Hello, Montreal Alouettes fans. That was some kind of Thanksgiving Day party. The electricity and the noise absolutely leapt out of the television. Who needs air horns for a big do, anyway eh?
Here are the WestJet Thanksgiving Weekend takeaways.
WESTJET THANKSGIVING WEEKEND
» Alouettes topple REDBLACKS to keep division title hopes alive
» Roughriders defeat Argonauts to lock up top spot in the West
» Elks keep playoff hopes alive with win over Blue Bombers
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HE’S READY FOR THE PLAYOFFS
It wasn’t just the Montreal crowd that showed they were ready for playoff football.
That was some kind of game for Marc-Antoine Dequoy on Monday.
The Montreal safety was the Mr. Tone-Setter in the Alouettes’ 30-10 win over Ottawa, dominating the first quarter with a blocked punt, a scoop of that block for a touchdown score, a sack, and a beauty of a pass knockdown to deny an Ottawa touchdown.
He wasn’t the only Alouette who looked ready for the 112th Grey Cup Playoffs but Dequoy sure seemed to be the loudest voice on a day of many loud voices.
THEY’VE GOT A LEFT HOOK NOW AS WELL AS THAT POWERFUL RIGHT CROSS
The Calgary Stampeders got plenty of production from running back Dedrick Mills, as usual, in their 37-20 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
With 105 yards on 17 rushes and a couple of touchdowns on the day, Calgary’s most potent offensive weapon jumped back into the CFL rushing lead with 1,225 on the season.
A new twist on the Stampeder ground attack had rookie tailback Ludovick Choquette adding 73 yards on seven carries, including a muscle-flexing 44-yard rip for a touchdown, late in the second quarter.
Stand in against the Calgary power punch as best as you can. But watch out for that new swing they’ve added to the arsenal. It’s also a doozy.
REALITY DEFEATS AI BY A SCORE OF 2-NOTHING
If you ask an AI program to “come up with the most ridiculous football catch possible,” it would be soundly defeated by the WestJet Thanksgiving Weekend catches by Winnipeg’s Ontaria Wilson and Saskatchewan’s Samuel Emilus.
Emilus’ catch, pinning the football against the back of the head of Toronto’s Delonte Hood as he reached over top of the defensive back before securing the ball and falling to the turf, was outdone only by Wilson’s preposterous touchdown catch.
That one came after not one but two Edmonton defenders tipped the ball prior to Wilson’s own one-handed double-juggle as he was battling through opposition bodies and fighting gravity at the same time. What?
All Elks’ DBs Tyrell Ford and Chelen Garnes could do in the aftermath was wonder what Ontaria Wilson knows about the matrix that they don’t.
YOU’RE EITHER BOUNCING BACK OR BOUNCING BACKWARDS
That li’l pearl of wisdom came from Roughriders’ head coach Corey Mace after his team held off the Toronto Argonauts in a first place-clinching 27-19 victory on Friday night.
He was referring to his team’s response to a third quarter Toronto major with a touchdown drive of their own.
While the Riders were bouncing back within their game against the Argos, the Stampeders bounced back in a bigger, more macro kind of way, with their win in Hamilton. That impressive performance snapped a four-game losing streak and may well have gotten the Stamps right side up, in the nick of time.
After the game, Calgary quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. smiled broadly and rolled his shoulders in exaggerated relief. “Everybody’s like ‘oh, man, we can breathe,’” he said.
After the WestJet Thanksgiving Weekend results, the Blue Bombers and Ticats are now the ones who get to show whether they can bounce back, or are bouncing backwards.
SOMETIMES, YOU FAR EXCEED YOUR HOPES AND DREAMS
Not all third down gambles are created equal.
Up by just a point in the third quarter of their game against Winnipeg, the Edmonton Elks faced a third-and-two from their own 46-yard line.
Worst case scenario? They’re stopped right there, giving the ball and momentum, to the visiting Bombers. Gulp.
Or, there was a good chance that the play they’d called, a run up the middle for Justin Rankin, would give them a couple tough yards and a first down. Maybe a bit more.
Instead, a quick-thinking Rankin, seeing the route was absolutely jammed, wisely chose an alternate.
Planting his feet hard, Rankin quickly shifted to his right and found daylight. Then, he created more with a couple of jukes on would-be tacklers, and took it all the way for a spectacular 64-yard touchdown.
‘Well, that worked out even better than we thought,’ is a wonderful thing to be able to say, in football. And in life in general, really.
AND FINALLY: “I’ll fight him. Make sure you guys tell him I said that.” Saskatchewan QB Trevor Harris on how he’d take it if head coach Corey Mace decided to rest him ahead of the playoffs.