Even though it’s only Week 3 of the season, the Montreal Alouettes played like a hungry team on their way to a 37-13 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
It was a disastrous start for the Riders as Chandler Worthy returned the opening kickoff 88 yards to give Montreal an early 7-0 lead.
The Riders offence was unable to generate a response after Montreal’s explosive start as the green and white went two and out to begin their opening three series on offence.
Montreal was able to take advantage of the field position battle as they grabbed a 13-0 lead after the opening quarter.
Following a Brett Lauther 41 yard field goal, the Alouettes were able to strike quickly, this time Kaion Julien-Grant torching the Riders defence on the following play that extended Montreal’s lead to 20-3.
Down 23-3, Saskatchewan’s offence showed some signs of life on its opening possession in the second half. The time consuming drive that almost consumed nine minutes on the clock, ,reached deep inside of Alouette territory before Montreal’s sixth sack of the evening forced a 20 yard field goal by Lauther.
Later in the third quarter any hopes of a Rider comeback was deflated when a pass attempt bounced off of Duke Williams chest and into the waiting arms of Marc-Antoine Dequoy, who ran it back for a pick six to extend the Alouette’s lead to 30-6.
The two teams traded seven points each in the fourth quarter to make the final, 37-13.
Mason Fine would come in relief for Cody Fajardo at quarterback in the final quarter. It was a frustrating night for the Riders starting quarterback, he was 12 for 28 for 191 yards and a pair of interceptions.
Discipline was a sore spot for Saskatchewan once again. They were penalized 11 times for 106 yards. After the game Riders Head Coach Craig Dickenson the penalties is an area they will keep working at. “You can’t be giving them first and five, we’re just not that good enough to do that, hopefully we can get that fixed.”
Dickenson said the Alouettes were able to claim the win based on brute force “That was physicality right there, they were tougher than we were today, they play harder than we did today and they were faster and they just man on man matchups their guy whooped our guy and it was across the board.”
Defensive back Rolan Milligan said the Alouettes played with more of an edge. “They came out more juiced than we did, I feel like they were more physical on all three phases, it’s hard playing from behind but we got to find a way.”
After the green and white pass rush dominated in the first two weeks, it was Montreal’s defensive line who won the battle of the line of scrimmage on Thursday night as they recorded eight sacks.
Williams had a strong return to the lineup after a one week absence. The wide receiver had four receptions for 101 yards with a touchdown reception. He is aware watching the game film from the loss will point out some glaring errors. “It’s going to be criticism, so you got to take it to the chin, we know we made mistakes out there on the field, we gave them a chance to do what they did to us today, we know they’re a good team but we’re a better for sure, and we didn’t play like it tonight and next week they come to our house and I promise you it won’t be the same.”
The Riders did lose wide receiver Shaq Evans to a lower body injury following a reception in the first quarter. He did not return to the lineup.
It won’t be long before the Riders get a shot of redemption against the Alouettes as the two teams will meet at Mosaic Stadium on Saturday, July 2 with a 5:00 kickoff.
