An electric 86-yard punt-return touchdown from Brandon Banks was the highlight of the night Friday in Montreal, where the resurgent Hamilton Tiger-Cats scored a convincing 31-7 victory over the hometown Alouettes in Week 4 action.
Beyond Banks’s surreal third-quarter return, the TiCats (2-2) were buoyed by strong defensive performances from the likes of Adrian Tracy, who registered a game-high 11 tackles and two sacks, and Simoni Lawrence, who posted three tackles and led the Hamilton defence in a sound team effort.
Tiquan Underwood (right) led Hamilton with 68 receiving yards in Friday’s 25-7 TiCats win in Montreal. (CFL Photo)
After a promising first quarter, the Als (1-2) struggled to find an offensive rhythm and collapsed defensively in the second half.
The game was precluded not only by the Canadian national anthem, but La Marseillaise — the French national anthem — as well, as a sign of respect and solidarity with the French people in the wake of yesterday’s attack in Nice, France.
Friday’s game began slowly, with both teams leading off the ball game with two and out possessions.
TiCats corner Travis Lee appeared to have given his team the first momentum swing of the night on a first-quarter interception, but Quinton Pointer was called for an offside and the Montreal drive continued.
The hometown Als scored the first punch of the night on the scoreboard nine plays later, on the same drive, courtesy of a 43-yard Boris Bede field goal.
Jovon Johnson, one of Montreal’s top performers on the defensive side of the ball, then brought down Hamilton quarterback Jeremiah Masoli late in the first quarter.
After 15 minutes of football, the Als led by three and had given up just five yards of offence to the Tabbies.
The second quarter produced more of the same tight, defensive football. Though both teams had sustained drives, neither was able to put points on the board until the final five minutes, when a Bede miss from 43 yards cleared the back of the end zone for a single to make it 4-0 Montreal.
The Als defence continued to shine, posting a Jovon Johnson interception and Nick Bowman sack on back-to-back possessions.
Montreal appeared to be on cruise control heading into the half, but a delay of game penalty forced Bede to concede a safety with 45 seconds left in the half.
After an impressive 56-yard field goal from kicker Brett Maher on the final play of the first half, Hamilton took its first lead of the night into the locker room up 5-4.
The stingy defence from both sides continued in the third quarter before a special teams breakthrough from Hamilton return man Brandon Banks changed the face of the game.
Banks used a deadly cut to break upfield on a Boris Bede punt before his pure speed lead him to paydirt for an 86-yard punt-return touchdown. Maher converted the extra point, and the Tabbies had the biggest lead of the night to that point at 12-4.
A 36-yard field goal from Bede cut Hamilton’s lead to 12-7, but the TiCats had found their offensive groove by that point.
Rakeem Cato’s fumble at midfield in the latter stages of the third quarter was recovered by Hamilton’s Larry Dean in another big momentum swing.
Three plays — a 29-yard C.J. Gable reception, a pass interference penalty, and a thundering 10-yard Gable touchdown run — later, it was 19-7 Tabbies.
A pair of fourth-quarter field goals from Brett Maher extended Hamilton’s lead to 25-7, essentially icing the game against Montreal’s sputtering offence. Maher added another pair of field goals — his fourth and fifth of the night — in the closing stages to polish off the night’s scoring.
Hamilton was able to claim the road win despite a largely ineffective passing game; Jeremiah Masoli threw for 208 yards, failed to find the end zone and tossed an interception in the win, while the trio of Chad Owens, Luke Tasker and Andy Fantuz was held to just 76 receiving yards combined.
Montreal’s offence struggled to find its rhythm with Rakeem Cato under centre. Though the Marshall alumnus had decent numbers, completing 18 of 25 passes for 203 yards, he wasn’t the difference maker the Alouettes needed offensively on Friday night and head coach Jim Popp lifted him in the fourth quarter in favour of backup Vernon Adams Jr.
The TiCats will travel to Edmonton next week for a Saturday-night date (7:00 p.m. ET) with the Eskimos (2-1), while Montreal will pay a visit to BMO Field and the Toronto Argonauts (2-2) on Monday Night Football (7:30 p.m. ET).