Als’ sights set on home playoff game following win over Bombers
The Canadian Press
MONTREAL — With the Montreal Alouettes and Hamilton Tiger-Cats tied at 14 points apiece in the East Division, the Als have their sights set on handling business and hosting a home playoff game.
The coming week will be invaluable for the Als as they host the Ottawa REDBLACKS who they have beat three times this season. The Ticats, who they would need to lose in order to accomplish this, host the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
With this outcome a possibility, Khari Jones admitted that playing at home in the playoffs has crossed his mind.
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“It’s on my mind quite a bit,” said Jones to the media. “We want to play here if we have that opportunity. We love playing here, we love our home crowd, this is where we want to be. We’re playing to win and we’ll see what happens after that. The biggest thing is just playing a solid, all-around game and that was definitely what I wanted to see and it was nice to see it.”
When asked about the possibility to play at home Eugene Lewis, who recorded a pair of touchdowns against the Bombers, added to what Jones said.
“I love our fans and I love playing in the Nest,” said Lewis. “We want to have a playoff game for the fans, these fans deserve that. At the end of the day, wherever we’ve got to play, that’s where we’re going to play, but we’re going to do everything in our power to put ourselves in the best situation.”
Given the magnitude of next week’s game against the REDBLACKS, Jones isn’t planning on resting any of his star players even though they haven’t had a game off since Week 6.
“We’re still playing for a home playoff, that’s the plan,” said Jones. “We’re still going to play our guys, we’re going to be smart and we’ll see as the week goes whose banged up and things like that. But we feel good; we’re just trying to win a football game and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Of the players who Jones is planning on playing is Trevor Harris, who Jones believed had a great outing against a Bombers defence that has been relentless all season. Prior to their meeting, the Bombers had not allowed a single touchdown in the fourth quarter. Montreal snapped that 13-game streak with Harris finding Reggie White in the end zone.
“He’s just solid,” said Jones. “I feel real comfortable when he’s in there and the more he’s getting to know our guys and our receivers, the better he’s going to get I think. He was really good for being here three weeks and just learning the offence, learning what we’re doing, you can tell why he’s had the success he’s had over his career and it’s been fun to work with him.”
One of the areas Jones is looking to ride the rest of the season is the play of the offensive line that only gave up three sacks to the talented Bombers’ defensive front.
“It was solid,” said Jones. “We still had some breakdowns here and there and gave up a few more sacks than id like but overall, they held their own. Numerous people playing out of position a little bit and Nick Callender‘s first start, Landon Rice moving down to guard – he did a solid job.”
The Als welcome in the Ottawa REDBLACKS in Week 16 for a 7:30 kickoff on Friday Night Football.
