TORONTO – Excited by the challenge that lay ahead, the Alouettes arrived in Toronto without complexes to prepare for this Saturday’s Eastern final against the Argonauts at BMO Field.
The song seems to have been played over and over again for the past few days. The Alouettes are neglected but positive. The Argonauts are favorites, but cautious.
Quebec’s Marc-Antoine Dequoy, who showed his game face at Friday afternoon’s press conference at BMO Field, can’t wait for the game to begin.
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“Actually, I haven’t heard once within the team that we come to this game as underdogs,” said Dequoy, speaking of a break between the feeling conveyed in the Alouettes locker room and what was mentioned in several media outlets became. As a team, we talk about what we are capable of and feel like we are on equal terms.
Maas mobilizes Quebecers
Arriving in the Queen City just in time to attend this press conference, Dequoy was assigned to speak to the media, as were head coach Jason Maas, quarterback Cody Fajardo, Darnell Sankey and Kristian Matte.
From the start, Maas delivered an astonishing speech that galvanized Quebecers, especially those who don’t have the “rest of Canada” in their hearts.
“We feel like we represent a lot of people outside of our locker room. We represent Quebec, Montreal… We’re in Ontario and this Quebec-Ontario rivalry is a fantastic thing to think about because it’s a motivation. We are not ashamed to say we are proud to be from Quebec.”
Before Maas, Argonauts head coach Ryan Dinwiddie had largely stuck to canned words.
“I made sure to tell the boys that although we were the favorites, we had to beat a team for the fourth time [en 2023] and that she is currently playing her best football. We know very well that it is a difficult challenge,” he explained, recalling the Argos’ three wins against the Alouettes in the regular season.
Training revealed
At the end of a week of preparation, the Montreal club announced its founding this morning. The Alouettes’ defensive unit will play a crucial role. Unsurprisingly, Americans Shawn Lemon, Mustafa Johnson and Almondo Sewell will look to establish themselves in the defensive line, while Sankey will act as a center back. On defense, Canadian Lwal Uguak could also be kept in mind, as he will try to hinder the work of opposing quarterback Chad Kelly.
Dequoy remains in the tertiary center to counter long plays, supported by defensive backs Wesley Sutton and Ciante Evans.
Ballast is missing, Richards is present
In the absence of offensive lineman Pier-Olivier Lestage, who is still injured in a leg, Philippe Gagnon remains the man of confidence to replace him, as was the case in last week’s 27-12 win in the East Division semifinals against the Hamilton Tiger Cats.
Interesting change: Linebacker Tyrell Richards, recovering from a hamstring injury, will return to the game. He is expected to play primarily on special teams.
- More than 25,000 tickets have already been sold for this Eastern final in Toronto. We’ll see how many seats are filled by Alouettes fans from Montreal.