Als' defence comes through again in hard-fought victory over the Elks
Montreal extended its winning streak to 10 games, including last season's playoffs.
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We’ve seen this Alouettes movie before. And while the cast of characters might change from week to week, the ending until now remains the same.
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Montreal defence holds the fort, its offence does just enough, and the defending Grey Cup champions continue winning.
The Als improved to 2-0 Friday night with a hard-fought 23-20 victory over the stubborn Edmonton Elks at Commonwealth Stadium. While this win wasn’t as impressive as the season opener at Winnipeg and the argument could be made Montreal didn’t win as much as the error-prone Elks lost, that matters little at the end of the day.
Not only have the Als started defence of their title with two road victories — which speaks volumes — they’ve now won seven consecutive regular-season games, dating back to last season. That matches the team’s longest streak since 2006. Montreal hasn’t lost a game since Sept. 15, and the team’s winning streak, playoffs included, has now reached 10 games.
Middle-linebacker Darnell Sankey, who joined the Als last Sept. 11, has only lost one game — the first one he played — in a Montreal uniform.
“It’s amazing,” Sankey told TSN post-game from Edmonton. “We just want to come out here and show the world what we’re about, show the CFL what we’re about. We always feel like we’re the underdogs, even after winning the Grey Cup. But it don’t matter. We believe and that’s all that matters. It’s great to start off 2-0.”
Sankey was a monster on defence, contributing a team-leading eight tackles while adding one of Montreal’s three quarterback sacks. But he wasn’t alone. Linebackers Tyrice Beverette and newcomer Bryce Cosby — the latter was replacing Reggie Stubblefield, out for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee — each had seven tackles. Cosby added a sack.
Defensive-tackle Mustafa Johnson, who had the third sack, constantly applied pressure on Edmonton quarterbacks McLeod Bethel-Thompson and backup Dakota Prukop, as did rush-end Shawn Lemon.
“As a defence, we didn’t feel like we played to our potential, but we won the game,” Sankey said. “Any time you start 2-0, especially two away games, it does a lot for the morale.”
Bethel-Thompson, who has returned to the CFL after one season in the USFL, passed for 300 yards but also threw two critical second-half interceptions. Both passes were underthrown, and the latter proved critical.
He engineered an impressive drive from deep in Edmonton territory to the Montreal 30, aided by a roughing-the-passer penalty against Cosby. But then, while under pressure from Cosby, Bethel-Thompson’s pass for Dillon Mitchell was underthrown and intercepted by cornerback Kabion Ento, who returned it to the Montreal 50 with slightly more than four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
“It was a tough, hard-fought game,” Als head coach Jason Maas told reporters in Edmonton. “It played right down to the end. In this league it’s very difficult to win, hard to win on the road. I loved the way our guys fought to the very end. It wasn’t easy. There were ups and downs throughout the game, but our guys stayed steadfast throughout. They played together and for one another. We pulled out a big victory, and we’re very excited about it.”
The Als opened the game with an eight-play, 83-yard drive, capped by a five-yard touchdown pass from Cody Fajardo to Cole Spieker on their first possession. The drive consumed slightly more than five minutes, Fajardo completing all five passes for 77 yards.
While Fajardo passed for 201 yards in the first half, the Als’ offence bogged down following the intermission. Nonetheless, tailback Walter Fletcher scored twice; first on a 46-yard pass-and-run play just before halftime. He then provided the dagger at 12:42 of the final quarter on a 39-yard run.
Fletcher displayed incredible speed on both plays, showing why management believed veteran William Stanback, now with B.C., was expendable. Fletcher had 82 rushing yards on 12 carries and also caught three passes for 61 yards. It proved to be an impressive night’s work.
“I just want to do my job, do my part,” Fletcher told The Gazette in a telephone interview from Edmonton. “It’s my third year here. I’ve showed flashes. I felt like the coaches have seen it. At the end of the day you want to give a guy a chance if he’s been there and been patient. Today I showed a little glimpse and I hope to carry it on for the rest of the year.
“I want to be a guy this team can rely on … a guy that can make a play at any time in the game.”
David Côté kicked a 53-yard field goal — the longest of his career — to start the second quarter for Montreal, but also missed from 45 yards and flubbed one convert, hitting the upright. Prukop scored both of the Elks’ touchdowns on one-yard runs, the final one coming with 33 seconds remaining in regulation time.
Edmonton then attempted an onside kick and nearly succeeded before rookie Geoffrey Cantin-Arku, the Als’ first-round (ninth overall) draft choice this year, recovered the loose ball.
Montreal makes its regular-season home debut Thursday night against Ottawa. The organization announced on Friday that more than 20,000 tickets have been sold. The team’s championship banner will be unveiled before the opening kickoff.
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