The Montreal Alouettes used a strong 21-point first-half effort to fuel a 31-10 win over the visiting B.C. Lions on Friday night.
The Alouettes (5-7) not only shook off a tough loss to the Ottawa Redblacks from last week, but also snapped a nine-game losing streak against the Lions.
Quarterback Trevor Harris threw for 163 yards on 16-of-23 passing to go along with one touchdown and one interception.
In his Alouettes debut, cornerback Nafees Lyon had one interception which he returned for a touchdown. QB Dominique Davis had one rushing touchdown.
Making his return to Montreal, Lions QB Antonio Pipkin threw for 174 yards on 13-of-24 passing with one interception.
Vernon Adams Jr. also made his Montreal homecoming after the Alouettes traded the quarterback to B.C. on Aug. 31. Adams served as the backup, playing parts of the first and second quarter and picking up a mere 17 passing yards.
The Lions (8-3) broke the ice with a 36-yard field goal from former Alouette Sean Whyte for the Lions’ only points of the first half.
READ MORE: Move to Lions from Alouettes ‘bittersweet’ for QB Vernon Adams Jr.
The Alouettes put their first two points on the board when defensive lineman Mustafa Johnson took Pipkin down in B.C.’s end zone for a safety.
A few minutes later, Davis found the end zone on a two-yard QB sneak for his tenth rushing TD of the season, after a Zach Lindley blocked punt put Montreal on the Lions’ 25-yard line.
The Alouettes then created a double-digit gap by scoring 13 points in the second quarter.
David Cote hit a 13-yard field goal to give Montreal an 11-3 lead. A few minutes later, the Alouettes increased their lead to 15 points when Harris found Eugene Lewis for a 12-yard score.
Cote added his second field goal of the night late in the quarter to give his team a 21-3 going into halftime.
Midway through the third quarter, Pipkin and the B.C. offence decided to tempt fate on third-and-goal. Once again, Johnson got the better of Pipkin with a sack to force a turnover on downs.
The Lions defence provided its offence some help in the fourth with a Manny Rugamba interception at Montreal’s 33-yard line. The Lions made Montreal pay with a short drive that ended with a one-yard sneak by Pipkin, cutting the Als’ lead to 11 points.
We fall to the only team who has beat Winnipeg. 🤷🏽♂️ On to the next game. pic.twitter.com/qp6DqKTjjh
— BC LIONS (@BCLions) September 10, 2022
Seven minutes later, Lyon intercepted Pipkin and scored on a 52-yard return to put Montreal further ahead.
Cote capped off Montreal’s win with his 30th field goal of the season with less than two minutes remaining.
Tristan D’Amours, The Canadian Press
