Alwitt: The most important victory of the season

MONTREAL – The Alouettes definitely had to defeat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, which they did 29-28, Saturday afternoon, at Percival Molson Stadium.

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Having already lost their first game against their Ontario rivals this season, Danny Maciocia’s men couldn’t miss the tiebreak. Thanks to this gain in the snatch, the “Als” now have a 4-6 record and have stolen the second place in the Eastern Division from their opponents today.

The Alouettes won the game’s last play, with a 48-yard kick from David Côté. But many things happened before this moment of joy could be reached at the Camp Sparrows.

With less than three minutes left on the clock, the Montreal club led by one point thanks to a 45-yard touchdown pass from Trevor Harris to Reggie White Jr. The “Cats,” however, didn’t say their last word and scored a 51-yard field goal to regain priority.

Harris and his fellow strikers recovered the ball 37 seconds before the end of the game. The 36-year-old quarterback joined Jake Winnicki and Eugene Lewis in quick succession, eventually allowing Coty to play the champs.

keep believing

After this emotional duel, Makusia and his players were very pleased with the resilience shown in this four-point match.

“What I am most proud of is the way we talked to each other on the sidelines,” said the man in the caps of the general manager and interim coach.

“When we scored the relegation of Reggie [White fils]Harris recounted that many men celebrated on the bench. However, Anthony Calvilo told us that we have to keep our focus and that we may need to score more points. So we started talking about scenarios.”

Having the head coach’s mind proved key to the win, with the offense looking completely in control despite the importance of the late game moment.

Thanks for the supporters

We must also emphasize the work done by the 2,1024 spectators who came to downtown Greater Quebec City. The crowd cheered throughout the match, especially in the last three minutes.

“The crowd really annoyed Hamilton, analyzed Côté. It was very noisy at the end. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard such a big crowd. You made a difference. Our fans deserved this win.”

Meanwhile, Maciocia burst into nostalgia as he spoke of the fans at Percival Molson Stadium.

“What an atmosphere we lived through. It reminded me of the 1998, 1999, and 2000 seasons, when we had Anthony Calvillo, Mike Pringle, and Ben Kahun. It was like that every weekend. I forgot how it could be. He helped us a lot in our game.”

Aloys will benefit from their second week of the season in the coming days. After that, they will reconnect with their supporters on Friday, 2 September. For the occasion, the Ottawa Redplex will be in town.

Tyson Philpott looked

Among the dozens of events that marked Alouette’s victory, there was especially the terrible injury suffered by receiver Tyson Philpott.

The new student was completely expelled in the second quarter, after being hit hard by two opponents. The “Als” representative lost his helmet due to the force of the impact. Trevor Harris’ mission was also very dangerous. With regard to hockey, we can say that he served him a pass in skates …

Philpot stayed on the ground for long minutes, but luckily managed to leave the field under his power. He did not return to the game after that.

I should get more details soon. “I had the opportunity to talk to him a little bit in the first half and he told me he was fine,” Danny Macciusia said after the match.

Alwight’s selection to the first round (ninth overall) in 2022 was another great game before the injury. He grabbed three of the four throws and sent his way for 51 yards.

An injury that would keep him out of action for a while would be bad news for the Sparrows, as Philpot increasingly makes his mark with the offense. The British Columbia native also plays a major role in the special teams, both as a return and a blocker.

In addition, defensive back Nagy Murray was unable to complete the match.

Far from perfect

Even if the victory over the Tiger-Cats allowed the Alewets to improve their fate and perhaps dream of first place in the Eastern Division, they were by no means without fault.

The attack was subjected to several defensive errors and there were many defensive errors. But what was really disastrous was the lack of discipline. In total, the Sparrows received 176 penalty yards…

The peak of indiscipline came in the third quarter. After the crowd favorite took the lead after returning from the locker room, two penalties – including one that was a shocking kick-off – made the visitors score.

“In the third quarter, I was really annoyed with our team, and Danny Macciusia did not hide. I even needed to control myself a little bit. We often say we are going to be in distress and that is part of the process. We went through it today. [samedi]. “

This isn’t the first time aloites have fallen victim to their disobedience, and that’s for several seasons. Receiver Eugene Lewis did not hesitate to issue a warning.

“We have to fix this! He said one day you will join us. We were able to move forward today [samedi], but this will not always be the case. We have to find a way to end our indiscipline, because it hurts us.”

The general manager and interim head coach of the Alouettes also revealed that he was desperately looking for solutions to this recurring problem.

“We will deal with the question,” Makusia assured with conviction.