The Montreal Alouettes stunned the Saskatchewan Roughriders, 27-24, on Friday night at Mosaic Stadium. The Riders had a three-point lead with under one minute remaining, but quarterback Davis Alexander scored the go-ahead touchdown with 30 seconds remaining.
This win allowed the Alouettes to set a new franchise record as they recorded their eighth consecutive win on the road.
How did the Als hang around in this one? Let’s take a look.
Special teams, special players, special plays:
We have to start with James Letcher Jr.’s 128-yard missed field goal returned for a touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter to give the Als a 20-17 lead. That was the Alouettes’ first special teams touchdown of the season and it couldn’t have come at a more perfect time. The Als were sputtering offensively at that point, and their special teams gave them points and a shot in the arm.
“Earlier, everyone saw I stepped on the end-line on one of the missed field goals,” Letcher Jr. explained after the game. On the other missed field goal, i didn’t read the return the way I was supposed to. I had to make up for it for sure. Everybody trusted me to get the job done. Once I saw them miss the field goal again, I had to go (all the way). My team blocked it for me well and I just had to make the kicker miss, and I promise I’m always going to make him miss.”
The fact that Roughriders kicker Brett Lauther missed four field goals, including the potential game-tying kick with no time left also helped swing the special teams battle Montreal’s way.
Defence held it down in first half:
The Roughriders were able to move the ball at times on Friday night, but the Als defence did a great job to limit the opponent to just seven points in the first half. The Riders got deep in Montreal’s end a couple of times, but they didn’t find the end zone in the opening 30 minutes. That made a difference in this one.
“That was really big,” defensive back Wes Sutton said. “We held them to three points most of the time. We’re a team that fights and if we need to stand on our head and get a stop, coach Maas has confidence in us to get that stop. We just love playing ball together.
Davis Alexander calls game:
It was an emotional week for Alexander, who returned home to Arizona after last Saturday’s win over Hamilton to be with his father, who is battling cancer. The 25-year-old missed Tuesday’s practice, but was able to return for Wednesday’s session.
He had to dig deep for the win, and it wasn’t always perfect, but he came through in the most crucial moment.
“The whole week, I was a little cloudy and a little foggy, unfortunately,” Alexander said. “I talked about it in (the locker room) and I won’t get too deep into it, but I woke up with texts from my step-mom and brother. There’s some good progression going on there in Arizona. That kind of put my mind at ease a little bit. Not all the way.
He finished 22 of 33 for 285 yards, one touchdown pass, one rushing touchdown and no interceptions.
“By the grace of God and the will of God, we were able to muster together a drive by half a centimetre or by one white cleat I was able to score.”
“Personally, I live for games like this. It’s loud as heck the whole fourth quarter, I’ll say. I didn’t pay attention to it though. Luckily I have a deep little voice and our offensive line was able to hear me. We were just able to make plays. I wasn’t seeing the field great at times, I knew that. That’s how the game goes sometimes. I knew that if I could get out and make some plays with my legs to just give us a chance. I just wanted to give us a fighting chance. That’s all we ask for in life.”
What’s next?
The Alouettes will be back home for a special game against the Edmonton Elks on Sunday, August 25 at 7 p.m. This will be the occasion to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1974 Grey Cup victory with the presence of glorious legends.
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