MONTREAL — The Montreal Alouettes jumped out to an early lead, then held off the Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ late rally in a 33-23 win at Percival Molson Stadium on Saturday night.
Montreal’s defence made the difference on the night, forcing two turnovers and frustrating Hamilton’s offence early, after registering three take-aways in their 33-16 win last week in Hamilton.
Ticats starting quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell was pulled from the game in the first quarter after throwing an early interception. Taylor Powell came on in relief, completing 30 passes for 319 yards and two touchdowns, while also leading Hamilton in rushing with 52 yards on the ground.
In his second straight start, Als quarterback Davis Alexander connected on 17 of his 24 passing attempts for 247 yards and two touchdowns.
Alouettes wide receiver Charleston Rambo connected with Alexander on a number of big plays, making six catches for 124 yards and two touchdowns in the win. Shemar Bridges’ 103 yards led all Ticats’ receivers in their seventh loss of the campaign.
Third string QB Dominique Davis — signed earlier this week following a season-ending injury to backup Caleb Evans — snuck into the end zone from the one-yard line to give Montreal a commanding 26-9 lead with 13:35 left in the contest.
Hamilton scored their first touchdown of the night when Powell connected with Luther Hakunavanhu on a 16-yard pass to make it 26-16 with 9:35 remaining in the fourth frame.
The Alouettes padded their lead with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Rambo with 3:39 left in the game, bringing the score to 33-16.
Steven Dunbar Jr. caught an 11-yard touchdown pass with 1:30 left on the clock to bring Hamilton within 10 points.
Jose Maltos nailed a field goal to put Montreal up 3-0 at the 12:26 mark in the first quarter, after the Alouettes forced a fumble on the Tiger-Cats’ second play of the game.
The Als’ defence continued their hot start by forcing a safety to extend their lead to 5-0 four minutes later.
Rambo scored the first touchdown of the game with a 51-yard catch to make it 15-0 for Montreal after 15 minutes of play.
UP NEXT
Tiger-Cats: Host the Edmonton Elks (1-7) next Saturday.
Alouettes: Visit the Saskatchewan Roughriders (5-3-1) on Friday.
