(Montreal) The Alouettes said this week that they were not going to be distracted by the pre-game ceremonies against the Ottawa Rouge et Noir. The Montrealers did not lie. The Birds scored 14 points in the first five minutes of play and led 30-1 at halftime, en route to a crushing 47-21 victory in front of a sold-out crowd of 23,034 fans at Percival-Molson Stadium.
Reggie White Jr. scored two touchdowns in his first game in almost two years. Cody Fajardo threw for nearly 400 yards. The defense caused three turnovers for 17 points in the first half alone and Jason Maas’s squad completely dominated the visitors in all phases of the game.
After Cody Fajardo scored the first touchdown for the Alouettes (3-0) at Percival-Molson Stadium this season, Tyrice Beverette intercepted Dru Brown’s pass on the very first offensive play for the Rouge et Noir (1-1). Two plays and a penalty later, Caleb Evans crossed the yard separating him from the end zone to make it 14-0.
David Côté scored his first field goal of the evening before the two clubs changed ends and the defense did it again in the second quarter. Beverette collected a sack and caused a fumble recovered by Darnell Sankey. Côté added a field goal a few plays later. On the next possession Sankey caused running back Ryquell Armstead to lose the ball. Beverette took it back and the Alouettes only made one play afterward, a 51-yard pass from Fajardo to Tyson Philpot for the touchdown.
The Alouettes thus scored 17 of their first 30 points on three turnovers by the Rouge et Noir. Fajardo had already collected 291 yards of aerial gains in two quarters; Philpot 127; and Kaion Julien-Grant 99.
Ottawa… then White
After the break, Ottawa took advantage. some defensive generosity from the Alouettes and a penalty to Mustafa Johnson for excessive roughness who transformed a missed field goal into a touchdown to get closer to 30-12, but Fajardo joined White, in his first game since October 2022 — 619 days ! –, on 16 yards on the Birds’ third possession in the second half, to restore a priority of 25 points to the locals.
A lead that quickly melted: on the kickoff, Devonte Dedmon managed a 101-yard return to give hope to the visitors. The failed two-point conversion, however, allowed the Alouettes to maintain an appreciable lead of 19 points.
On the next sequence, Fajardo and the offense went 69 yards, a sequence capped by White’s second touchdown of the quarter, on a nice sliding catch on a 19-yard pass.
Côté put an exclamation point on the evening with a 41-yard field goal, his fourth and longest of the game.