The Montreal Alouettes continued their dominance over the Ottawa Redblacks on Thursday night at Percival Molson Stadium. The Als managed to beat the Redblacks for the 14th time in a row thanks to a 46-16 blowout win. This could've easily been a trap game, but head coach Jason Maas' squad took care of business to improve to 9-1-0 in 2026.
The Montreal Alouettes continued their dominance over the Ottawa Redblacks on Thursday night at Percival Molson Stadium. The Als managed to beat the Redblacks for the 14th time in a row thanks to a 46-16 blowout win. This could've easily been a trap game, but head coach Jason Maas' squad took care of business to improve to 9-1-0 in 2026.
After getting last week off, the Alouettes looked a little rusty coming out of the gate. They trailed 7-0 after Ottawa's first drive, but they managed to grab a 22-7 lead in the blink of an eye.
The game changed in the first quarter when safety Nate Beauchmin intercepted a Jake Maier pass in the end zone. The Als were down 7-0 at that point and the Redblacks were in field goal range at the time of the pick. Instead of being down by two scores, they managed to tie the game thanks to a touchdown pass from Davis Alexander to Tyson Philpot.
Early in the second quarter, the Redblacks managed to get back in field goal, but a poor hold by punter Noah Gettman resulted in no points for Ottawa. To make matters worse for them, Alouettes cornerback Kabion Ento ripped the ball out of Gettman's hands and took it down to the Redblacks 11-yard line, where the Als managed to punch the ball into the end zone with backup quarterback Terry Wilson.
“I was coming around the edge, and I saw that (the holder) still had the ball,” Ento said of the play. “Usually, when I come from the field (side), the kicker kicks the ball by then. I saw he still had the ball in his hands and he stood up. I tried to make sure that I secured the tackle and when I secure the tackle I usually try to go for a strip. That starts in practice. We all do that a lot in practice, and it translated to today.”
Moments later, Ento picked off Maier and ran the ball into the end zone to give the Alouettes a 21-7 advantage. They never looked back after that.
Those three turnovers really set the tone for this game. It wasn't more complicated than that. The Als are playing with confidence, especially against Ottawa, but they always seem to make the right play at the right time this season. Were they perfect? No. They have to be more disciplined going forward, but in their defence, they've been pretty good in that department for most of the year.
The Alouettes had every reason to take a now 0-10 team lightly heading into this week, but they didn't. Maas deserves a lot of credit for that. At least a half-dozen players mentioned the term “faceless opponent” during the Alouettes post-game show I host after every match. They prepare for each of their opponents, but they never put an emphasis on who they're playing. They're more worried about themselves and what they can control. That was a big reason why this didn't end up being a trap game.
“We talk about the standard every week,” Philpot, who had two touchdowns on Thursday night, said. “We talk about beating a faceless opponent every week. Obviously, they're 0-9 coming into this game, but they're professionals. Coach Maas said it best because we won by 30 points, but (the penalties) are uncharacteristic of us. We want to be clean all the way through, especially when you dominate. Why not eliminate the penalties and play the best football [you can play]?”
One of the other positives from Thursday's win was the success the team had on the ground. Theis finished the game with 11 carries for 88 yards and backup Shomari Lawrence had 10 rushes for 71 yards.
Alexander was a cool 20-for-23 for 260 yards and two touchdowns. Those numbers could've been even better, but the Als decided to take their starting quarterback out of the game midway through the fourth quarter because their lead was insurmountable.
The Alouettes have now won seven games in a row. A victory in Winnipeg next week would allow them to match the franchise record for longest winning streak in one season, which occurred during the 2022 season.
“There are a lot of people that are saying that we're peaking too early, but every game we get better,” linebacker Geoff Cantin-Arku, who had eight tackles, one sack and a forced fumble in the game, said. “I'm just curious to see how good we can actually be.”
What's next?
The Alouettes will play the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for the first time this season. They'll take on the Bombers at Princess Auto Stadium next Friday night at 8:30 p.m. ET.
The Als will return home the following week for what should be an exciting matchup against Nathan Rourke and the B.C. Lions.