Alouettes – The Concordian

Can the Montreal Alouettes win the Grey Cup?

The Alouettes are playing their best football at the right time of year.

The Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL) just completed their most successful regular season in 11 years, finishing with 11 wins and seven losses. This effort earned the squad a spot in the Grey Cup playoffs with home field advantage in the first round.

The CFL is the Canadian equivalent to the wildly-popular National Football League (NFL) in the United States. Although there are some differences in the rules between the two leagues, the CFL puts out a good brand of football to the spectators that have watched over its storied history. Locally, the Alouettes have won seven Grey Cup championships, most recently in 2010. In 2023, they will try to hoist the historic trophy once again.

This season has been successful for the Alouettes. The 2022 offseason saw the Alouettes lose quarterback Trevor Harris, as well as star wide receivers Jake Wieneke and Geno Lewis, but the team filled the spots successfully. Newly-acquired quarterback Cody Fajardo stayed healthy, something the Alouettes desperately needed, playing all 18 regular season games this year. He also found a connection with former NFL player Austin Mack, who finished the season fourth in passes caught among all CFL receivers.

These statistics are in large part due to Concordia alum Kristian Matte, who was a CFL East All-Star in 2019 and 2021, and the rest of the offensive line. Montreal’s strong defense protected Fajardo from getting sacked and helped keep opponents off the scoreboard. Montreal gave up the second-least amount of points this season.

On Nov. 4, the Alouettes hosted the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the CFL Playoff East Semi-Final. In front of a 20,127 fan sell out at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium, the Alouettes punched their ticket to the CFL Playoff East Final with a 27-12 win. Running back William Stanback led both teams in rushing yards, finishing the game with 95 and giving Fajardo extra options when passing yards were hard to come by.

This year’s East Semi-Final was a rematch from last year’s and so will be the East Final on Nov. 11 against the Toronto Argonauts. Last year, the Alouettes beat Hamilton 28-17, but ran into the Argonauts (who would go on to win the Grey Cup), losing a heartbreaker, 34-27. Montreal is hoping history doesn’t repeat itself in 2023.

It will surely be a tough test for the Alouettes this year if they want to clinch a berth in the 110^th Grey Cup Final. Toronto finished this season with 16 victories out of 18 games and haven’t lost a single game at home. However, the Alouettes haven’t lost since Sep. 15, winning five straight games and finding themselves two wins away from becoming champions.

NFL Season ready to kick off

On Thursday, Sept. 4, the reigning Super Bowl champions Seattle Seahawks will host the Green Bay Packers at CenturyLink Field to kick off the NFL season. Only seven teams in NFL history have won back-to-back championships; the last team to do so was the 2004 and 2005 New England Patriots. Led under head coach Pete Carroll, the core of Seattle’s roster is back and is considered to be this season’s Super Bowl favourite. One of the biggest off-season stories was star-rookie quarterback Johnny Manziel and whether or not he would be given the starting job in Cleveland. The Cleveland Browns, who have been a dismal franchise for the past two decades, have chosen to start veteran quarterback Brian Hoyer instead.

Wildcard spots still up for grabs

With less than a month of the regular season left, the fight to the finish in baseball couldn’t be closer. As of Friday, in the American League, five teams are in contention to win the final two wildcard spots. While the Oakland Athletics have a 5 1/2 game cushion, the Detroit Tigers and the Seattle Mariners are tied for the second wildcard with records of 72-60. Right behind them are the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians. The Yankees are three games behind Detroit and Seattle, while the Indians are just four games out. In the National League, The St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants hold the final two playoff spots. Trailing them however are the Atlanta Braves, who sit 1 1/2 games back, and the Pittsburgh Pirates, who are two games behind.

Als finally find a win

It took nine games but the Montreal Alouettes finally found their second win of the season to improve their record to 2-7. The Als hosted the Ottawa Redblacks on Friday night at the McGill Stadium and managed to pull out a 20-10 victory. Als quarterback Jonathan Crompton went 15 for 25 in the passing game while throwing for 245 yards and an interception. The best player on the field was Als receiver Duron Carter who hauled in five catches that accumulated for 127 yards. It has been a crushing season for the Als and their fans as they try to cope in a post-Calvillo era. Despite their record, the Als remain in the mix for top spot in the East Division. As of Sunday, East teams have a combined record of 7-20.