Alouettes beat Ticats for third time in 2026

Beating the same team three times in one season is no easy task, but the Montreal Alouettes managed to sweep their season-series against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats with Friday night's 37-25 victory at Hamilton Stadium.

For a team that played two road games in six days, the Als looked fresh coming out of the gate.

The Alouettes took control of the game early on, as they got a touchdown from an unlikely source, as guard Donny Ventrelli scored a nine-yard major on a pass from Davis Alexander.

"The crazy thing about is that I looked up and the ball was in the lights for a second," Ventrelli explained. "I blinked and told myself that I had to catch this thing or else I'm going to get made fun of (laughs)…I'm just glad I caught it and that he threw it. I'm happy that it happened."

On the very next Ticats drive, defensive lineman Lwal Uguak snagged an interception, which led to a Jose Maltos-Diaz field goal. Those big plays set the tone for the rest of the half, which finished 24-3 in favour of the visitors.

The defence led the way in this game. They managed to make life difficult for Ticats quarterback Harrison Frost, and that resulted in six turnovers.

The biggest play on defence came when Hamilton was in a 3rd-and-1 situation. Quarterback Jake Dolegala was stripped of the ball by Geoffrey Cantin-Arku before Nate Beauchemin scooped it up and took it to the end zone to extend the lead to 17-0.

"It was really quite simple," Beauchemin said of his touchdown. "I had to crack down the edge. That was all I was thinking. Honestly, it was a good hit by Geoff. Shoutout to him. I just thought the play was going to be dead and the ball was short. Next thing I know, the ball is on top of the pile. I picked it up and snuck away to the house (laughs)."

On top of the Uguak interception, the Als also got picks from Lorenzo Burns, Gemon Green and Beauchemin.

It was a gritty performance from a physical unit that has made big plays this season.

Offensively, the group was efficient. The stats won't "wow" anyone, Alexander took what the Ticats gave him. The Tiger-Cats did a good job of taking away explosive plays down the field, but they were getting carved up on long drives.

"I felt like we were pretty efficient," Alexander said after the game. "It was pretty clear to us that (the Ticats) didn't want to give up the deep ball, which is something that we're seeing. We have to get used to it and we have to keep executing these short, intermediate and even these longer intermediate plays."

The drive which led to the final major of the first half began at the Montreal 13-yard line. Alexander led his group on a 13-play drive that concluded with a Tyson Philpot touchdown.

Philpot became just the fifth player in franchise history to surpass the 1,500-yard receiving mark. Only Hal Patterson, Jamel Richardson, Jeremaine Copeland, and Ben Cahoon are the only other players to reach that milestone.

"He's just doing exactly what he expects to do," Alexander said of his number one target. "Not that he didn't care before, but he's more locked in than ever. The most important thing is he just wants to win football games. It's a pleasure having him out there."

Part of the reason the Als were able to move the ball so well was because of their running game. Stevie Scott III, who played just his third game of the season, finished the night with 108 yards on 21 carries.

The win was head coach Jason Maas' 44th with the Alouttes, which allowed him to pass Marv Levy for fourth all-time.

What's next?

The Als will go on a well-deserved bye week with an 11-3 record. They'll play their next two games at home on Oct. 3 against Winnipeg and Oct. 12 against Saskatchewan.