{"id":829308,"date":"2026-07-27T14:11:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T14:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/829308\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T14:11:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T14:11:15","slug":"alouettes-rally-in-final-three-minutes-to-knock-off-tiger-cats-31-18-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/829308\/","title":{"rendered":"Alouettes rally in final three minutes to knock off Tiger-Cats 31-18"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/a\/assets\/texttospeech.svg\" alt=\"Text to Speech Icon\" width=\"44\" height=\"44\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Listen to this article<\/p>\n<p>Estimated 5 minutes<\/p>\n<p>The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n<p>The Montreal Alouettes extended their CFL winning streak to four games with a 31-18 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday, but head coach Jason Maas wasn&#8217;t entirely satisfied with his squad&#8217;s performance.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We had too many negative plays tonight,&#8221; said Maas. &#8220;We needed to hang on to the ball better. If we do, maybe it&#8217;s a different score there at the end. But, at the end of the day, a win is a win. I loved the fight from all the guys.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Montreal (6-1) trailed 18-17 with less than three minutes remaining before pulling away. Jose Maltos Diaz converted two field goals and added a single, before running back Travis Theis sealed the win with an eight-yard touchdown run with just 24 seconds left.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s a great football team [Tiger-Cats] over there,&#8221; said Alouettes quarterback Davis Alexander. &#8220;We knew it was going to be tough.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Alexander completed 21 of 29 passes for 187 yards, marking the first time this season he failed to eclipse 300 passing yards.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Montreal Alouettes' Travis Theis (5) reacts after scoring a touchdown during second half CFL football action against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats,\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1785161474_388_default.jpg\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.4118596208148446\" data-cy=\"image-img\"\/>Montreal Alouettes&#8217; Travis Theis (5) reacts after scoring a touchdown during second half. (Graham Hughes\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n<p>The 27-year-old also threw his first interception of the year, ending a CFL-record streak of 356 regular-season pass attempts without a pick.<\/p>\n<p>With the passing game held in check, Montreal leaned on Theis, who rushed for 156 yards and a touchdown for his second straight 100-yard performance.<\/p>\n<p>Both the Alouettes pivot and head coach were proud of the running back&#8217;s play of late.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s a stud,&#8221; said Alexander. &#8220;He comes ready to work every single day. He wants the football in his hands, which is super important. He doesn&#8217;t go down on first contact and he just keeps battling. He fits the mould of this team perfectly.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He was great at just breaking through things and creating an extra explosion here and there,&#8221; added Maas. &#8220;He&#8217;s been doing that for us all year and the last two games, he&#8217;s just been spectacular.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Short-yardage quarterback Terry Wilson scored twice from the one-yard line in his Alouettes debut after signing with the club on July 6 following two seasons spent with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. <\/p>\n<p>Hamilton quarterback Tre Ford completed a touchdown<\/p>\n<p>Fellow newcomer DeVonte Dedmon also made an immediate impact, totalling 100 kick-return yards in his first game with Montreal, much to Alexander&#8217;s delight.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He was very eager,&#8221; said Alexander. &#8220;He has talked about how much he loves the culture here and how he&#8217;s just super thankful to be here. We love him and are just super proud of him.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Hamilton quarterback Tre Ford completed 15 of 23 passes for 164 yards and a touchdown while throwing one interception. He was sacked three times in his second straight start for the injured Bo Levi Mitchell.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I thought we played well defensively for three quarters,&#8221; said Tiger-Cats head coach Scott Milanovich. &#8220;We&#8217;ve got to play better offensively. It&#8217;s my responsibility. We didn&#8217;t run the ball well. We didn&#8217;t protect well. We didn&#8217;t throw it well.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Tre Ford throws a pass during first half CFL football action.\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1785161475_611_default.jpg\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.3469827586206897\" data-cy=\"image-img\"\/>Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Tre Ford throws a pass during the first half. (Graham Hughes\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n<p>Montreal opened the scoring with a 17-yard Maltos Diaz field goal after Dedmon&#8217;s 33-yard kickoff return and consecutive 20-plus-yard runs by Theis set up the drive.<\/p>\n<p>Hamilton (3-4) answered immediately on special teams, as Isaiah Wooden Sr. returned a Joseph Zema punt 100 yards for his first touchdown of the season. It was the first punt-return touchdown allowed by Montreal since Aug. 4, 2022.<\/p>\n<p>The Alouettes regained the lead early in the second quarter on an 11-play drive capped by Wilson&#8217;s one-yard touchdown run.<\/p>\n<p>Ford put Hamilton back in front to open the second half, connecting with Kenny Lawler on a 33-yard touchdown pass. <\/p>\n<p>The momentum quickly swung back in Montreal&#8217;s favour after Hamilton was flagged for back-to-back penalties totalling 31 yards, including a 21-yard roughing penalty that resulted in linebacker Wynton McManis&#8217; ejection. Wilson capitalized moments later with his second one-yard touchdown.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Tre Ford (5) is sacked by Montreal Alouettes' Mustafa Johnson (94) during first half CFL football action in Montreal, on Sunday, July 26, 2026.\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1785161475_897_default.jpg\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.425828970331588\" data-cy=\"image-img\"\/>Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Tre Ford (5) is sacked by Montreal Alouettes&#8217; Mustafa Johnson (94) during first half. (Graham Hughes\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n<p>McManis&#8217; ejection opened up opportunities for others on the Hamilton defence to take charge.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Whenever you lose somebody like Wynn, he&#8217;s the vocal guy, the energy guy,&#8221; said Hamilton linebacker Jordan Crook. &#8220;He makes it go for us on defence. With him going down, I just kind of looked at it as an opportunity to go out there and be able to use my voice a little more.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Maas sympathized with the loss of Hamilton&#8217;s defensive leader.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t like to see anybody in our league kicked out, particularly a player of his stature and what he means to their team,&#8221; said Maas. &#8220;Rules are rules and, obviously, they ruled on that and you just got to live with that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Hamilton kicker Marc Liegghio made his lone field goal attempt from 46 yards late in the third quarter before Montreal&#8217;s 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n<p>The victory moved the Alouettes six points clear of both Hamilton and Toronto atop the East Division while also securing the season series and tiebreaker over the Tiger-Cats.<\/p>\n<p>Up next:<\/p>\n<p>Tiger-Cats: Host the Calgary Stampeders (3-4) on Saturday.Alouettes: Visit the Ottawa Redblacks (0-6) on Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 5 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":829309,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338],"class_list":["post-829308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-montreal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829308","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=829308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829308\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/829309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=829308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=829308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=829308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}