Despite a hot start and a late relegation, the Montreal Aloets lost their flag in the final game of the game 25-23 at the expense of the Hamilton Tiger Cats in their first pre-season game of the 2022 season in Major League Soccer on Saturday at Tim Hortons.
After a touchdown followed by a two-point conversion to take a 23-22 lead with less than a minute to go, the Alouettes committed a costly penalty. The latter allowed the Tekats to take last place and save themselves with victory.
“It’s a pretty crazy pre-season game. Sure. I can tell you that at the end of the game it wasn’t a pre-season game, it just went some way or the other,” said Alouettes coach Kharry Jones.
However, the Alouettes scored the touchdown on the first possession and retired to the locker room by 15-10.
On their return, the Tiger-Cats scored 12 points without an answer. The progress continued until the last moments of the match.
Alwight scored and then star of the day, Creshawn Hogan, grabbed the ball on the turn to give the team a 23-22 lead. A short-lived lead owed to Tadhg Leader’s 35-yard kick.
“We struggled in the second half, but the players came back with a big drop late in the game that we were hoping to win…” Jones noted.
Receiver Hogan had 11 passes and lost 102 yards.
“I thought he was there. I really wanted to give the win to the team. We’ll get it in the next game,” said Hogan, the star of the day.
“Losing 15 seconds ahead of time taught us a lesson. Much like last year, we saw the game wasn’t over until it was over,” said Jones.
The Alouettes coach, Harry Jones, decided to trust many of the young players and give everyone time to play in light of the cuts. The Montreal club will have to reduce its list to 75 players by midnight tomorrow, when 76 players were in uniform for the match.
Notable absentees include injured defensive back Greg Reed, receivers Gino Lewis, Jake Winnicki and Cowan Bray, linebacker William Stanback and quarterback Vernon Adams Jr.
The Sparrows will play a second and final exhibition match on Friday in Montreal against the Ottawa Redblacks. They will then open the 2022 season on Thursday, June 9 in Calgary against the Stampeders.
In the first possession of the match, Alouettes quarterback Trevor Harris spotted Reggie White Jr. on four yards and the Sparrows scored with the middle finger.
Harris and Wyatt are communicating for the landing
Besides veteran Harris, who had 124 yards, Jones sent three other quarterbacks into battle. Davis Alexander, Dominic Davis, and Ben Holmes had 106, 95, and 38 yards in the air, respectively.
Alexander was credited with landing another Aluette. One yard distance.
Alouettes player David Côté has recovered from a poor start. After losing conversion after the initial touchdown, he had three field goals in the first half – 32, 31 and 37 yards, respectively.
Midfielders Galen Morton and former Aloitt Matthew Shelts scored the relegation for the Tekats. The Ontario formation also managed three placements.
Dane Evans also served as the quarterback for the Tiger-Cats.
