The Montreal Alouettes ended a two-game losing streak, but more importantly, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ winning streak with a 20-17 win in overtime Thursday night at IG Field.
Suddenly, the Alouettes (3-6) savored a sweet revenge on the Blue Bombers (9-1), who had beaten them 35-20 last week at Percival-Molson Stadium. In passing, they prevented the Manitoba team from equaling a team record dating from 1960 with a 10-game winning streak at the start of the campaign.
The Alouettes also climbed to second place in the East Division, two points behind the Toronto Argonauts and two ahead of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The Argonauts (4-3), however, played two games less than the Alouettes, and the Tiger-Cats (2-6), one less.
The Argonauts and Tiger-Cats face off Friday night in Hamilton. The Tiger-Cats will then visit the Alouettes on Saturday August 20th.
The kickers of both teams will have made the difference. David Côté first gave the Alouettes the lead thanks to a 43-yard precision kick during the first offensive sequence of the additional period.
Then, at the end of a brief two-game Blue Bombers offensive streak, rival Marc Liegghio saw the ball, after an attempt from 37 yards, hit the right vertical rod and then fall in front of the end zone.
For Liegghio, it was a second failure at the end of the game.
Backup quarterback Dominique Davis scored the Alouettes’ two touchdowns after diving two yards in the second quarter and one yard in the fourth quarter.
Davis’ first touchdown gave the Alouettes a 7-0 lead. The second helped Montreal tie the game 17-17 with 2:21 remaining in regulation time.
However, that left plenty of time for quarterback Zach Collaros and the rest of the Blue Bombers offense to pick up the points that would make the difference.
The Blue Bombers appeared to be heading for a win on the last play of the game. However, Liegghio completely missed his field goal attempt, from a distance of 32 yards, with 20 seconds remaining on the clock.
Then, after catching the ball after Liegghio’s failed kick, Tyson Philpot managed to get out of the end zone and prevent the Blue Bombers from getting a single that would still have allowed them to sign a 10th win in as many exits.
In the victory, Côté also scored a 43-yard field goal in the third quarter, after failing 20 yards when the ball hit the post in the second quarter.
For his part, Alouettes quarterback Trevor Harris completed 18 of his 27 passes for 213 yards.
In the loss, Collaros completed 21 passes on 27 attempts for 251 yards and a touchdown, to Dalton Schoen, a 27-yard play in the second quarter. Brady Oliveira scored the Blue Bombers’ other major, on a 19-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Over the course of a grueling evening, Liegghio still added a 45-yard field goal in the third quarter.
The Alouettes will play their next four home games.