The Alouettes have been playing with fire lately. It was only a matter of time before the defending Grey Cup champions were going to get burned.
Nearly two weeks ago, Montreal trailed Edmonton by 11 points at halftime but shut out the Elks in the second half and won. One game before that, on Aug. 16, the Als trailed Saskatchewan by four points on the road heading into the fourth quarter, yet manged to win.
Indeed, of the Als’ 10 victories this season, the team has trailed in seven at various points.
But on Friday night, overcoming an 11-point deficit against a talented B.C. team — even at home — proved too onerous.
The Lions, backed by the bruising running of former Montreal tailback William Stanback, defeated the Als, 37-23, Friday night before a capacity crowd of 23,035 at Molson Stadium.
Stanback, who played five seasons with Montreal before requesting, and being granted, his release last winter, gained a season-high 128 yards on 20 carries, including a 38-yard touchdown in the third quarter on which he broke numerous tackles; several Als defenders unable to take down the 6-foot, 233 pounder who signed with the Lions as a free agent. Stanback also caught two passes for 28 yards.
“It feels great for myself overall and honestly for this organization as well,” Stanback said during a televised post-game interview. “We’re turning the page now. We had a slump in the middle of the season. It feels good to come out here and get this win.
“This date was circled in the calendar,” added Stanback, who had two 1,000-yard seasons for Montreal, was the East Division’s nominee as most outstanding player in 2021 and was a two-time CFL all-star.
Stanback has 938 rushing yards this season in 13 games. The Lions won their second consecutive game, improving to 7-6, after ending a five-game losing skid and have now defeated Montreal in seven of the last nine games.
B.C. was coming off a short week, having played last Saturday, practised only twice leading up to the match and flown across the country on Thursday. They were also dealing with a three-hour time change. Nonetheless, the visitors exposed many chinks in the Als’ armour.
Montreal, it should be remembered, was well-rested coming off a bye week and should have pounced on its weary opponent. Instead, it was the Als who repeatedly appeared somnolent, failing to take advantage of four Lions’ turnovers, including three interceptions thrown by Canadian quarterback Nathan Rourke.
More than once this season the Als’ run defence has been exposed, and the Lions produced 188 rushing yards. On the Lions’ opening drive, fullback David Mackie ran off-tackle for a 23-yard touchdown on what should have been a short-yardage play. Rourke scored B.C.’s final touchdown on an 18-yard run, initially attempting to run up the middle, bouncing off his linemen, before sweeping to the left, untouched.
The Lions punctured the Als’ defence for 472 net yards and 26 first downs. Rourke, the CFL’s outstanding Canadian in 2022, completed 22 of 28 passes for 304 yards and a 15-yard touchdown pass to Ayden Eberhardt. Rourke completed passes to seven different receivers, and B.C. had five plays of 20 yards or longer.
“We just didn’t do enough tonight,” Als head coach Jason Maas told reporters post-game. “When these kinds of things have happened to us we’ve learned from them and they don’t tend to repeat. That’s what we want to do — get better from this one.
“I give (the Lions) a lot of credit, coming in here and beating us. With the turnovers they still managed to move the ball and score points. We need to be better and shore some things up. It’s never one guy or one thing. Tonight we just weren’t good enough.”
Als quarterback Cody Fajardo completed 27 of 37 passes for a modest 240 yards, including an over-the-shoulder touchdown catch just by Cole Spieker before halftime that narrowed the Lions’ lead to 17-13. Fajardo was also intercepted once on a pass that deflected off Walter Fletcher’s hands.
Whatever momentum the Als carried into halftime was squandered when Fajardo fumbled on the opening play of the third quarter, eventually resulting in one of Sean Whyte’s three field goals. Fajardo also was under constant pressure behind a line that isn’t strong enough and was sacked four times.
The third quarter, once again, proved troublesome for the Als, who were held to eight offensive plays and one first down. Even following a Dionté Ruffin interception at the Lions’ 19, Montreal had to settle for a field goal — one of three from Jose Maltos.
The Als certainly could have used receiver Austin Mack, now on the six-game injured list (ankle), joining fellow sidelined receivers Tyson Philpot, Tyler Snead and Kaion Julien-Grant. Mack was replaced by Jose Barbon, playing his second game, while Reggie White Jr. came off the practice roster.
With a 10-2 record and having become the first CFL team to clinch a playoff berth, the sky’s not falling on the Als just yet. Indeed, the defeat was only the second in 20 games, stretching back to last September. And while Montreal has yet to lose in five road games this season, the team must now travel for three consecutive weekends, beginning next Saturday night at Calgary.
There’s potentially much to ponder moving forward.