The Montreal Alouettes (3-0) celebrated their 2023 Grey Cup Championship by unveiling their banner at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium on Thursday night against the Ottawa Redblacks (1-1). The fans at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium were treated to more than the raising of the Grey Cup banner. They watched their team annihilate the Redblacks.
First Quarter:
In the first quarter, Montreal’s offense went on a six-play drive for 75 yards in a little over five minutes ending when Cody Fajardo scrambling out of the pocket to score a 5-yard touchdown for a 7-0 lead with 11:16 left. In Ottawa’s first possession of the game, quarterback Dru Brown’s pass deflected off Jaelon Acklin’s hands and was intercepted by Tyson Beverette who returned it for 37 yards before he was tackled down at the Ottawa’s 10-yard line.
Two plays later, Montreal backup quarterback Caleb Evans scored a one-yard touchdown extending their lead to 14-0 with 9:45 left of the first quarter. Later in the first quarter, Montreal went on a seven-play drive for 36 yards before kicker David Cote kicked a 31-yard field goal for a 17-0 lead with 3:33 left of the first quarter.
Ottawa’s offense did not get a first down for the majority of the first quarter until quarterback Dru Brown completed a 23-yard pass to Justin Hardy at the Montreal 47-yard line with 3:16 left. Two plays later, Ottawa punter Richie Leone punted the ball 47 yards into the endzone and out of bounds for a single point. The score was now 17-1 with 1:34 left of the first quarter.
On the final play of the first quarter, Montreal punter Joseph Zema punted the ball 36 yards where returner DeVonte Dedmon returned it for 13 yards before getting tackled down on their 42-yard line. The Alouettes led 17-1 at the end of the first quarter. Montreal quarterback Cody Fajardo completed 9 of 10 passes for 90 yards, two carries for six yards, and one touchdown while Ottawa quarterback Dru Brown completed 1 of 4 passes for 23 yards, and one interception.
Second Quarter:
In the second quarter, Ottawa quarterback Dru Brown was tackled by Tyson Beverette losing the ball in the process. Darnell Sankey recovered it at their 27-yard line. Montreal turned another turnover into points when kicker David Cote made a 15-yard field goal and the score was now 20-1 Montreal with 9:17 left.
Two plays into Ottawa’s drive, running back Ryquell Armstrong fumbled the ball knocked out by Darnell Sankey and recovered by Tyson Beverette at the Ottawa’s 52-yard line.
Montreal took advantage of the turnover when quarterback Cody Fajardo got Ottawa’s defenders to freeze with a pump fake before throwing a deep pass in which wide receiver Tyson Philpot made a great catch beating two defenders for a 51-yard touchdown and a 27-1 lead with 7:40 left in the second quarter.
The Alouettes had now scored 17 points off of turnovers. On the final play of the second quarter, Montreal kicker David Cote made a 38-yard field goal for a 30-1 lead at halftime.
First Half Stats:
Montreal had 365 yards on offense (291 yards passing, 74 yards rushing). Quarterback Cody Fajardo completed 20 of 22 passes (91%) for 291 yards, one touchdown, five carries for 39 yards, and one touchdown. Fajardo in the first half did a great job extending plays that led to Montreal’s 30 points.
Running back Walter Fletcher had eight carries for 32 yards and made three catches for 25 yards. Wide receiver Tyson Philpot made seven catches for 127 yards, one touchdown while Kaion Julien-Grant made six catches for 99 yards. Montreal was penalized three times for 40 yards and controlled the time of possession (20:36). Montreal’s defense made one sack, one tackle for loss, and three turnovers.
Ottawa had 86 yards on offense (77 yards passing, 13 yards rushing, 4 yards loss). Quarterback Dru Brown completed 7 of 12 passes (58.3%) for 86 yards and one interception.
Running back Ryquell Armstead had three carries for yards and made one catch for three yards. Wide receiver Justin Hardy made two catches for 43 yards while Nick Mardner made one catch for 18 yards. Ottawa was penalized three times for 34 yards. Their time of possession was nine minutes and twenty-four seconds.
Third Quarter:
In the third quarter, Ottawa kicker Lewis Ward missed a 47-yard field goal but an unnecessary roughness penalty by Montreal placed the ball on the Montreal’s 25-yard line. On the next play, Ottawa quarterback Dru Brown threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Jaelon Acklin and the score was now 30-8 Montreal with 11:03 left.
Later in the third quarter, Ottawa punter Richie Leone punted the ball 29 yards into the endzone for a single point with 6:58 left that made it 30-9 Montreal. During the third quarter, Montreal as a team took a step back not putting pressure on Ottawa like they did in the first half.
Late in the third quarter, Ottawa kicker Lewis Ward made a 26-yard field goal and the score was now 30-12 with 2:09 left. On the last play of the third quarter, Montreal quarterback Cody Fajardo completed an eight-yard pass to Kaion Julien-Grant before getting tackled on the Ottawa 18-yard line. The Alouettes led 30-12 at the end of the third quarter.
Fourth Quarter:
On the third play of the fourth quarter, Montreal quarterback Cody Fajardo threw a 16-yard pass down the middle to wide receiver Reggie White Jr. for a 37-12 lead with 13:23 left in the game.
On the kickoff, Ottawa returner DeVonte Dedmon got several blocks in front of him taking off for a 101-yard touchdown. Ottawa went for a two-point conversion but failed and the score was now 37-18 with 12:47 left in the game.
On the fifth play for Montreal, quarterback Cody Fajardo threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Reggie White Jr. for a 44-18 lead with 9:19 left of the fourth quarter.
For the rest of the game, Montreal kicker David Cote kicked a 41-yard field goal for a 47-18 lead with 6:26 left, followed by Ottawa kicker Lewis Ward making a 34-yard field goal and the score was now 47-21 with 2:37 left of the game. In addition, with the game out of reach, Montreal put in their backup players to finish the game. The Montreal Alouettes dominated the Ottawa Redblacks 47-21 for their 11th straight victory.
Final Stats:
Montreal had 486 yards on offense (394 yards passing, 96 yards rushing, 4 yards lost). Quarterback Cody Fajardo completed 28 of 35 passes (80%) for 393 yards, three touchdowns, five carries for 39 yards, and one touchdown. Backup quarterback Caleb Evans completed 2 of 2 passes (100%) for one yard, four carries for 12 yards, and two touchdowns.
Running back Walter Fletcher had 12 carries for 45 yards and made five catches for 48 yards. Wide receiver Kaion Julien-Grant made nine catches for 139 yards while Tyson Philpot made seven catches for 127 yards and one touchdown, and Reggie White Jr. made four catches for 61 yards and two touchdowns.
Montreal kicker David Cote made four field goals with a long of 41 yards. Montreal was penalized seven times for 85 yards. Montreal’s defense made 33 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, eight tackles on special teams, three sacks, one interception, two forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries.
Ottawa had 318 yards on offense (292 yards passing, 56 yards rushing, 30 yards lost). Quarterback Dru Brown completed 21 of 35 passes (60%) for 292 yards, one touchdown, one interception, and one carry for three yards.
Running back Ryquell Armstead had six carries for 26 yards and made two catches for seven yards. Wide receiver Justin Hardy made seven catches for 143 yards while Jaelon Acklin made four catches for 41 yards and one touchdown.
Ottawa kicker Lewis Ward made 2 of 3 field goals with a long of 34 yards. Ottawa was penalized 9 times for 115 yards. Ottawa’s defense made 47 tackles, six tackles for loss, and seven tackles on special teams.
Final Thought:
I thought going into this game that Ottawa was going to put up a fight against Montreal and beat them. Boy, I was wrong. Montreal looks like a team on a quest to win another Grey Cup title. Cody Fajardo played a great game and he made a ton of great decisions on the field. The only complaint about this team was getting penalized seven times for 85 yards. They need to work on taking fewer penalties and not giving opponents free yards.
For Ottawa, they have a lot of work to do. The team did not look good against Montreal and whatever play-calling they had in mind needs to be thrown in the garbage. Everything they did was not enough to get past Montreal’s defense. The only time they had success was in the second half because Montreal’s defense backed off and played a conservative game.
They did not put pressure on Dru Brown as much in the second half and Ottawa was able to score 20 points. This is a game Ottawa needs to remember when these two teams go at it again in September.
Next Friday, the Montreal Alouettes visit the Toronto Argonauts in an Eastern Final rematch at 7:30 pm on TSN and CFL+, while the Ottawa Redblacks host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday at 7 pm on TSN and CBS Sports Network. Subscribe to Fubo to watch all of the 2024 CFL Season. Purchase CFL tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
