Ottawa Redblacks drop another one to the Montreal Alouettes in home opening loss
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The Ottawa Redblacks failed to reverse multiple disturbing trends in their home opener on Friday.
In falling to 0-2 on the season, they lost their ninth straight game to the Montreal Alouettes, who are now 11-0 at TD Place since 2018.
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The latest slap in the face from the Redblacks’ nearest rivals came in a 39-18 loss in front of 21,441 fans.
The loss also spelled the end of a consecutive game touchdown streak for Redblacks receiver Eugene Lewis, who fell one shy of a CFL record 10 set by former great Terry Evanshen.
Filling in for injured starting quarterback Dru Brown, Matt Shiltz completed 22 of 32 passes for 205 yards and a touchdown before being replaced by Dustin Crum late in the fourth quarter.
Shiltz’s undoing was in turning the ball over.
Trailing 29-18 with just under 10 minutes remaining, Shiltz’s third interception of the game was deflected into the hands of Wesley Sutton, who returned the ball 45 yards for a touchdown.
Penalties were once again a problem for the Redblacks, who were flagged 11 times for 98 yards
Montreal, which improved to 2-0 with the win, was called five times for 61 yards.
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After a dismal first half, the Redblacks came to life early in the third quarter when corner C.J. Coldon made his second interception of the season and returned it 34 yards to the Alouettes 36.
An Alouettes pass interference play that kept Lewis from scoring set up a Crum touchdown from the one.
Montreal responded on its next series with a 70-yard scoring march aided by Redblacks’ penalties, most notable of which was a roughing the passer call on Adarius Pickett.
But the Redblacks came right back with a 73-yard drive that ended on a nine-yard touchdown toss to Bralon Addison.
Despite starting with good field position on most first half possessions, the Redblacks trailed 19-3 and had 98 yards of net offence compared to Montreal’s 223 yards at the break.
Only two of Shiltz’s 15 passes hit the ground in the opening two quarters. He completed 11 and was intercepted twice – once by defensive lineman Lwal Uguak and the other, after a deflection on the line, by linebacker Geoffrey Cantin-Arku.
Ottawa’s best chance at an opening half touchdown came after Pickett recovered a fumbled punt that was forced by Bennett Williams on the Montreal 26. But after moving the ball to the Alouettes’ one-yard line, Crum failed to cross the line with two attempts.
Along with Jose Maltos’ four field goals, the Alouettes scored on a one-yard keeper by Caleb Evans. It was set up by a 69-yard Davis Alexander to Tyler Snead bomb that ended with one of two horse collar tackle penalties on Redblacks DB Robert Priester.
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