With a trip to the 112th Grey Cup on the line on Saturday afternoon, the Montreal Alouettes found a way.
A game-winning field goal, a coincidence, and some pretty great defence got the job done for Montreal, as they defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Eastern Final.
Here are three takeaways from the game that sent the Alouettes to Winnipeg.
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IT WAS A DREAM FOR THE ALS KICKER
In a defensive battle that featured 10 total punts, six field goals, and just one offensive touchdown per team, it was fitting that the Eastern Final ended with a play on special teams.
José Maltos Dìaz, who was good on all four of his field goal attempts in the contest, lined up for the game-winning boot with the wind blowing in his face as the clock ticked down, almost expiring. It was then that he knew all the hours of practice he had put in were about to come to a head.
“I just needed to be focused,” he said after his team was awarded the East Division trophy. “It’s how I practice during the week, I always kick against the wind to know what to do, like today, because the wind was in front of my face. I just needed to aim good, have my target and follow through.”
Standing 45 yards away, he watched the ball sail through the uprights. “For me,” he said. “It was like a dream.”
“MONTREAL VS. THE WORLD”
In a hostile environment, with a sold-out Hamilton Stadium crowd behind their Tiger-Cats, Davis Alexander felt a bit like a movie he had watched the night before the biggest game of his season so far.
“I watched the movie 300 last night,” Alexander said. “That’s like a million soldiers versus 300. That’s kind of what it felt like tonight.”
What was even more fitting, you could call it coincidence or maybe divine intervention, but with the clock ticking down to under two minutes, Alexander looked up at the video board at Hamilton Stadium and saw a clip from that same movie he had watched the night before.
“I started literally laughing, smiling,” said a beaming Alexander after the game. “And all I could think about was, (it) had to have been my freaking dad upstairs talking to me, saying, ‘you’re built for this. This is the way you want it. Montreal versus the world.’”
Alexander then hit the field and moved the chains down the field to put Maltos Dìaz into position to kick the game-winning field goal to send his team to the 112th Grey Cup.
DEFENCE WON THE DAY
It was a low-scoring affair between the Ticats and Als, especially in the first half. There were just three field goals kicked between the two teams, with Montreal leading 6-3 at the break.
That wasn’t because the offences weren’t playing well. Not at all. Both teams’ defences were locked in, not allowing Bo Levi Mitchell, or Alexander for that matter, to generate much or score any touchdowns.
“Our defence competes like hell on every single play,” said Maas. “They don’t concede anything. They give great effort, great toughness, and they have all the ability. And when they put it together each and every week, I’m never surprised by results.”
Darnell Sankey tallied a team-high 10 tackles in the game, and Wesley Sutton had an interception.