It’s not official yet, but the chances of the Alouettes playing a playoff game in Montreal in November are now more than strong. Barring a total collapse, Danny Maciocia’s team will host the Eastern Semi-Final on November 6 or the Eastern Final on November 13.
Updated at 12:13 a.m.
By winning 23-16 against them, Friday night at Percival Molson Stadium, the Alouettes (6-7) seriously mortgaged the chances of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (4-10) to catch up with them in second place in their division. The Als are now 4 points ahead, a game in hand and hold the tiebreaker between the two teams having won two of the three clashes of the season.
The 17,008 spectators gathered on the mountain did not attend a very great show, let’s face it. Certainly not in the first half.
But their favorite team did what they often failed to do in 2020 and in the first half of the season: they played better in the second half than in the first and closed the books when it was time to do so. .
“We developed the proverbial killer instinct. We didn’t have it when I came in with the team (in July),” said linebacker Micah Awe, who prompted a fumble from receiver Kiondre Smith that essentially ended the suspense with less than two minutes to play at 4e quarter.
Dane Evans threw 6 touchdown passes in his last game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers last week. The Tiger-Cats quarterback hadn’t had a good season so far, but played well for the second straight time on Friday, completing 22 of 29 passes for 288 yards. The difference is that the Alouettes’ defense was at its best near the pay zone and forced kicker Seth Small to attempt three field goals, all of which were successful. Runner Wes Hills scored Hamilton’s lone touchdown.
Trevor Harris and the Alouettes scored 20 points in the second half after being limited to a field goal by David Côté in the first 30 minutes. Like Small, the Quebec kicker had three field goals, but missed a conversion by one point.
Harris threw two touchdown passes to Eugene Lewis, who also broke the 1,000-yard plateau when he scored his second, the game-winner with just 1:42 left on the board.
“It’s huge for me because 1,000 yards is still the standard for a wide receiver,” admitted Lewis, who also had more than 1,000 yards in 2019 (1,133). It currently has 1006.
“If the ball is thrown in the stadium and Geno is inside the stadium, the chances are good that he will catch it,” joked Danny Maciocia, who used a baseball analogy to explain the importance of the victory of his people.
“It’s like we now have a two-and-a-half-game lead (over the Tiger-Cats), so it’s a great win and we’re happy. […] But I want to be careful. We still have a lot of work. »
Harris completed 26 of 35 passes for 244 yards and was not the victim of a turnover or sack. Note that Pier-Olivier Lestage started his first career game on the offensive line, replacing Philippe Gagnon as left guard. Gagnon is injured in the back.
Randle seriously injured
A former Alouettes cornerback, Rodney Randle suffered a neck injury in 3e quarterback after being accidentally hit by one of his teammates. The Tiger-Cats player remained on the ground for approximately 15 minutes before leaving the field on a stretcher and being transported to the hospital.
According to information obtained after the game, Randle was able to speak and move his fingers, but nothing more was known at this time.
“My stomach was upside down, we all felt bad on the sidelines. Hope to hear from you soon,” commented Maciocia.
As medical staff cared for Randle, a fight broke out in the stands. The event required the intervention of police officers and a dozen employees from the security team. Not fancy. Especially not with a seriously injured player a little lower…
When action resumed after that 15-minute break, Harris led a series that ended with Lewis’ first touchdown. The Tiger-Cats offered opposition for the rest of the game, but the Alouettes didn’t let go.
Casually, the Birds have won four of their last five games, which will be in Edmonton next Saturday before playing home and away series against the Ottawa Redblacks and Toronto Argonauts to end the regular season. .
“We won our annual series against the Tiger-Cats, now we have to do the same against Ottawa and Toronto,” Lewis said.
The Als are just one win away from hitting the 500 mark. Maciocia always believed his team had the tools to get going.
” I’m not surprised. I was surprised when we had a 2-6 record. Some people had already buried us, but I always knew that we had a good dressing room, good players and good coaches. I’m just accompanying that group. »