The Montreal Alouettes edged the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 22-20 in what was a meaningless game in the standings as they wrapped up the regular season Saturday afternoon at Percival Molson Stadium. The two teams will meet again on Nov. 4 in the Canadian Football League‘s East Division semifinal.
It wasn’t a good start to the game for Hamilton. Tyreik McAllister fumbled the opening kickoff and two plays later the Alouettes were in the Ticats’ endzone when QB Cody Fajardo threw a six-yard touchdown to Tyson Philpot.
Hamilton hit the scoreboard with 1:42 left in the opening quarter when Marc Liegghio booted a 29-yard field goal.
The highlight of the game came early in the second quarter when McAllister redeemed himself by taking a missed field goal for a 122-yard touchdown and a 10-7 lead for the Ticats. Montreal’s David Cote was wide right on a 45-yard attempt, his 12th miss of the season.
Hamilton QB Bo Levi Mitchell was taken out of the game at halftime, as many had expected. He completed five of 10 passes for 53 yards and just one first down. Alouettes quarterback Cody Fajardo was pulled from the game after the first quarter after he completed six of his eight pass attempts for 55 yards and a touchdown.
Cote tied the game at 10-10 when he converted a 37-yard field goal with about six minutes remaining in the first half.
The Alouettes retook the lead when punt Joseph Zema smashed a punt 69 yards for a single but Liegghio converted a 31-yard field goal attempt to give Hamilton a 13-11 edge late in the third period.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Montreal’s James Letcher Jr. returned Kaare Vedvik’s punt for a 99-yard TD and the Als converted the ensuing two-point conversion to grab a 19-13 advantage.
Hamilton came right back with a touchdown of their own when Sean Thomas Erlington ran for a four-yard score to give the Cats a 20-19 lead with under 10 minutes to play. He ran the ball 12 times for 80 yards and caught one pass for eight yards.
With 1:27 left in regulation time, Cote booted a 23-yard field goal as the Alouettes retook the lead, 22-20.
Ticats QB Taylor Powell went 10-for-19 for 106 yards and two interceptions in relief of Mitchell.
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