Roughriders cruise to a 7-1 season record after dominating Alouettes
It was billed as a clash between the CFL's top two teams, but the Roughriders proved a class above the Alouettes, improving to 7-1 and moving four points up on the 5-3 Calgary Stampeders in the West Division.
The Saskatchewan defence held the Alouettes (5-3) to 169 yards and did not allow them to pass their 46 yard-line. They also forced three turnovers, although it could have been even more.
"Through and through that was our best game as a defence," said Saskatchewan head coach and defensive coordinator Corey Mace. "I told them, that being said, we dropped so many potential interceptions and turnovers. Really, really proud of those guys."
"It makes it pretty easy to win football games," quarterback Trevor Harris said about his defence's performance. "If they don't get into the red zone and they only kick two field goals, it's tough to lose games.
"It's on us as an offence to make sure we extend our leads and they don't get close. We did that, but obviously still wish we would have done a little more offensively."
"They're a good team," said Montreal quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson. "We have to give them credit, but we came out absolutely terrible tonight, myself included. You come out against a good team and play badly, it looks like that."
Harris threw for 289 yards and two touchdowns against one of his former teams and Dohnte Meyers had 182 all-purpose yards in the win as well but the common refrain from the Riders coaches and players was that they were capable of even more.
"We're just going to continue to keep climbing and getting better. Just because you're 7-1 after eight games, it doesn't mean anything," Harris said.
Rare road win
A crowd of 21,654 at Percival Molson Stadium in Montreal witnessed the Riders improve to 4-0 on the road. It was the Roughriders first win in Montreal since Oct. 30, 2021, snapping a two-game losing streak in Quebec and three games against the Alouettes overall.
"The environment was everything that we thought it was going to be," said Mace. "Their crowd showed up, the energy was crazy, but as a football team we were able to keep them quiet."
"Anytime you get a win on the road in the CFL, it's nothing to sneeze at, especially against a team like this," Harris said.
Montreal was playing its fourth game of the season without starting quarterback Davis Alexander. They are 1-3 in those games. Bethel-Thompson, Alexander's replacement, went 15 for 26 for 126 yards and an interception and was briefly replaced in the third quarter by Caleb Evans.
Maas said he tried to find a spark by going to Evans but when it wasn't there, he returned to Bethel-Thompson. The loss drops Montreal two points behind the East-leading Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Saskatchewan opened the scoring with short-yardage quarterback Tommy Stevens' one-yard touchdown run on an opening drive aided by a 46-yard return on the opening kickoff by Meyers and an unnecessary roughness penalty on the Alouettes. It was the only scoring in the first quarter.
The Roughriders doubled their lead on their first drive of the second quarter, a nine-play, 69-yard drive ending with a Harris touchdown pass to Tommy Nield with 8:35 remaining.
Montreal finally got on the board with 5:15 remaining in the first half when Jose Maltos connected for a 56-yard field goal. Saskatchewan answered right back with a field goal of their own, set up after a long 58-yard pass and catch from Harris to Meyers.
Meyers is in his second season with the Roughriders and came into the game among the league leaders with five explosive plays, which is categorized as receptions over 30 yards and kickoff returns over 40 yards. On Saturday, he added three more.
"He's a big-play guy and he's able to help us stretch the field," said Harris. "The reputation is that we only throw the ball short, but we've been throwing the ball deep over people's heads quite a bit this year with Dohnte and KeeSean [Johnson]."
"He's an explosive receiver," Mace said. "He runs routes as smooth as ever, he's got great hands, and he's got some top-level speed to be able to break away. The kid's just a ballplayer, man, and I think everybody in the country's starting to figure that out."
Rain and injuries
The game's second half was delayed close to 30 minutes due to a thunderstorm in the area, and the rain continued to start the third quarter.
Both teams were dealing with key players missing. Saskatchewan was missing receiver Samuel Emilus. In addition to Alexander, Montreal was without receivers Austin Mack and Tyler Philpot, while defensive back Kabion Ento was a late scratch and safety Marc-Antoine Dequoy left the game with an injury.
Montreal head coach Jason Maas did not give an update on Dequoy's status, saying he will be re-evaluated this week.
"Injuries are part of the game," said Maas. "At times they're harder to overcome than others. Obviously, you don't ever want to start a game losing a guy and then lose a couple extra guys at those positions."
"What I give more credit to than anything is them," he said about his opponents. "They played very well tonight, whether we were injured or not."
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