MONTREAL — The Hamilton Tiger-Cats will look to build on the momentum of their Week 15 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as they travel east to take on the Montreal Alouettes Friday night.
Hamilton’s win, combined with a Montreal bye in Week 15, put Hamilton two points behind the Alouettes for second place in the East Division.
The season series will also be on the line as Hamilton and Montreal get set to meet for the third time this year. The Tiger-Cats took the first meeting back in Week 8 before the Alouettes returned the favour with a thrilling win of their own in Week 11.
Making his return to the lineup, Ticats quarterback Dane Evans had a career night in the team’s 48-31 win over Winnipeg. The Hamilton pivot threw for 327 yards and a career-high five touchdowns as he connected with four different receivers in the end zone.
Hamilton receiver Tim White has provided a reliable set of hands all season for the Hamilton offence and has had an outpouring of offensive production as of late. In his last four appearances, White has caught an average of nine passes per game reeling in 369 receiving yards and four touchdowns, two of which he scored in the team’s Week 15 victory.
As Evans and White hope to build on their momentum, they will now be challenged by an Alouettes defence that allows an average of just 259.8 passing yards per game to opposing quarterback, the third fewest in the league.
As happy as Evans was with the win over the defending Grey Cup champions, he knows they need to quickly turn their focus to preparing for Montreal.
“I know it’s a quick turnaround,” Evans told Ticats.ca. “Montreal is going to be hungry coming off a bye and it’s going to be a big game so we’ll be ready for it. We have to stay locked in, we definitely can’t start thinking about how great we are because Montreal will come out and punch us in the face. The great thing is, I don’t think anyone in this locker room is going to do that.”
Evans, along with running backs Wes Hills and Sean Thomas-Erlington combined for 96 yards a week ago, surpassing the team’s per game average of 83.2 rushing yards. Hills’ 58 rush yards in Week 15 were the most of any Hamilton ball carrier through 13 games this season.
Entering Week 16, there should be opportunity for the Ticats to find success on the ground against an Alouettes defence that ranks eighth against the run and have let up 35 running plays of at least 10 yards or more.
Defensively for Hamilton, stopping the pass will prove critical to the outcome of the game, as Montreal quarterback Trevor Harris has shown his ability to control a game without having to put up eye-popping stat-lines.
However, if last week’s performance against the Bombers was any indication, the Hamilton defensive unit will be reliant upon their defensive-front seven to help create pressure situations and force turnovers.
Defensive back Kameron Kelly, recorded his team-leading fifth interception against Winnipeg in Week 15 and will be relied upon to help limit the Als receiving corps of Eugene Lewis and Reggie White Jr.
The Ticats defensive line and talented group of linebackers, led by Jovan Santos-Knox, will be counted on to halt the Als running game, something they’ve excelled at so far this season. Hamilton has allowed an average of 80.6 rush yards per game, which currently ranks as the fewest allowed in the league.
The Alouettes have had ample time to prepare coming off of a Week 15 bye. When they last saw action they earned a convincing 31-10 win over the BC Lions in front of a raucous Percival Molson Stadium home crowd.
Montreal’s Harris has thrown for a combined 670 yards with four touchdowns and an interception in the team’s last two meetings with Hamilton. During the Als 29-28 Week 11 victory, Harris had his best performance of the season throwing for 382 yards and three touchdowns.
Alouettes receivers Lewis and White both rank among the top 20 in receiving yards with 954 and 630 respectively. Lewis leads all Montreal wideouts and has been targeted 104 times in 12 games.
Entering Friday’s matchup Lewis needs just 66 receiving yards to break the 1,000-yard milestone, which would give him the second 1,000-yard season of his career.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Alouettes will have plenty of opportunity to make plays in the air ahead of Friday night as Hamilton’s Evans has thrown a league-leading 13 interceptions this season. The Montreal secondary has shown a knack for creating turnovers with seven different Alouettes recording an interception this season
Montreal defensive lineman Jamal Davis will make his return to the Alouettes lineup following a stint with the Los Angeles Chargers, and should provide a boost for the Als pass-rush. Davis had 17 defensive tackles and four sacks in nine games with Montreal in 2021.
Ahead of his return at Percival Molson Stadium, he told team media that he can’t wait to be back on the field in Montreal.
“I’m looking forward to Friday and showing the fans that I’m back,” Davis told MontrealAlouettes.com. “We have a great defensive line, a great front-seven, great defensive backs, everybody. It’s just an amazing defence, and the offence, too. So, coming back to this, I feel we have something special.”
