The Montreal Alouettes held on to defeat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 42-33 in a wild back-and-forth affair in the East Division Semi-Final on Saturday, booking their spot in next week’s Eastern Final against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Davis Alexander starred for the host Alouettes in his first ever postseason start, throwing for 384 yards and a touchdown and adding 32 yards on the ground with a rushing touchdown.
Tyson Philpot contributed 135 yards receiving and a pair of touchdowns, while running back Stevie Scott came on strong in the second half to finish with 133 yards rushing and a pair of scores.
Veteran signal caller Zach Collaros threw for 306 yards and a score for the Blue Bombers, who qualified for this game as a crossover, and Terry Wilson scored a pair of rushing touchdowns.
Montreal iced the game with a long drive in the dying minutes of the fourth quarter – highlighted by a pair of long runs by Alexander and Scott – and capped off by a Jose Carlos Maltos field goal to push the lead to two scores.
The fourth quarter started out in favour of the Alouettes. Working on a 32-30 lead, the home side scooped up a turnover on a Brady Oliveira fumble, and Scott finished the short drive with a rumbling touchdown – his second of the second half – to push Montreal’s lead to 39-30 with under 10 minutes remaining.
After struggling throughout the first half, the Blue Bombers came out looking like a completely different team in the second. The Bombers scored three touchdowns in six minutes, with Terry Wilson scoring a pair of short rushing touchdowns and a 54-yard touchdown catch by Ontaria Wilson accounting for the third.
The Alouettes – after playing a seemingly perfect, mistake-free first half – came out flat in the third quarter, with a pair of turnovers allowing the Bombers to wrestle momentum away. However, they bounced back with a long touchdown drive of their own after surrendering 21 points in six minutes of game time. A deep catch by Austin Mack set up a short rushing touchdown for Steve Scott to restore Montreal’s lead at 31-27.
Alexander set up the third touchdown of the game for Montreal in the first half with yet another deep pass, hitting Mack over the middle for a 37-yard completion before the quarterback ran it in himself for the major, increasing Montreal’s lead to 24-3.
Before the end of the first quarter, Montreal had established firm control of the action. With 30 seconds remaining in the opening frame, the Alouettes had run 17 plays versus just seven for the Blue Bombers, and the Alouettes held a 17-0 lead after just one quarter.
The Alouettes got their second touchdown on an impressive throw from Alexander, who hit Philpot deep down the middle for a 45-yard touchdown. The first score of the game was a rushing touchdown by Philpot at the goal line.
The Alouettes will travel to Hamilton to take on the Tiger-Cats in the Eastern Final next Saturday.