Als weren't great against Hamilton, but did just enough for crucial victory

It still might be a tad premature to suggest the Alouettes are a good team — there always seems to be something lacking — but on a night when they didn’t come close to playing a complete game, they found a way to win.

And that, after all, is what good teams accomplish.

“I’m going to be careful because this team still has a lot of work, but this team found a way to win,” general manager and interim head coach Danny Maciocia said following Friday night’s critical 23-16 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Molson Stadium.

“We were relentless,” he continued. “There was a lot of fight in this team throughout the 60 minutes. I told them at halftime, ‘We have to empty our pockets. We have to give everything we can possibly offer and have to leave it on that field. We have to will our way to victory.'”

Trailing 10-3 at halftime, unable to find a solution to Ticats’ quarterback Dane Evans, combined with Montreal’s offence seemingly in a quagmire, the Als were rejuvenated following the intermission, doing just enough in the second half for the win.

They not only outscored Hamilton, 20-6, over the final 30 minutes, they held the Ticats to a field goal when Hamilton had a first down at the Als’ two-yard line with four minutes remaining in regulation time. And then, still trailing by a point, Trevor Harris directed the team on an eight-play, 60-yard drive, capped by a nine-yard touchdown pass to Eugene Lewis — his second score of the game — on a contested catch in the corner of the end zone at 13:18.

Not only did the play allow Lewis to surpass 1,000 yards, it was the same route he ran earlier this season against Winnipeg, when he appeared to score but was ruled out of bounds in the end zone, truncated to accommodate the track surrounding it. This, of course, could only happen in the CFL.

“They just put me in a different position so that wouldn’t happen again,” explained Lewis, who caught seven passes for 52 yards. “We learned the lesson.

“Hamilton was chirping a lot that first half. I think that was part of their game plan, just to kind of talk and try to get in our head a little bit. I’ve been playing Hamilton a long time now and have been making huge plays against Hamilton for a long time now. You’ve just got to keep playing the game and keep grinding.”

While Harris completed 26 of 35 passes, many of the routes were short and he produced only 244 yards through the air, along with the two touchdowns. He did, however, spread the ball, utilizing eight different receivers, including Jake Wieneke, who had two catches for 51 yards. More importantly, Harris didn’t turn the ball over, nor did the Ticats’ vaunted defensive front record any sacks.

The Als, arguably, still don’t run the ball often enough, but Walter Fletcher gained 45 yards on eight carries, while Canadian tailback Jeshrun Antwi produced 31 yards off only six carries.

One week after passing for a career-high five touchdowns and 327 yards in the Ticats’ victory against the Blue Bombers, Evans appeared destined for a repeat performance. He missed only two of 16 passes in the first half, generating 163 yards, but was held more in check over the final 30 minutes. Nonetheless, he still ended the game completing 22 of 29 for 288.

Evans has an exceptionally quick release, which he utilized in the first half. But the Als defensively made some adjustments, disguised their coverages and forced him to hold the ball longer after the break.

Receiver Tim White was a one-man wrecking crew for Hamilton, catching six passes for 105 yards, while tailback Wes Hills gained 61 yards on only 10 carries and should have been utilized more, given the Als’ shoddy run defence.

“We just weren’t doing our job in the first half,” middle-linebacker Micah Awe said. “At the end of the day … we weren’t doing it very well. We were okay but we’re not an okay defence. We don’t have okay talent out there. We have exceptional talent.

“When we just do our job and run to the ball, that allows our talent to actually be extrapolated on the field. That’s what we did in the second half. One thing I’ve learned about this team, we’re starting to (have) a killer instinct. You get better when you lose.”

The Als had their share of losing earlier this season, at one point sitting with a 2-6 record. Now, with four wins in their last five games — including a just-completed four-game homestand in which they went 3-1 — Montreal has improved to 6-7, strengthening their hold on second place in the East Division, while creating some distance between themselves and Hamilton (4-10).

The Als are 5-4 since Maciocia replaced the fired Khari Jones and can reach the .500 mark with a victory at Edmonton next Saturday.

“I was surprised we were 2-6,” Maciocia said. “I’ve always said this is a good football team. Not everybody believed me, and that’s fine. There probably were a lot of people that wrote us off. That’s fine, too. The reality is we didn’t write them back. We know what we’ve got.

“For someone like myself, I’m just along for the ride.”

hzurkowsky@postmedia.com

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