Beverette, Als defence ready for challenge against Argos

There was a hit in last weekend’s Eastern Semi-Final that was likely felt across the country.

It was late in the fourth quarter and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats were trailing the Montreal Alouettes 25-17, looking to do anything to make a comeback and keep their season alive.

But Tyrice Beverette had other ideas of how the end of the game would play out.

The first-year Alouette blasted through an open gap and laid a massive tackle on Ticats quarterback Matthew Shiltz, knocking the ball free for his fellow linebacker Chris Ackie to recover.

“It was part of the great scheme we had,” Beverette said of the play after the team’s first practice of the week on Wednesday. “In the beginning week of practice, we called this same play. The sea parted ways, just like how it did in the game, at a big time in the game. I looked and it was a wide open hole and I saw that I could capitalize and I came up with a big hit and he let go of ball.

“It was great. I was able to do that for my teammates, nothing fell better than that.”

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Beverette finished the game with three defensive tackles to go along with another on special teams. He also added a pair of sacks and two forced fumbles as his Alouettes advanced to the Eastern Final with a win against his former team.

“We definitely were more focused on getting a win,” he said when asked if he thought about winning a contest against the team that he spent two years with.

“I’m more focused on this team here. I’ve been grinding with my brothers here, so I owe that to them. But most definitely it was in the back of my mind, my old team. I definitely wanted to have bragging rights, to be able to brag to my old teammates, so it felt good.”

If you’ve been watching Montreal this season, a play from Beverette like the one that iced the Semi-Final shouldn’t really be that surprising. The six-foot, 203-pound linebacker has been making plays, including hard hits just like the one he made against Hamilton, all over the field this season for the Alouettes.

In 18 regular season games, Beverette tallied 56 defensive tackles, a forced fumble and a pick-six. He also suited up on Montreal’s special teams unit, a role he held for both seasons he was in Hamilton, making 21 tackles, good for second in the league, just behind BC’s Kevin Francis (22).

Beverette was brought in as a free agent this off-season after spending the 2019 and 2021 seasons with the Tiger-Cats. Coming into a new organization, Beverette was anxious to work hard to find a starting role on defence, even with the amount of talent already on the Alouettes roster.

“I knew there were great young guys here so I didn’t know what to expect,” admitted Beverette. “I just stuck it out, kept my head down and worked hard. I let the top guys make the decision and the decisions they made up to now were great.”

After finding a spot on the defence instead of just on special teams, the 27-year-old played a few positions this season. He filled in for Marc Antoine-Dequoy at safety earlier in the year, along with his usual spot at WILL linebacker. And that’s where he’ll line up in this weekend’s game against the Argonauts.

Last week Montreal held the Tiger-Cats to just 37 yards on the ground and the Alouettes will be looking to replicate that success this weekend, especially with Andrew Harris back at practice and likely to suit up at BMO Field for the Double Blue.

Harris had been sidelined since Week 10 as he recovered from a torn pectoral muscle. In his absence, it was A.J. Ouellette who carried the load. Ouellette rushed for 516 yards and a touchdown on 98 carries in 13 games and also caught 38 passes for 350 yards, 293 of those yards after the catch, and a touchdown.

“We know that they’re backs that kind of do similar things,” said Beverette of Toronto’s rush attack. “Andrew Harris goes on the pass a little bit more but they’re both big backs and they’re both good backs so whoever comes out to play, that’s who we look forward to playing.”

For Beverette, it doesn’t matter who ends up with more carries on Sunday afternoon if he and his defence play the way he knows they can as Montreal hopes to book a trip to the 109th Grey Cup in Regina later this month.

“We’re more focused on ourselves,” said Beverette. “And if we play at the top of our game with the defence we have, there’s nobody that I think we have to worry about.”