CFL: Montreal Alouettes complete fourth-quarter comeback to beat Stampeders
The Montreal Alouettes went into Calgary and took down the Stampeders with a fourth-quarter comeback win on Thursday night.
Trailing by seven entering the final quarter, the Als were able to score nine straight points, all via kicker José Maltos, to take a 23-21 final lead.
Faced with a 57-yard attempt with a little over a minute left, Maltos split the uprights with room to spare to give Montreal the final lead. The kicker was perfect on the night, converting all five of his field goal attempts and an extra point.
Alouettes’ quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson completed 30 of 40 passes for 280 yards and a touchdown pass to Cole Spieker and receiver Tyler Snead added 103 receiving yards on seven catches to help the Alouettes move to 5-2.
Stampeders’ quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. threw for 193 yards and a touchdown, but had to leave the game in the fourth quarter with an injury. Backup P.J. Walker finished the game but was unable to help the Stamps hold on to a narrow lead.
Running back Dedrick Mills added a pair of majors and veteran receiver Dominique Rhymes caught a touchdown of his own to round up the score for the home team. The loss drops the Stampeders to 5-2.
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After a couple of quick punts by both teams, Calgary’s defence did its thing once more. The Alouettes were putting together a promising drive, but defensive back Adrian Greene jumped a pass from a scrambling Bethel-Thompson to give the Stamps possession in Montreal territory.
The hosts immediately capitalized on the takeaway by marching 44 yards for the score. Adams Jr. connected on a couple of quick passes to Erik Brooks and Jalen Philpot and Mills finished the job with a seven-yard touchdown run through the middle. A missed point after kept the score 6-0 in the home team’s favour.
Montreal responded right away with a scoring drive highlighted by a flea-flicker from Caleb Evans to Snead for a 42-yard gain that set up first-and-goal. Stops on first and second down by the Red and White forced Montreal to settle for three points via kicker José Maltos.
Philpot got the Stamps going on the following drive with a fly sweep out of the backfield that gained 21 yards and moved the ball across midfield. After a short gain by Mills, Adams Jr. escaped the pressure on second down and found Rhymes deep for a 33-yard touchdown that extended the lead to 13-3.
The visitors fought back and cut into Calgary’s lead with another long campaign. Charleston Rambo caught a short pass and juked his way to a 15-yard gain and Austin Mack added 15 more on a scramble pass by Bethel-Thompson. Mack moved the chains again with a catch in traffic over the middle and Regis Cibasu caught a screen and followed the blocks all the way to the seven-yard line. Spieker closed the drive with a touchdown catch to make it 13-10 with the point after. A single on the ensuing kickoff cut the lead further down to two points.
The rest of the quarter featured a defensive stalemate, but on the very last possession the Als were able to move the ball into Maltos’ range to gain a 14-13 lead heading into halftime.
Calgary quickly retook the lead in the first drive of the second half. Adams Jr. once again led a quick-strike passing attack that tallied gains of 15 and 21 yards and Mills followed the gaps opened by the offensive line to score a nine-yard touchdown. The hosts also converted on the two-point attempt with a connection between Adams Jr. and Brooks to extend the lead to 21-14.
The Stamps were on their way to another potential scoring possession before Darnell Sankey jumped on a fumble forced by Lwal Uguak on Mills to stop the hosts from adding to their lead.
The Alouettes opened the fourth quarter trailing by seven, but Bethel-Thompson quickly made sure that wouldn’t be the case for long. The pivot completed eight of nine passes to slowly push the ball into Calgary territory. It wasn’t enough for a touchdown, but it gave Maltos a chance to score his third field goal of the game and cut the lead to 21-17.
Walker took over for Adams Jr. in the fourth quarter, but was unable to produce results in his first couple of drives.
Maltos added three more points late in the fourth to cut the lead to 21-20, and the defence forced Calgary to punt the ball back to Bethel-Thompson and the offence. A good return by Snead put the Alouettes in field goal range. After two plays, Maltos came in for a 57-yard attempt and put it right through the middle to give Montreal the final lead.
The Stampeders now travel to Ottawa to face the REDBLACKS on Thursday, July 31, to open Week 9. The Alouettes meanwhile return home to host the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday, August 2.
