![\"Stampeders](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0712-spt-alouettes-4.jpg\")
Stampeders quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. slides to avoid a hit from Alouettes linebacker Micah Awe, left, and defensive-back Lorenzo Burns. Tim Snow \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\nBreaking news: The Alouettes\u2019 much-maligned defence can make a stop when necessary.<\/p>\n
Montreal continues allowing far too many points and is placing undue stress on its offence to score. But when the time came for the Als\u2019 defence to be stout, it defied the odds and won a game.<\/p>\n
With Calgary facing third down at the Montreal 15 and only 25.1 seconds left in regulation time, defensive-end David Perales knocked down Vernon Adams Jr.\u2019s attempted pass, preserving a hard-fought 37-30 victory Saturday night at Molson Stadium.<\/p>\n
Coming off a bye in the schedule, the Als improved their East Division-leading record to 4-1. After two straight victories against B.C. and Toronto, the loss dropped Calgary\u2019s record to 2-3.<\/p>\n
Perales, who spent time with the Pittsburgh Steelers, was making his CFL debut. He fractured his hand early in training camp and had been sidelined until Saturday night. The 6-foot-3, 240-pounder made his presence felt early, sacking Adams on the Stampeders\u2019 opening drive \u2014\u00a0one of three times the former Alouette pivot was dropped behind the line of scrimmage.<\/p>\n
Stampeders quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. slides to avoid a hit from Alouettes linebacker Micah Awe, left, and defensive-back Lorenzo Burns. Tim Snow \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n
Perales, 27, gave credit to the Als\u2019 coaches, placing the trust in him to play a new position. <\/p>\n
\u201cI stayed in that film room and was dialled in on the technique they taught me,\u201d Perales told The Gazette. \u201cWhen the play was dialled up I knew I had to go out and execute, be patient and keep my eyes on the quarterback and bat the ball down.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s emotional, man. I\u2019ve been out of football for three years. I tore my (medial collateral ligament) and I thought my career was done. Then I broke my hand on the fourth day of practice. I thought my dream was done again. But the coaches believed in me and (management) believed in me. I\u2019m just truly blessed to come out here and play football. I\u2019m super-blessed that God gave me the ability to come out here and play.\u201d<\/p>\n
This was expected to be a high-scoring affair, and the teams didn\u2019t disappoint. <\/p>\n
The visitors had scored a CFL-leading 164 points through four games and were coming off a 58-point blitzkrieg against the Argonauts. Adams passed for 405 yards in that game along with six touchdowns.<\/p>\n
But the Als did a relatively good job of keeping Adams in check. Adams, who spent portions of six seasons with Montreal \u2014\u00a0including 29 starts \u2014\u00a0passed for three touchdowns but was held to a modest 272 yards. He also fumbled twice, one of which was recovered by a teammate.<\/p>\n
\u201cFull trust and full belief,\u201d head coach Jason Maas said of the Als\u2019 final defensive stand. \u201cI believe what\u2019s going to happen this year for us. It\u2019s just a matter of putting all the work in and making the plays throughout the games. When it gets called like that \u2014 the last play \u2014 I have the utmost belief that we\u2019ll make a play. I have all the belief in the world in our players, every single play.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"0712](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0712-spt-alouettes-2.jpg\")
Alouettes defensive-lineman Mustafa Johnson (94) celebrates a sack in the first half with teammate David Perales (99) as Als\u2019 Geoffrey Cantin-Arku (9) looks on at Molson Stadium Saturday night. Tim Snow \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n
Perales wasn\u2019t the only defensive star. <\/p>\n
Mustafa Johnson had a sack, a hit for a loss and forced a fumble. Tyrice Beverette<\/a> forced a fumble and recovered one. Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund knocked down a pass and nearly intercepted one, as did cornerback Don Callis, who knocked down a pair of balls. Fellow corner Lorenzo Burns had five tackles and one knockdown.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen our defence had to come up with a play at the end for the entire team \u2026 they did,\u201d Maas said. \u201cThat\u2019s what it comes down to. Sometimes football comes down to where you have to make a play. You either do or you don\u2019t. Our team did. That\u2019s incredibly hard to do \u2026 to come up with a play. I thought it was just tremendous.\u201d<\/p>\n Offensively, it was the same old.<\/p>\n Quarterback Davis Alexander<\/a> completed 22 of 30 passes for 301 yards but went to the dressing room, briefly, early in the fourth quarter with an injury to his left leg. While he returned, the team\u2019s franchise player continues flirting with danger<\/a> after suffering what appeared to be an ankle injury in Montreal\u2019s last game, against Ottawa. <\/p>\n Alexander was limited to just seven regular-season games in 2025 due to recurring problems with his left hamstring and basically was playing on one leg in the Als\u2019 Grey Cup defeat against Saskatchewan. It\u2019s obvious this team can ill afford to lose him.<\/p>\n As usual, CFL leading receiver put on a one-man show, catching nine passes for 132 yards and a touchdown \u2014\u00a0on a halfback option from Tyler Snead. That total could have been much higher, but an 83-yard touchdown in the first quarter was negated by a holding penalty.<\/p>\n The Als racked up the offensive numbers \u2014 21 first downs, 411 net yards and four touchdowns \u2014\u00a0despite being limited to 49 plays and controlling the ball for slightly more than 29 minutes.<\/p>\n They also had to play most of the game without receiver Alexander Hollins, who suffered an injury in the second quarter on his 34-yard touchdown reception. While Hollins did return, it was only for a cameo appearance.<\/p>\n Snead picked up the slack, catching six passes for 86 yards, as did Canadian Kaseem Ferdinand, who caught three for 34 yards. While Hollins\u2019s injury also resulted in increased playing time for \u2014 Terrell\u2019s son \u2014\u00a0Alexander didn\u2019t attempt a pass to the rookie.<\/p>\n hzurkowsky@postmedia.com<\/p>\n \t\tEditor\u2019s Picks\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Breaking news: The Alouettes\u2019 much-maligned defence can make a stop when necessary. Montreal continues allowing far too many…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":797372,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-797371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=797371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/797372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=797371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=797371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=797371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Alouettes](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0712-spt-alouettes-3.jpg\")
Alouettes quarterback Davis Alexander attempts a pass during the fourth quarter Saturday night. Tim Snow \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n