Successful home comeback for the Alouettes, ruthless against the Roughriders

Chandler Worthy set the tone by returning Kaare Vedvik’s kickoff 88 yards to give the team a 7-0 lead in the first play of the game.

This is the first touchdown on such a kick in the season since 2013 in the Alouettes’ camp. Mario Alford had one in the Eastern semi-finals in 2019.

Najee Murray knocked down Cody Fajardo’s pass on the first play of the Montreal defense, which dipped into the Roughriders’ playbook by collecting eight sacks. They had managed 13 sacks in their first 2 games. They only managed two at Percival-Molson Stadium.

The defense also had three interceptions during the game, including that of Marc-Antoine Dequoy, who brought back 21 yards in the third quarter for a touchdown, his first in the Canadian Football League.

The Roughriders had to make do with two small field goals from Brett Lauther, on 41 and 20 yards, and a five-yard touchdown pass from Mason Fine to D’haquille Williams.

On the other side of the ball, Trevor Harris put on the show.

Promoted to the starting position earlier in the week, the veteran had a hell of a first half, completing 12 of 14 passes for 188 yards and a spectacular 70-yard touchdown pass to Keion Julian-Grant, who surrendered into the end zone. David Côté’s transformation then brought the score to 20-3 Montreal.

On the following sequence, the Alouettes defense managed two consecutive sacks to force Saskatchewan to clear. Harris then led the offense for 68 yards to lead to Côté’s third field goal of the night, which was 23-3 at halftime.

Including Worthy’s kickoff return, the Alouettes scored on four of their first five possessions.

Côté bounced back nicely, after being the scapegoat in the loss against the Toronto Argonauts with a failed field goal from 21 yards on the last play of the game. He was perfect on five attempts, including a 48-yard kick, his longest this season.