MONTREAL | For the first time in eight years, the Montreal Alouettes have won a game without a future.
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On Sunday, head coach Danny Maciocia’s side ended a very long run of losses in the playoffs by beating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 28-17 in the Eastern semifinals.
The Als haven’t had that luck since the 2014 season. It was also the first time since 1996 that the Montreal club beat the Cats in the playoffs.
Shortly after the victory, won in front of more than 20,000 fans, Maciocia summarized what happened on the field of Percival Molson Stadium.
“It’s like some games we’ve played this year: one half goes well, another a little less well and in the end we find a way to win,” he said. It sums up the year we’ve lived, but also how much character these guys have, dog. I’m so proud of her. It hasn’t been an easy year, on and off the field. However, they never doubted!”
Thierry Laforce / QMI Agency
A hot start, but…
The “sparrows” began the meeting on the hats. After an excellent first-play punt return from Chandler Worthy, the offense crossed the rest of the field in five moves, ending their first streak in the pay zone. Before returning to the locker room at halftime, they had scored two more touchdowns and allowed their rivals just two field goals.
However, quarterback Trevor Harris’ unit failed to continue their success with such regularity and never returned to the end zone after returning from the locker room. Fortunately for the “Als,” however, the defensive line was there to watch the grain.
“We started strong. We gave ourselves a good shot at the win by scoring 20+ points in the first half,” said wide receiver Eugene Lewis.
“In a match we go through ups and downs. […] In the end, our defense made the moves we needed,” the star continued, before also praising some of his offensive colleagues.
Thierry Laforce / QMI Agency
key shifts
In the middle of the third quarter, the momentum seemed to give way from the Alouettes’ camp. Looking for a spark, the Tiger-Cats decided to replace quarterback Dane Evans with Matthew Shiltz. The move had the desired effect, as the former lynchpin of the Als allowed his people To a major from his first moments on the ground. At this point, the visitors were just one ball away from equalizing. The defense, however, closed the books with some very big plays in the last 15 minutes.
Cornerback Mike Jones had his second stoppage of the game and Tyrice Beverette hit the ball deep in his crease from Shiltz. After knocking out the linebacker with just over two minutes left, the Alouettes’ running backs did the rest of the work to earn their team a spot in the Eastern Finals. This will be played next Sunday against the Argonauts in Toronto.
“We will continue to write new chapters in this famous book that everyone is writing together,” said Maciocia, touched.