DEKYAS NEWS World Breaking News and Trusted Source
Related Articles
Cody Fajardo and the Montreal Alouettes appeared to be out of sync on Sunday night, trailing 17-6 at halftime against the Edmonton Elks, but head coach Jason Maas wasn’t worried.
Fajardo, wide receiver Cole Spieker and a relentless Alouettes defense staged a second-half comeback, helping league-leader Montreal beat Edmonton in stunning fashion 21-17 for its fifth straight victory.
“We never give up and we just learn,” Maas said. “We know it’s a 60-minute game, no matter what the score says at halftime, you have to play 60 minutes in this league and finish games.
“We do that incredibly well.”
Fajardo, returning after missing four games with a hamstring injury, threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Spieker for his third reception of a six-play, 100-yard drive to open the third quarter.
The Alouettes (10-1) took over the momentum from there. Spieker barely stayed in bounds on a 22-yard catch for his second TD of the game with 3:37 left in the third. The reception capped a nine-play drive sparked by a 30-yard catch-and-run by Walter Fletcher that gave Montreal an 18-17 lead.
“Cole Spieker had a great game,” Fajardo said. “It seemed like every time I threw the ball his way, he came down with it.
“We made some great adjustments at halftime. And I felt like that gave me time to recover. I came out a little rusty, but I guess that’s what happens when you miss five weeks.”
Fajardo threw for 336 yards on 22 of 34 completions, complemented by two touchdown passes, while Spieker caught two TDs and totaled 107 receiving yards on five receptions, all in the second half, before an announced crowd of 19,048 at Molson Stadium.
Receive national news daily
Receive the most important news, political, economic and current affairs topics in your inbox every day.
But those efforts would have mattered for nothing if the Alouettes defense hadn’t been able to hold off Edmonton twice in the red zone.
“To also knock them out in three-down football, I mean, I can’t say enough about it,” Maas said. “I mean, that’s unbelievable.”
Trailing 21-17, the Elks reached the Montreal 12-yard line with 1:24 left on the clock, but went just six yards as the Alouettes’ defense forced them into a turnover on downs.
Edmonton reached the Montreal 20-yard line in the final seconds of the game, but Montreal’s defense again held and the Elks failed to reach the end zone.
Earlier in the fourth quarter, Elks kicker Boris Bede missed what turned out to be a crucial 41-yard field goal attempt. He was 1-for-2 on the night.
“It’s tough. It’s tough right now, as far as losing like this,” Elks interim head coach Jarious Jackson said. “At the end of the day, you’re playing the best team in the league right now, and you’ve got to take your chances when they come.”
All-star receiver Austin Mack made three receptions for 32 yards in his 2024 debut after returning to the Alouettes this week from a stint with the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL. Montreal kicker Jose Maltos went 3-for-3 on field goals.
Elks QB McLeod Bethel-Thompson went 21-for-33 for 200 yards and two TD passes in his second straight start, ending Edmonton’s (3-8) three-game winning streak.
Running back Kevin Brown, back from a shoulder injury, rushed for 105 yards.
The Alouettes also defeated the Elks 23-20 in a Week 2 game in Edmonton.
The Alouettes didn’t score a touchdown in a rough first half that featured a turnover, dropped passes and trouble establishing the run. Montreal was also without two offensive linemen, with Philippe Gagnon the last before Pier-Olivier Lestage fouled out early in the first half.
Meanwhile, Bethel-Thompson connected with Eugene Lewis in the end zone on a six-yard pass with 4:59 left in the first quarter, giving Edmonton a 7-3 lead.
The Elks extended their lead 1:19 into the second period, making it 14-3. This time, Bethel-Thompson found Kurleigh Gittens Jr. through a crowd for an eight-yard touchdown.
Edmonton’s Devodric Bynum intercepted a deep pass from Fajardo aimed at Mack at 5:27 of the second period.
The Elks scored a field goal in the final seconds of the first half to take a 17-6 lead after two quarters, but the second half was a different story.
“They definitely carried the momentum into the second half,” Brown said. “Towards the end we got it back a little bit, but it was just a little too late.”
LEGENDS IN THE HOUSE
The 1974 Alouettes were honored at halftime to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their Grey Cup championship. The home team also wore throwback jerseys with the 1974 Alouettes logo during the game. Montreal defeated Edmonton 20-7 at Empire Stadium in Vancouver for the third title in franchise history.
NEXT
Alouettes: They have a week off before hosting the BC Lions (5-6) on September 6.
Elks: Visit the Calgary Stampeders (4-6) on Labour Day (September 2).
© 2024 The Canadian Press
