Photo: The Canadian Press
MONTREAL — It was business as usual for Davis Alexander and the Montreal Alouettes.
The pivot threw two touchdown passes to receiver Charleston Rambo in the 33-23 Alouettes win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Saturday.
It was the second straight week that Rambo was a problem for the Tabbies. After catching four passes for 86 yards and a major in Week 9, the pass catcher added six catches for 124 yards and two majors in Week 10 and backup quarterback Dominique Davis added a rushing major.
The defence did its job as usual, led by linebacker Darnell Sankey who finished with two turnovers (forced fumble, interception) to power the Als to 8-1.
The Ticats could not find answers against their division rival for the second straight week, even after replacing starting pivot Bo Levi Mitchell with backup Taylor Powell halfway through the first quarter.
The young pivot was productive through the air, finishing with 319 yards and touchdown passes to Luther Hakunavanhu and Steven Dunbar Jr., but was unable to avoid his team from dropping to 2-7.
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The game started with a big defensive play for the Alouettes. Mitchell connected on a short pass with fullback James Tuck who fumbled the ball on a tackle by Sankey, recovered by defensive end Avery Ellis in Hamilton territory. The Alouettes capitalized with a quick three by kicker Jose Maltos.
Sankey made another big play in the following drive. Mitchell scrambled to his right trying to find an open receiver before launching a pass to the middle that was jumped by the linebacker for an interception. This time Hamilton’s defence was able to force a punt as the Als missed the chance to add more points to the board.
The Ticats made a change at quarterback after the turnover, replacing Mitchell with Powell in an attempt to ignite the offence. The first drive with the backup ended up in disaster. Centre David Beard sent a high snap back at his pivot and the ball sailed into the end zone before being recovered by the signal-caller with the Alouettes defence forcing a safety.
Montreal’s momentum continued as James Letcher Jr. returned the ensuing kick all the way to Ticats territory to give his offence another chance to score. The Black and Gold defence was determined to keep their team in the game though, with Brandon Barlow sacking Alexander on first down to force a long second down and eventually another field goal by Maltos.
Powell’s second campaign was a lot more productive than the first one. The pivot connected on a couple of passes to Shemar Bridges and Tim White to move across midfield. His third connection with No. 17 ended short of the sticks and kicker Marc Liegghio came in for his first goal attempt of the evening. The veteran ended up hitting the crossbar to keep the visitors scoreless deep into the first quarter.
The home team made things even worse for the Ticats by putting together their first touchdown drive of the game. The running game started things by moving the chains on the ground, opening up space for Alexander to launch a beautiful deep ball to Rambo for a 51-yard connection and a 15-0 lead.
Punter Joseph Zema added a rouge to increase the Alouettes lead to 16-0 halfway through the second quarter.
Hamilton’s offence found a spark by opening up the playbook. The Tabbies ran a flea-flicker pass that went for 36 yards to Jevoni Robinson all the way to Montreal’s 26-yard line. Powell then moved the chains twice with completions to Dunbar Jr. and Bridges to make it first-and-goal inside the five-yard line. A sack by Tyrice Beverette complicated things for the visitors, who had to settle for a field goal try by Liegghio. The veteran split the uprights to put three on the board for the Tiger-Cats.
The Alexander-Rambo aerial synergy showed up again late in the second quarter with a 38-yard completion down the right sideline that led to another field goal by the Alouettes with 1:46 left in the half.
Liegghio scored three more points for the visitors to make it 19-6 going into halftime.
The veteran kicker converted on another field goal with 2:32 left in the third quarter to cut into the Alouettes lead.
Montreal answered with one of their longest campaigns of the night, highlighted by a 48-yard connection between Alexander and receiver Chandler Fervius, who did most of the damage after the catch. The big play made it first-and-goal and two plays later Davis scored on a quarterback sneak.
Hamilton kept battling and found a way to reduce the deficit once more by going on a 64-yard scoring drive. Powell completed five of six passes on the drive, the final one a 16-yard pitch-and-catch to Hakunavanhu for a touchdown to make it 26-16 with under 10 minutes left to play.
The Als were able to stop all momentum the Ticats might have had with another long, clock-killing, scoring campaign led by Walter Fletcher. The tailback picked up 37 yards to position his team at the 10-yard line and the duo Alexander-Rambo finished the job with their second passing touchdown of the night.
Hamilton scored another major late in the fourth quarter after Powell scrambled to find Dunbar Jr. in the end zone, but it was too late to stage a comeback.
Montreal now travels to Regina to face the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Friday, August 16, while the Tiger-Cats return to Hamilton to face the Edmonton Elks on Saturday, August 17.
