Kevin Sousa/CFL.ca
HAMILTON – At the tight top of the East Division standings, the Montreal Alouettes took a step towards the top on Saturday night.
Defeating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 27-14, scoring 18 points in the fourth quarter, the Als moved solo into second behind the Toronto Argonauts, previously tied with both the Ticats and the Ottawa REDBLACKS all with six points.
Cody Fajardo threw for 318 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions in the win while William Stanback led the charge on the ground with 19 carries for 106 yards.
Shawn Lemon had two sacks, an interception and forced fumble as he impacted Montreal’s defence as a playmaker to help them secure the win with Jamal Davis II adding a sack and a tackle for loss.
Taylor Powell threw for 202 yards and two interceptions in the loss, just his second career start, and Simoni Lawrence led Hamilton’s defence with 11 tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery.
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The Ticats had a less than ideal start fumbling the ball after a sack by Lemon, but Hamilton’s defence gave Fajardo the same treatment as he was intercepted by Will Sunderland on the next drive.
After Hamilton could not get any offence generated on their next drive, the Als had the first chance to get on the board in the game, but as David Cote missed field goal it set up a 27-yard return by Tyreik McAllister. Terry Godwin got Hamilton across midfield with a 28-yard pickup, but the Ticats once again could not make a score happen.
Luckily for the Ticats they would get the ball right back as Richard Leonard grabbed the second interception from Fajardo to set up a nine-play, 60 yard drive to set up James Butler for his fourth touchdown of his Ticats career, being involved every drive as a decoy or primary ball handler.
Filling in for an injured Najee Murray, J.R. Reed got his first interception of the season on Powell, and while the Als made it to the red zone, they had to settle for a field goal after a 15-yard penalty – though Cote got his redemption with the Als on the board.
The Ticats put the lead back to seven points with a field goal from Marc Liegghio, having to hit it twice after the first was called back due to penalty.
Liegghio’s perfect kicking streak came to an end with a miss as the clock ran out at half, but the Ticats led 11-3 feeling confident going into the second half.
Another sack on Fajardo, this time by Simoni Lawrence, forced a fumble early in the third quarter that allowed Liegghio to hit another field goal to extend the lead, though Cote would answer with his second of the night settling for a 15-yard kick despite a solid drive from the Als again in the red zone.
Cote would be called on again, this time to hit his longest of the night for 51 yards, bringing the Als within five points of the Ticats to end the third quarter.
The Als finally found some offensive momentum after a trick play flea-flicker gave Fajardo the room to find Quartney Davis at the Hamilton 34-yard line to start the fourth quarter.
While trying to guard Austin Mack, defensive pass interference was called on Tunde Adeleke, giving the Als a first down at the one-yard line that Caleb Evans took into the end zone for Montreal’s first lead all game.
Fajardo found Mack for the two-point conversion to give themselves a three-point lead, marking the first time Hamilton gave up a touchdown since their fourth quarter against Toronto.
Powell was once again at the mercy of Lemon, this time intercepted by the defensive end, which led to Cote adding another field goal for Montreal to lead by six points.
The Als lead by 13 points after Fajardo found Regis Cibasu deep on the right side for 37 yards, and the defensive side of Montreal’s roster did their job to maintain the lead as Lemon sacked Powell with just over five minutes to play give ball back to Montreal.
While the Als had to punt on the next drive, Jamal Davis II took his turn sacking Powell, and as the Ticats turned the ball over on downs leading to Montreal beating the Ticats for the fourth straight time in their last four meetings.
The Ticats will be on bye in Week 10, while the Als head home to host the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium on Friday, Aug. 11 at 7:30 p.m. EDT.
