Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
MONTREAL – The Montreal Alouettes turned back the clock and turned on the style on Ben Cahoon Night at Percival Molson Stadium on Friday.
Quarterback Kevin Glenn threw for 299 yards and a pair of touchdowns, receiver Duron Carter hauled in 115 receiving yards, and the Als defence continued its dominant form en route to a 41-3 statement victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
The Als offence started off the night with a bang, as Glenn completed his first six passes for 68 yards on a five-minute drive which culminated in a B.J. Cunningham touchdown reception. Streaky Als kicker Boris Bede added the PAT and Montreal led 7-0 early.
After Saskatchewan punted on a two-and-out on its first possession, Bede promptly put his first field-goal attempt, a thundering kick from 49 yards, wide left and through the back of the end zone for a single on Montreal’s second possession to make it 8-zip for the hosts.
The Als scored their second major of the evening on the final play of the first quarter, the last of a nine-play drive that was prolonged by a Justin Cox pass-interference penalty. Montreal wideout Sam Giguere ran a sweep to the right side and took a hard hit to break the plane for the hosts’ second major. Bede added the PAT and Montreal led 15-0 after fifteen minutes of play.
The majority of the second quarter slipped away quietly in a series of short possessions and good defence before the veteran Glenn engineered an 11-play scoring drive. The Montreal quarterback drove his team down the field with a series of mid-range passes before giving way to short-yardage specialist Brandon Bridge, who plunged in for the major from one yard out. Bede added his third PAT of the night to extend the Als’ lead to 22-0.
At the half, Montreal’s 227 yards of offence to Saskatchewan’s 97 made the story of the first thirty minutes clear for all to see.
The Riders made changes to their offensive gameplan at the break, and promptly put together a 13-play, 85-yard drive — their best of the night — which stalled at the Montreal 25 and resulted in a 38-yard Tyler Crapigna field goal.
Following an Als two-and-out on the ensuing possession, it seemed as though the Riders were primed to surge back into the game.
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Not to be outdone by their visitors, Montreal’s defensive unit came up with a stop of its own and — thanks in no small part to a pair of Saskatchewan penalties — forced the Riders into conceding a safety, which made it 24-3 Als.
Montreal added to its lead late in the third quarter, when Glenn found Brandon Rutley with a short pass and the running back rumbled, cut and juked his way 38 yards to the house. Bede was then good for his fourth PAT, pushing the lead to 31-3.
The French-born Als kicker added a fourth-quarter chip shot field goal from 13 yards out to extend Montreal’s lead to 34-3.
Backup quarterback Rakeem Cato found Duron Carter for a 16-yard ‘garbage time’ touchdown inside the final two minutes. Bede’s PAT convert closed out the evening’s scoring and pushed the Als out to a 41-3 lead.
Friday night’s game bucked the trend in many ways; the Als snapped a three-game losing skid and picked up their first home victory, while Saskatchewan plummeted back to Earth after last week’s emotional win over Ottawa.
The Als offence exploded for a season-high four touchdowns, while the Riders offence — flying high off last week’s win — was completely neutralized throughout the night.
Montreal’s usual suspects led the way defensively; linebackers Bear Woods and Kyries Hebert each registered a team-high six tackles, and John Bowman got in on the action with a sack.
The Riders were led defensively by Justin Cox, though the rookie’s first-quarter pass-interference penalty on Sam Giguere outweighed the importance of his six tackles. Saskatchewan rookie Samuel Eguavoen continued his strong debut campaign with another five tackles in the loss.
Saskatchewan struggled as a collective offensively. Quarterback Mitchell Gale was 23-of-41 for 211 yards and threw a fourth-quarter interception, while favoured target Naaman Roosevelt, a CFL Top Performer in Week 5, was held to just 67 receiving yards by a disciplined Montreal secondary.
Now sitting at 2-3 on the year, the Als will look to follow up their first home win with a second one next week, when the BC Lions will pay a visit to Percival Molson Stadium as the first game of a Thursday Night Football (7 p.m. ET) doubleheader.
The schedule doesn’t get any kinder for Saskatchewan, who will travel to McMahon Stadium for a date with the Calgary Stampeders as the nightcap on Thursday Night Football (10 p.m. ET) in Week 7.
