Kevin Sousa/CFL.ca
HAMILTON – Down 11-3 to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at halftime, hardly finding any offence in the red zone, the Montreal Alouettes could have given up.
But the Als don’t take the easy road, especially against a division rival who they had been tied with at six points apiece coming into Saturday’s matchup.
Instead, Montreal had an explosive fourth quarter – a combination of patience, intelligence, defence and all-around chemistry from the visitors, to defeat the Ticats 27-14.
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“Just having the confidence coming out here, knowing what my guys up front are doing and being on the same page, just trying to slow the game down for myself so I will be able to make the reads easier and to slow the game down,” Als running back William Stanback told TSN’s Matthew Scianitti after the win.
Stanback led the charge on the ground with 106 yards on 19 carries, moving the chains for the Als on a night where they lacked offence through the air early before finding their rhythm, helping the team move into the red zone.
In a fourth quarter where the Als scored 18 points and tallied a double-digit win over Hamilton, their fourth win over the Ticats in their last four meetings, both the offence and defence were firing on all cylinders to ensure that Hamilton couldn’t crawl back from the deficit.
“That’s what we try to exploit every time, that’s the game plan we come in with each and every game, just making sure we establish the run game, and tonight we did that and we were successful,” said Stanback.
The offensive success was apparent in the second half, but the Als were also fuelled by the defensive play of Shawn Lemon, who added two sacks, an interception and a fumble recovery in the win.
Montreal kept the pressure on Hamilton quarterback Taylor Powell, and the Ticats until the very end, ensuring that their opponent couldn’t remotely make a play to cut into the lead, with Lemon on the forefront.
“[He brings] leadership, and that’s what we need more of in the locker room, and him coming to the team brings a different aspect to the defensive side of the ball,” Stanback said of Lemon.
“Going against him every day in practice is a challenge, it definitely is.”
