SUNDAY SPORTS PAGE: BRING ON THE PLAYOFFS!
Photo: Montreal Alouettes
MONTREAL – After managing a 22-20 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the final game of the CFL regular season on Saturday, the Montreal Alouettes have the upper hand heading into their more meaningful Nov. 4 Eastern Conference semifinal bout, but that doesn’t mean they’re taking their foot off the gas.
With Saturday’s win, the Alouettes went 3-0 against Hamilton in the regular season. Another win in next weekend’s semifinal would advance them to the East Conference final in Toronto and, hopefully, the Grey Cup, which will be played on Hamilton’s home field.
“(The win) is great momentum going into that game,” said Montreal quarterback Cody Fajardo. “It’s not about the best team in terms of record, it’s about the team that gets hot at the right time. We’re going into the playoffs with five straight wins, that’s about as hot as you can get.
“We know a lot of people aren’t talking about the Montreal Alouettes still, and that’s OK. Keep it that way, we just want to continue to put our head down and work.”
Alouettes head coach Jason Maas agreed. To him, there’s more to it than just knowing they’ve beaten this team before – no matter how many times.
“I think in some ways sports are mental, but there’s a lot of physical that goes into that as well,” said Maas. “Those are awareness points, or those are things that are out of your control. I think you just focus on every day and focus on getting better and not worry about the fact that we’ve beaten them three times this year.”
Substitutions were plentiful on Saturday as both teams sought to get their starters some repetitions ahead of next weekend’s semifinal clash.
For the Montreal Alouettes, fresh off a bye week, it was a matter of getting key players like Fajardo warmed up before slotting in their backups to keep the starters healthy.
Hamilton had the same idea, giving key players such as quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell and running back Tyreik McAllister the nod to get things started early on in the game.
While Fajardo had the opportunity to finish out the first quarter and get things started in the second, it was up to his backups Caleb Evans and Davis Alexander to carry the team through the rest of the game – and they didn’t disappoint, especially in the case of Alexander who went 5-for-6 and threw for 51 yards, just four shy of Fajardo’s 55.
The Alouettes and Tiger-Cats will square off next Saturday (Nov. 4) to determine who will move on to face the Toronto Argonauts in the Eastern Conference final on Nov. 11.
OTTAWA – The Toronto Argonauts closed out their CFL regular season with a franchise-record 16th win by beating the Ottawa Redblacks 27-22 on Saturday night.
The Argos made CFL history completing their season with a perfect divisional record of 10-0.
In comparison, Ottawa finished the season with a 4-14 record and failed to beat a division rival this season.
Cameron Dukes finished the game 22-of-34 passing for 317 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
Ottawa’s Dustin Crum was 22-of-35 for 261 yards with two TD’s and two interceptions.
The one highlight for the Redblacks was Devonte Williams reaching 1,003 yards for his first-ever 1,000-yard season.
Toronto took the lead in the first quarter and never looked back.
Trailing 14-6 to start the third quarter Michael Domagala scored his third field goal, from 46 yards, midway through the third to bring Ottawa within five.
Emotions ran high late in the third quarter when Deonta McMahon ran in a two-yard TD to put Toronto up 21-9 with the teams combining for five penalties after the play.
Boris Bede added a 37-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter to give Toronto a 24-9 lead sending many of the Ottawa faithful for the gates.
Crum managed to give those still in the stands something to cheer about connecting with Justin Hardy for a 30-yard TD with 6:21 remaining, but any hope of a comeback was dashed by Bede’s 38-yard field goal to put the Argos up 27-16.
Keaton Bruggeling scored his first CFL TD late in the game for Ottawa connecting with Crum for 16 yards.
WORLD SERIES
Merrill Kelly pitched three-hit ball over seven innings, Ketel Marte extended his post-season hitting streak to a record 18 games and the Arizona Diamondbacks routed the Texas Rangers 9-1 on Saturday to tie the World Series at one game apiece. The Diamondbacks outhit Texas 16-4 and never trailed. Game 3 in the best-of-seven series is Monday in Arizona.
NBA
Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey each scored 34 points, and the visiting Philadelphia 76ers beat the Toronto Raptors 114-107 on Saturday to give new coach Nick Nurse his first win against his former team. Kelly Oubre Junior scored 18 points as the 76ers won their fourth straight over the Raptors. Scottie Barnes scored 24 points and rookie Gradey Dick added 16 for the 1-and-2 Raptors.
NHL
K’Andre Miller scored his first goal of the season at 3:48 of overtime as the visiting New York Rangers defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 Saturday night in a nail-biting NHL contest. Carson Soucy had tied the game at 3-all for Vancouver with a blast from the blue line at 15:42 of the third period. The Canucks are 5-2-and-1 after the setback, while the Rangers are 6-and-2.
In other NHL games involving Canadian teams on Saturday, the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Winnipeg Jets 4-3 in a shootout; the Nashville Predators tripped the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 in overtime; and the Ottawa Senators squashed the host Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2.
WHL
KAMLOOPS, B.C. – Dylan Sydor scored twice and the Kamloops Blazers scored four unanswered goals in the third period to defeat the visiting Tri-City Americans 5-2 in Western Hockey League action on Saturday night at the Sandman Centre.
Ashton Ferster, Andrew Thomson and Logan Bairos also scored for the Blazers (3-9-2-0), who trailed 2-1 heading into the final period.
Parker Bell scored twice for the Americans (6-5-1-1.
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WHEAT KINGS 2 BLADES 1
BRANDON, Man. – Roger McQueen’s power-play goal at 16:32 of the first period stood up as the winner as the Brandon Wheat Kings edged the visiting Saskatoon Blades 2-1.
Quinn Mantei also scored for the Wheat Kings (7-6-2-1).
Trevor Wong scored for the Blades (8-5-0-0).
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WILD 4 ROCKETS 0
WENATCHEE, Wash. – Daniel Hauser made 30 saves to earn the shutout as the Wenatchee Wild beat the visiting Kelowna Rockets 4-0.
Graham Sward, Kenta Isogai, Miles Cooper and Evan Friesen all scored for the Wild (8-6-1-0).
Netminder Jari Kykkanen kicked out 27 of 31 shots for the Rockets (7-6-1-0).
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SILVERTIPS 6 CHIEFS 2
SPOKANE, Wash. – Tarin Smith scored twice as the Everett Silvertips beat the visiting Spokane Chiefs 6-2.
Beau Courtney, Niko Tsakumis, Ben Hemmerling and Eric Jamieson also scored for the Silvertips (6-6-1-0).
Hayden Paupanekis and Chase Harrington scored for the Chiefs (5-5-2-0).
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RAIDERS 4 BRONCOS 2
PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Niall Crocker scored a goal and an assist as the Prince Albert Raiders edged the visiting Swift Current Broncos 4-2.
Brayden Dube, Hayden Pakkala and Ryder Ritchie also scored for the Raiders (8-5-0-1).
Clarke Caswell and Tyson Laventure scored for the Broncos (7-7-1-0).
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WARRIORS 5 COUGARS 1
MOOSE JAW, Sask. – Denton Mateychuk scored twice as the Moose Jaw Warriors defeated the visiting Prince George Cougars 5-1.
Lucas Brenton, Atley Calvert and Jagger Firkus also scored for the Warriors (9-6-0-0).
Zac Funk scored for the Cougars (9-4-0-0).
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OIL KINGS 5 WINTERHAWKS 4
EDMONTON, Alta. – Marshall Finnie knocked in the game-winning goal at 16:48 of the second period as the Edmonton Oil Kings edged the visiting Portland Winterhawks.
Rilen Kovacevic, Marc Lajoie, Landon Hanson and Adam Jecho also scored for the Oil Kings (4-9-0-1).
Marcus Nguyen scored twice for the Winterhawks (8-3-0-0), while Josh Zakreski and James Stefan netted singles.
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GIANTS 3 ROYALS 2
VICTORIA, B.C. – The Vancouver Giants earned a 3-2 victory by beating the host Victoria Royals in a four-round shootout.
Mazden Leslie and Colton Roberts scored for the Giants (4-6-1-0) in regulation time.
Teydon Trembecky and Cole Reschny scored for the Royals (7-6-0-1).
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TIGERS 6 THUNDERBIRDS 3
MEDICINE HAT, Alta. – Reid Andresen scored twice as the Medicine Hat Tigers defeated the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds 6-3.
Shane Smith, Tyler MacKenzie, Cayden Lindstrom and Nate Corbet also scored for the Tigers (9-4-1-0).
Antonio Martorana, Luca Hauf and Coster Dunn scored for the Thunderbirds (7-4-0-0).
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HITMEN 7 REBELS 4
CALGARY, Alta. – Oliver Tulk scored a goal and added two assists as the Calgary Hitmen downed the Red Deer Rebels 7-4.
Carter MacAdams, Ben Kindel, Reese Hamilton, Tyson Greenway, Carter Yakemchuk and David Adaszynski also scored for the Hitmen (5-7-2-0).
Kai Uchacz scored twice for the Rebels (5-7-0-1), while Elias Carmichael and Carson Latimer netted singles.
(Canadian Press)
