The Hamilton Tiger-Cats came out of their bye to claim their first win of the season on WestJet Canada Day Weekend, defeating the Montreal Alouettes 35-17 on Friday night. The Ticats’ defence showed up and showed out at home, scoring two touchdowns and limiting a Montreal offence missing starting quarterback Davis Alexander.
Bo Levi Mitchell had an efficient outing in his 100th CFL win, going 25-31 for 247 yards and two touchdown scores. Kenny Lawler came down with the first touchdown of the game late in the first half, giving Hamilton a lead they would not relinquish. Leading the way for Hamilton’s receivers was Tim White who had nine catches on 10 targets, also catching Mitchell’s other touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.
Defensive touchdowns by rookie Devin Veresuk and Julian Howsare highlighted an impressive display by the Black and Gold defence. After struggling against the run in their first two losses, Hamilton’s defence limited Montreal to just 38 yards rushing.
McLeod Bethel-Thompson started in place of Davis Alexander, who was placed on the one-game injury list prior to Week 4. He went 24-41, throwing for 202 yards, a touchdown and a pair of interceptions. He also lost a fumble in the fourth quarter. With Austin Mack out through injury, Cole Spieker led the Montreal receiving room with 57 yards and a late touchdown catch.
» Alouettes, Tiger-Cats by the numbers
An early third-down stop by the league-leading Als defence got Bethel-Thompson an early shot on offence. Najee Murray got the tackle as the Montreal defensive line stood strong, stuffing Ante Milanovic-Litre who just needed one yard. The Als couldn’t make the most of the early turnover on downs though, instead getting a point through a 52-yard Joseph Zema single.
Midway through the opening quarter, Montreal’s Marc-Antoine Dequoy knocked Mitchell to the turf for a second-down sack resulting in the fourth punt from the game’s first five drives. Nik Constantinou’s 69-yard punt then got Hamilton a rouge to even things up.
On the next drive, Jevoni Robinson produced a 20-yard catch and run to give the Tiger-Cats their second first down of the night but the hosts couldn’t capitalize. Instead, a 52-yard Constantinou punt pinned the Alouettes on their one-yard line. On the first play of the following drive, Jamal Peters came up with a nifty interception as he covered Charleston Rambo.
A couple of plays later, the Als’ defence came up with a forced turnover of their own. After catching his second ball of the night, Robinson was corralled by a pair of Als. Lorenzo Burns punched the ball out of Robinson’s grasp and Geoffrey Cantin-Arku picked up the loose ball for the fumble recovery, giving Montreal possession at the end of the first quarter.
Rambo caught three balls on Montreal’s penultimate possession of the second half. A sack by Mario Kendricks was able to stop the longest drive of the first half at 10 plays. A 38-yard Jose Maltos field goal put Montreal up 4-1 with 5:14 to go in the half.
Looking to respond on the ensuing drive, Johnny Augustine broke off a 39-yard reception after bouncing off a tackle. He followed that up with an 18-yard run before an offside penalty agains the Als gave the Ticats a fresh set of downs on Montreal’s one. A crushing hit by Murray at the goal line kept Augustine out of the end zone but on third down Mitchell created the first touchdown of the game, finding an open Lawler to put the home team into their first lead.
A knockdown by Katsantonis was followed by a Kendricks sack for the Tiger-Cats’ defence as the hosts ran into the dressing room up 8-4 after a punt-heavy first half in Hamilton.
Montreal’s James Letcher Jr. returned the second half’s opening kickoff 38 yards to give his team a boost coming out of the break. Bethel-Thompson then connected with Tyler Snead and Rambo for a pair of first-down pickups to get the visitors into scoring range. A big open-field tackle by Dashaun Amos kept Snead out of the end zone and then Bethel-Thompson’s end zone look to Rambo went incomplete. Maltos’ 12-yard chip shot brought the Als to within a point with 10:48 left in the third.
A trick play on third down kept the Ticats’ next drive alive, as Constantinou faked the punt and passed 11 yards to Tyler Ternowski for the first down. A couple of passes went Lawler’s way, but Hamilton would have to settle for a 37-yard field goal from Marc Liegghio, putting them up 11-7 at the six minute mark of the third quarter.
A few minutes later, a pass from Bethel-Thompson intended for Travis Theis deflected off the running back and into the hands of the Veresuk. He ran it in for a 36-yard pick six, giving the Ticats a boost of momentum and an 18-7 lead heading into the final quarter of play.
The Als replied with a field goal to make it a one-possession game early in the fourth but the Tiger-Cats responded with their third touchdown of the night to give themselves a cushion heading down the final stretch. Mitchell completed four passes for first down on the Hamilton scoring drive, finishing it off with a touchdown toss to White. Liegghio’s extra point made it 25-10 for the Black and Gold with 8:18 to go.
A Spieker touchdown and Maltos extra point brought the Als to within eight points with 3:55 on the clock after Montreal’s 64-yard drive, their longest of the night. Forced to punt it away after the three-minute warning, Hamilton gave Montreal a chance to tie things up late. Stuck at their own seven after a strong punt by Constantinou, Bethel-Thompson fumbled a snap and Howsare was able to hop on the football for his team’s second defensive score of the game, sealing the win for the Tabbies.
The Tiger-Cats get another Friday night game in Week 5, facing the Toronto Argonauts at BMO Field on July 4. After three straight road games the Alouettes will return to Montreal to go up against the BC Lions on Saturday, July 5.
