The Montreal Alouettes pulled off what might be the biggest upset of the Canadian Football League (CFL) season Thursday at Investors Group Field with a 20-17 overtime win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
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It’s the first loss of the year for the two-time Gray Cup champions, who are now 9-1. The Als (3-6), meanwhile, overtook the Hamilton Tiger Cats for second place in the East Division.
At the start of overtime in possession, the Sparrows had to settle for a placement from David Côté after failing to win a first game.
However, the Bombers had to react by again adding at least three points to the table, but Marc Liegghio saddened more than one Hamilton team supporter at home by missing his shot.
It was a mistake by Liegghio that forced overtime, who missed a field goal attempt from 32 yards in the fourth quarter when time was running out.
A second fruitful opportunity
There was some déjà vu at the end of the third quarter of the day duel as the score was 10-10 and the score was a tie.
When the Sparrows lost to the same Bombers a week ago, the two teams were tied 14-14 after 45 minutes. However, the Manitoba team had dominated the last period, winning 35-20.
The “Als” had the opportunity to change this unfortunate scenario on Thursday against the best team in the CFL.
Host quarterback Zack Collaros set the table for the first major of the fourth quarter with back-to-back 25-yard and 12-yard runs. Brady Oliveira finished the job with a 19-yard run, and the Bombers thought they had the win within reach.
Moments later, however, Collaros fumbled with the ball and Jake Wieneke snagged two long passes from Trevor Harris to push his side closer to the end zone.
After scoring the Montrealers’ first touchdown in the first quarter thanks to a quarterback sneak, Dominique Davis was entitled to four tries to score a second. He didn’t miss the fourth opportunity and the “Als” equalized the game.
As a starting quarterback, Harris had an honest night’s work, nothing more. He had no touchdown passes and completed 18 of 27 stints for 213 yards.
The Alouettes are entitled to nine days off before crossing blades with the “Ti-Cats” at Percival Molson Stadium.