered with a 13-yard field goal on the final play of the first half, and the Alouettes returned to their locker room with a 20-6 lead.
After conceding a single early in the third quarter, the Rouge et Noir managed to solve the Alouettes’ defensive brigade about two minutes later.
The secondary line let Hardy sneak behind it and he easily caught Masoli’s nice pass in the corner of the end zone.
The Red and Black were unable to score the two-point conversion, however, and the Alouettes’ lead remained at 21-12.
With just over nine minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Alouettes added three valuable points on another precision field goal from Maltos, this one from 30 yards out.
James Letcher Jr. contributed greatly to these three additional points, with a spectacular 59-yard punt return to the Rouge et Noir 28-yard line.