Walk-off field goal sends Montreal to 112th Grey Cup

The Montreal Alouettes are heading to the 112th Grey Cup.

After a defensive first half, the Alouettes rallied in the second half to defeat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 19-16 in the Eastern Final.

José Maltos Dìaz kicked the 45-yard, game-winning, walk-off field goal with zeros on the clock, sealing the win for his team and booking their trip to Winnipeg next week. The Als kicker also connected on three other field goal attempts in the contest.

Tyler Snead, who hauled in all three passes thrown his way, scored his team’s only touchdown in the victory. Davis Alexander connected on 19 of 26 passes for 210 yards, one touchdown and one interception. The quarterback also ran seven times for a team-high 64 yards on the ground.

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The teams traded punts to start the Eastern Final, as the Als and Ticats were both settling into the winner-takes-all matchup.

A 46-yard punt from Nik Constantinou and an illegal block penalty against Montreal pinned the Als deep in their own end zone to start their second possession of the game. Alexander took off for a 19-yard gain for a fresh set of downs, and he ran for another eight-yard rush a few plays later on second down, showing off what he can do with his legs. On third-and-short, the Als decided to go for it as Shea Patterson came in and pushed forward to get the first down. Hamilton’s defence held strong on the drive, forcing yet another punt.

Hamilton started driving down the field as the first quarter came to a close, using Kenny Lawler through the air (seven and 18 yard gains) and Greg Bell (five and 15 yard gains) on the ground. Bo Levi Mitchell looked deep for Lawler near the end zone a few plays later, but Wesley Sutton had other plans. He picked off the quarterback, giving the ball to his offence to try to score the first points of the game.

Hamilton’s defence matched that big defensive play with one of their own. Julian Howsare, the Ticats’ regular season sack leader, added another one to his 2025 resume, taking down Alexander on second down to force Montreal to punt.

Still searching for the game’s first points, Mitchell and co. started their next series on Montreal’s 46-yard line. They weren’t able to get into scoring range, however, and settled for yet another punt.

On the Als’ ensuing drive, a 41-yard pass interference penalty on Quavian White, who was covering Tyson Philpot, brought the visitors down to Hamilton’s 24-yard line. Montreal was held to a field goal try and the first points of the Eastern Final came on the leg of José Maltos Díaz. He connected on his 29-yard field goal to give his Alouettes a 3-0 lead with 8:12 left in the half.

Inside the three-minute warning, Isaiah Wooden returned a punt 27 yards to bring Hamilton down to the Als 35-yard line. A 13-yard run by Bell was negated by two penalties, unnecessary roughness and objectionable conduct on Ticats’ offensive lineman Jordan Murray, moving them back 25 yards. Two plays later, after another penalty against Hamilton, Mitchell found Lawler over the middle for a 22-yard pick up. Dylan Wynn sacked Mitchell on the next play, setting up second-and-15 for the Ticats. They had to settle for a field goal, however, with Marc Liegghio connecting on his 29-yard attempt to tie the game.

Alexander and co. got the ball back with 38 seconds left on the clock to try to take back the lead. After a 10-yard rush by Stevie Scott III, a 22-yard catch by Tyler Snead and an 11-yard run from Alexander, the Als were immediately in field goal range. Maltos Díaz was good on his 36-yard field goal attempt to give Montreal back their three-point lead (6-3) with four seconds remaining.

Montreal had the ball to start the second half and scored the game’s first touchdown. On second-and-10, Alexander was under pressure and rolled out of the pocket before finding Tyler Snead deep in the end zone for the score. The eight-play, 63-yard drive increased Montreal’s lead to 13-3 just five minutes into the half.

The Ticats hit the field next looking to counter with a score of their own. Using a balance between his running back and receivers, highlighted by a 17-yard catch by Lawler, Hamilton moved down to Montreal’s 23-yard line. After a six-yard pick up by Robinson, Mitchell found Shemar Bridges on second down to bring up a fresh set. Bell’s six-yard catch moved Mitchell to the three-yard line, where he found Bridges just inside the goal line for the touchdown. Mitchell was eight-of-eight for 69 yards on the drive. With the completed convert, Hamilton cut Montreal’s lead to 13-10 with 3:22 left in the third quarter.

Hamilton’s defence did what they did best in the regular season and intercepted a pass on the ensuing drive. Destin Talbert picked off Alexander on the Als quarterback’s first pass of the possession, putting the ball right back in Mitchell’s hands. Montreal got out of the turnover unscathed, with the Als’ defence not allowing any points on the drive. It was a big stop for the visitors, after Hamilton led the CFL in points off turnovers in the regular season.

Alexander shook off the interception and started the drive with a big play, finding his running back, Travis Theis, for a 40-yard gain to start the fourth quarter. Theis had three more touches on the drive, two catches and a rush, moving the Als deep into Hamilton territory. Devin Veresuk sacked Alexander on second down for a loss of six, forcing Montreal to kick a field goal. Maltos Díaz was good on his 17-yard field goal and increased his team’s lead to 16-10 with just over nine minutes left in the game.

Kiondré Smith’s 23-yard catch two plays into the ensuing drive moved Hamilton to Montreal’s 47-yard line, as the Ticats looked to put more points on the board. On second-and-four, they settled for a field goal, with Liegghio connecting on his 49-yard attempt. That cut Montreal’s lead to 16-13 with 7:32 on the clock.

Following a Montreal punt, Mitchell went to work once again with just over five minutes on the clock. He found Lawler over the middle again, this time for a 22-yard gain. A few plays later, Dolegala came in on short yardage on third-and-one and got the fresh set of downs, keeping things alive for Hamilton as the three-minute warning approached. The Ticats tied things up with a 23-yard Liegghio field goal with under two minutes left in the contest.

Alexander then hit the field to try to put together a game-winning drive. He moved his team into field goal range and Maltos Díaz connected on his 45-yard attempt for the walk-off field goal.