It wasn’t elegant, but the Montreal Alouettes kicked off their 2023 season with a 19-12 snatch victory over the Ottawa Redblacks.
Najee Murray’s interception with some five minutes left in the game, the Alouettes’ third in the game, and David Côté’s fourth field goal of the game on 47 yards, four minutes later, allowed the locals to prevail.
Cody Fajardo, who offered a lackluster performance in his first game in Montreal, scored the lone touchdown for the winners, who benefited from Côté’s three other field goals (31, 46 and 48 yards) to break away from the visitors .
Lewis Ward, with field goals of 42, 22, 30 and 45 yards, provided the response for the Rouge et Noir, which scared the Alouettes.
However, the troop of Jason Maas had started the match in lions. On the first offensive series, Fajardo fired a 61-yard pass to Austin Mack. After a William Stanback run and a one-yard run from Fajardo, the hosts were leading 7-0 before three minutes were up.
On the next play, Nick Arbuckle tried to join Jaelon Acklin in the Alouettes’ zone, but Ciante Adams intervened for his first interception of the half. He will pull off another one before both teams return to the locker room.
If the Alouettes did not take advantage of this interception to add to their lead, the special teams allowed them to take advantage of an excellent position on the field on the next shoot. A very poor throw-in from Tanner Doll to Richie Leone embarrassed the Rouge et Noir kicker and the Alouettes took over at the 16-yard line. Côté went 10-0 on a 31-yard field goal three plays later.
To say the Alouettes’ offense struggled for the rest of the half is an understatement. Fajardo had all the trouble in the world to join his receivers. He was caught behind his line of scrimmage four times for losses of 41 yards.
For his part, Stanback was limited to a handful of rushing yards.
The visitors took the opportunity to close with two field goals from Ward, from 42 and 22 yards, so the hosts only held a four-point lead at the halfway mark. They came within one point after the break.
We had to wait for Murray’s game at the end of the fourth quarter and the following defensive sequence to confirm this first victory.
However, there are still many aspects to refine before the Alouettes’ second game, which will take place on June 23 in Hamilton.