Sports

Alouettes defeat Tiger-Cats in regular season finale

Published

12 months ago

October 28, 2023

MONTREAL — The Montreal Alouettes finished their regular season with a win against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Saturday afternoon at Percival Molson Stadium.

In a preview of the Eastern Semi-Final between these two teams next weekend, it was the home team that was victorious with a 22-20 win.

Receiver Tyson Philpot scored a major on the Alouettes first possession of the ball game, while kicker David Cote was good on two of three field goal attempts in the victory. Returner James Letcher Jr. also found the end zone, scoring on a punt return in the fourth quarter.

Cody Fajardo connected on six of eight passes for 55 yards and a touchdown before stepping aside for Caleb Evans and eventually Davis Alexander. Evans finished the contest completing five of 10 passes for 30 yards while Alexander connected on five of six passes for 51 yards.

Bo Levi Mitchell and Taylor Powell both saw action for the Tiger-Cats behind centre. Mitchell completed five of 10 passes for 53 yards while Powell connected on 10 of 19 passes for 106 yards and two interceptions.

Sean Thomas Erlington scored a touchdown on the ground for Hamilton and Tyreik McAllister scored on a missed field goal return in the loss.

On the opening kickoff, Marc Antoine-Dequoy knocked the ball out of returner Tyreik McAllister‘s hands and Tysen-Otis Copeland recovered, giving the ball to Cody Fajardo instead of Bo Levi Mitchell to start the game.

Fajardo’s first pass was to Cole Spieker for 24 yards, pushing his team down to the Hamilton six-yard line. The next play was the game’s opening touchdown, a six-yard strike to Tyson Philpot in the back of the end zone for six. With the completed convert, the Alouettes took an early 7-0 lead.

Things slowed down in the next few series as the defences settled in and the teams traded two-and-outs as the first quarter continued.

Just as it looked like Montreal was going to be held to another two-and-out, head coach Jason Maas challenged that there was defensive pass interference on the play and it was successful, giving them a fresh set.

Dylan Wynn sacked Fajardo on first down, bringing up second and 20. The Als QB then tossed to Spieker and the receiver kicked the ball just past the the line of scrimmage, just as the team did a few weeks ago with Jeshrun Antwi, setting up an onside kick that he could recover himself for a first down. It didn’t amount to any points, however, as Montreal had to punt the all away.

On Hamilton’s next possession, Mitchell and co. were moving the chains and got down to Montreal’s 17-yard line. They finished the drive with a 24-yard Marc Liegghio field goal. A penalty on the field goal pushed things back five yards and Liegghio had to re-kick from 29 yards. His boot was good and cut the Alouettes lead to 7-3 with a just over a minute and half left in the first quarter.

Following an Als two-and-out, Montreal’s defence forced a turnover on the first play of the Ticats ensuing drive. Reggie Stubblefield knocked the ball out of Kiondre Smith’s and Darnell Sankey recovered the ball as the opening 15 minutes finished. David Cote attempted a 44-yard field goal but missed it and McAllister returned it 122 yards for a major score. Those six points, along with the convert, gave Hamilton their first lead of the afternoon (10-7).

A few possessions later for both teams, Cote attempted his second field goal of the afternoon, this time from 36 yards, and it was good. That tied the score 10-10 with six and half minutes left in the second frame.

That would be the final scoring play of the opening half as the teams headed to the locker room for the break.

Defences held strong to start the third quarter and four and a half minutes into the frame, Joseph Zema punted the ball through Hamilton’s end zone for a single point. The rouge broke the tie and put Montreal ahead, 11-10.

Taylor Powell, who replaced Mitchell for the second half, got into a rhythm moving down the field. Liegghio connected on his 33-yard field goal to finish the drive, taking the lead back from Montreal (13-11) with four and a half minutes left in the quarter.

Montreal scored to start the fourth quarter with a James Letcher Jr. punt returned 99 yards for a touchdown. Montreal went for two, and was successful, finding Spieker in the back corner of the end zone. That score increased the Alouettes lead to 19-13.

On the ensuing drive, Powell and co. moved the chains down into Montreal territory. From the five-yard line, Sean Thomas Erlington took a hand off and stretched out into the end zone for a major score. With the completed convert, the Ticats regained their lead (20-19) with nine minutes left in the game.

When Montreal hit the field on their next drive, Cote missed another field goal, this time from 50-yards out. The coverage unit was all over McAllister this time and did not allow the Ticats returner to take the miss to the house. Hamilton still held their one-point lead with just under seven minutes on the clock.

Montreal defensive back Kabion Ento hauled in his third interception of the season on Hamilton’s next possession. Powell looked for Terry Godwin but it tipped off the receiver’s fingers, off another Alouette defender’s helmet, and into Ento’s hands, who returned it to the Hamilton 52-yard line.

Davis Alexander, who replace Evans at quarterback earlier in the second half, took over and started moving down the field as the three minute warning approached, looking to take the lead back from Hamilton.

Cote’s 23-yard field goal attempt was good and Montreal took a 22-20 lead with a minute and a half left in the game.

The Als defence held strong, forcing the Tiger-Cats to go for it on third and 15 and an incompletion to Omar Bayless, who was covered by Ento, meant Hamilton turned the ball over on downs.

Montreal tried to run the clock out but had to punt the ball back to Hamilton with six second left. Sankey intercepted Powell’s hail Mary attempt to seal the deal.

Next up for these two clubs is the Eastern Semi-Final in Montreal on Saturday, November 4. Kickoff for the winner-takes-all contest is 3:00 p.m. ET.

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Sports

Ravens win fifth straight game by beating Bucs 41-31

Published

2 hours ago

October 22, 2024

Anne Joseph

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Lamar Jackson threw for 281 yards and five touchdowns, helping the Baltimore Ravens overcome an early double-digit deficit and extend their National Football League winning streak to five games with a 41-31 victory Monday night over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who lost their top two receivers to injuries.

The two-time NFL MVP improved to 23-1 against NFC teams, the best mark by a quarterback against an opposing conference in NFL history. He’s 3-0 against the Bucs (4-3), who faded after taking a 10-0 lead with help from the 100th TD reception of Mike Evans’ career.

Evans departed with a hamstring injury after Baker Mayfield tried to connect with him in the end zone again, and late in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach, leading Bucs receiver Chris Godwin was carted off the field with a left ankle injury. ESPN declined to show replays of Godwin’s injury, which appeared to be severe.

Jackson completed 17 of 22 passes without an interception, including TD throws of nine and four yards to Mark Andrews. He also tossed scoring passes of 49 yards to Rashod Bateman, 18 yards to Justice Hill and 11 yards to Derrick Henry, who rushed for 169 yards on 15 carries. Bateman had four catches for 121 yards.

The Ravens (5-2) rebounded from a slow start on defence, with cornerback Marlon Humphrey turning the game around with a pair of second-quarter interceptions — one of them in the Baltimore end zone. Jackson led a four-play, 80-yard TD drive after the first pick, and the second interception set up Justin Tucker’s 28-yard field goal for a 17-10 halftime lead.

Elsewhere in the NFL:

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CARDINALS 17 CHARGERS 15

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Kyler Murray ran for a 44-yard touchdown and led the Cardinals on a drive that set up Chad Ryland’s 32-yard field goal as time expired, and Arizona rallied for a win over Los Angeles.

Cameron Dicker kicked his fifth field goal of the night — this one from 40 yards — to give the Chargers a 15-14 lead with 1:54 left. But the Cardinals (3-4) quickly moved into field goal range, aided by an unnecessary roughness call on Cam Hart that cost Los Angeles (3-3) 15 yards.

Arizona followed that with a bruising 33-yard run by James Conner, who finished with 101 yards on the ground. That eventually set up Ryland’s short field goal and a Cardinals celebration.

It was a frustrating night for the Chargers’ offence, which gained 395 yards but couldn’t find the end zone. Justin Herbert completed 27 of 39 passes for 349 yards.

Dicker booted field goals of 59, 50, 28, 47 and 40 yards, the first of which tied a franchise record for distance.

Murray ran for a spectacular touchdown early in the fourth quarter, rolling to his left before turning on the jets, beating safety Junior Colston to the sideline and then coasting into the end zone for a 14-9 lead.

It was Murray’s second long touchdown run in three weeks after he scored on a 50-yard sprint against San Francisco. It was also Murray’s 20th career game with a touchdown pass and run.

Murray completed 14 of 26 passes for 145 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

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No rugby, field hockey, badminton, triathlon or cricket at leaner 2026 Commonwealth Games

Published

2 hours ago

October 22, 2024

Anne Joseph

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Scotland conceived rugby sevens in the 1880s yet it will not feature in the scaled-back 2026 Commonwealth Games hosted by Glasgow.

Other sports that have also been dropped include field hockey, triathlon, badminton, Twenty20 cricket, squash, and diving.

The Games will have a 10-sport program in four venues. Athletics and swimming are compulsory while there will also be track cycling, gymnastics, netball, weightlifting, boxing, judo, bowls and 3×3 basketball.

There will also be integrated para events in six of those sports: Athletics, swimming, track cycling, weightlifting, bowls and basketball.

The Games will take place from July 23-Aug. 2 after Glasgow stepped in when the Australian state of Victoria withdrew last year because of rising costs.

It was not easy to decide which sports to include, Commonwealth Games Scotland chairman Ian Reid told the BBC on Tuesday.

“I think everybody recognises that these events need to be more affordable, lighter and we would have loved to have all of our sports and all of our athletes competing but unfortunately it’s just not deliverable or affordable for this time frame,” Reid said.

Athletes and support staff will be housed in hotels. Around 3,000 athletes are expected to compete from up to 74 Commonwealth nations and territories representing a combined total of 2.5 billion people, a third of the world’s entire population.

More than 500,000 tickets made available for spectators.

The Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive Katie Sadleir said: “The 2026 Games will be a bridge to the Commonwealth Games of tomorrow, an exciting first step in our journey to reset and redefine the Games as a truly collaborative, flexible and sustainable model for the future that minimises costs, reduces the environmental footprint, and enhances social impact. In doing so, increasing the scope of countries capable of hosting.”

Glasgow hosted the event in 2014 at a cost of more than 540 million pounds.

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AP sports:

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Sports

Canadian women to face Fiji in their opening match at 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup

Published

2 hours ago

October 22, 2024

Anne Joseph

Canada will open against Fiji before facing Scotland and Wales in group play at next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup in England

The second-ranked Canadian women will meet No. 17 Fiji on Aug. 23, 2025, at York Community Stadium in York, one day after the tournament opener between top-ranked England and the ninth-ranked U.S. at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light.

Reigning champion New Zealand, currently third in the world rankings, begins its title defence against No. 13 Spain in York on Aug. 24, 2025.

Canada will then take on No. 10 Wales on Aug. 30, 2025, at Salford Community Stadium and No. 7 Scotland on Sept. 6, 2025, at Sandy Park in Exeter.

Tuesday’s schedule release followed last Thursday’s tournament draw, which placed Canada in Pool B in the 16-team tournament. The top two in each pool advance to the quarterfinals where the Pool B winner will face the runner-up in Pool A, likely No. 5 Australia or the U.S. with England favoured to win the group.

New Zealand could await Canada in the semifinals.

The Canadian women recorded their first-ever victory over New Zealand in May, dispatching the Black Ferns 22-19 in Christchurch to win the Pacific Four Series.

The Canadian women had lost all 17 previous meetings with the Black Ferns, with 10 of those defeats by 27 points or more. Six-time world champion New Zealand won 52-21 they met in July 2023 in Ottawa in Pacific Four Series play.

The Canadians have a far better record against their Pool B opponents.

The Canadian women have a 10-2-2 career record against Wales, winning 42-22 the last time they met, at the 2023 WXV I tournament.

Canada is 6-1-0 against Scotland, winning 28-25 the last they met in November 2018 in Glasgow.

Canada has met Fiji just once, winning 24-7 in Suva in September 2022 in its final test match ahead of next month’s last World Cup.

The World Cup is scheduled to run Aug. 22 to Sept. 27, 2025, at eight venues across England. The final and third-place game will take place at London’s Allianz Stadium, formerly known as Twickenham Stadium.

Canada’s best showing at the tournament was in 2014 when it lost 21-9 to England in the final. The Canadian women finished fourth at the last World Cup, beaten 36-0 by France in the third-place game in November 2022 after pushing England to the limit in a 26-19 semifinal loss.

The Canadian women are coming off a 21-12 loss to England earlier this month in Vancouver in WXV 1 play. That loss snapped a six-game win streak for Canada under coach Kevin Rouet.

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Follow @NeilMDavidson on X platform

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024

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