OTTAWA — Davis Alexander was nearly unstoppable on Friday night, throwing for 420 yards as he led the Montreal Alouettes to their fifth straight win with a 34-13 victory over the Ottawa REDBLACKS at TD Place Stadium.
The Alouettes quarterback rounded out his third 400-yard performance of the season with three touchdowns on 22/30 completions, helping Montreal improve to 7-1. The win was also the Als’ 13th straight over Ottawa, a streak dating back to October 2022.
Both Tyler Snead and Tyson Philpot surpassed the century mark in the win, with Snead posting a career-best 174 yards while Philpot’s 184 made him the first player to reach 1,000 receiving yards this season and the fastest Canadian to hit the milestone.
With regular REDBLACKS kicker Brett Lauther on the six-game injured list, Lewis Ward got Ottawa on the board with a chip-shot field goal, but Montreal quickly struck again. Philpot set the Alouettes up in the red zone with a 54-yard catch-and-run, and Travis Theis finished from there, barreling in to make it six straight games with a rushing major.
Ottawa answered with a nine-play, 82-yard touchdown drive. Greg Bell kept the march alive with a gutsy third-down run before Daniel Adeboboye punched it in from the one to open the second quarter.
Alexander kept the Als offence rolling three minutes later, capping another efficient drive by finding Spieker for his second catch and second touchdown of the half, restoring Montreal’s 11-point lead. By halftime, the Als pivot had racked up 287 passing yards.
Despite the two-score deficit, Jake Maier kept Ottawa’s offence moving in the first half, throwing for 168 yards with only two incompletions. He opened the second half with another drive into the red zone after a third-down completion to Justin Hardy, but Montreal’s defence held firm, with Joshua Archibald intercepting Maier’s third-down attempt from the five-yard line.
Starting deep in their own territory, Snead provided Montreal some breathing room with a 48-yard catch-and-run before capping the six-play, 109-yard drive with his fifth receiving major of the season.
Maier rebounded well after his interception, completing his next nine attempts as he led another deep drive into Alouettes territory. But once again, the Als’ red-zone defence delivered, turning Ottawa away from inside the 10-yard line for the fourth time in the contest.
The REDBLACKS pivot finished the game with 311 passing yards before giving way to Bryson Barnes late in the fourth quarter, as Montreal rode a three-score advantage to the final whistle.
RELATED
» Depth Charts: MTL | OTT
» Montreal, Ottawa by the numbers
» Game Notes: Alouettes at REDBLACKS
» Sign up and watch CFL games on CFL+ in the U.S. and Internationally
SCORING PLAYS
- Davis Alexander six-yard touchdown pass to Cole Spieker (11:33, Q1) | MTL 7 OTT 0
- Lewis Ward 13-yard field goal (6:51, Q1) | MTL 7 OTT 3
- Travis Theis three-yard touchdown run (4:35, Q1) | MTL 14 OTT 3
- Daniel Adeboboye one-yard touchdown run (14:48, Q2) | MTL 14 OTT 10
- Davis Alexander 11-yard touchdown pass to Cole Spieker (11:21, Q2) | MTL 21 OTT 10
- Jose Maltos 35-yard field goal (3:34, Q2) | MTL 24 OTT 10
- Lewis Ward 14-yard field goal (0:17, Q2) | MTL 24 OTT 13
- Davis Alexander 19-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Snead (5:18, Q3) | MTL 31 OTT 13
- Jose Maltos 42-yard field goal (7:32, Q4) | MTL 34 OTT 13
NEXT UP
The Alouettes head back to Montreal for Week 10 to meet the Edmonton Elks on Saturday, August 8. The matchup pits the division leaders against one another, with the Als looking to avenge a 32-29 overtime loss to Edmonton in Week 3.
The Ottawa REDBLACKS will get a second crack at the reigning champs in Week 10, as they will visit the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Friday, August 7. Saskatchewan claimed the first meeting 27-22 in the nation’s capital.
