Montreal Alouettes dominant in win over Hamilton Tiger-Cats, move to 2-0

| American Football | 06/24/2023

HAMILTON — The Montreal Alouettes’ dynamic duo was at it again.

Rookie wide receiver Austin Mack had 81 receiving yards on five catches for two touchdowns from quarterback Cody Fajardo as Montreal defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 38-12.

Fajardo threw for 292 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 11 yards and a touchdown in the win. Defensive back Kabion Ento led the Als with nine solo tackles and 11 tackles for loss while Tyrice Beverette added six himself. Receiver Kaion Julien-Grant added 94 yards on six receptions in the game, averaging 15.7 yards per catch for the Als.

Despite the loss, Matthew Shiltz threw for 345 yards, playing his first game in place of Bo Levi Mitchell, who was moved to the six-game injured list earlier on Friday. Marc Liegghio was a perfect 4-of-4 on field goals for Hamilton’s 12 points.

» Depth Chart: MTL | HAM
» Box Score: Alouettes, Ticats by the numbers

Despite the Ticats getting on the board first thanks to two made field goals from recently-acquired kicker Marc Liegghio, Montreal’s offence swung the momentum at the end of the first quarter thanks to a 77-yard punt return touchdown from Chandler Worthy. The blazing fast returner got to the end zone and kicker David Cote’s convert made it a 7-6 game with zeroes on the clock, to close out the opening quarter.

Halfway through the second quarter Mack caught a 48-yard pass from Fajardo and ran it in to extend the Als’ lead, marking his first CFL touchdown. Cote’s convert pushed the score to 14-6 at 7:40.

The Als’ defence also stepped up in the win, as an interception grabbed by defensive back Ciante Evans set up the play for Fajardo to rush four yards for the touchdown and mark 21-unanswered points for Montreal, who led 21-9 at halftime.

Hamilton’s defence had a big third quarter, as they held the Als to just one touchdown — Mack’s second of the game — slowing the momentum as Malik Carney totalled six tackles and a sack while defensive back Chris Edwards tallied three tackles, a sack and three tackles for loss.

That momentum went south when Wesley Sutton intercepted Shiltz for a touchdown. With the Als up 35-12 at 7:58 of the fourth quarter, that all but sealed the game for the Als, as they won their second-straight to start the season.

The Alouettes will head home with hopes of staying undefeated as they take on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Week 4, while the Tiger-Cats will search for their first win of the season at home again against the Ottawa REDBLACKS.

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