Fajardo, Alouettes start season with win over Redblacks

MONTREAL — Cody Fajardo said all week that the Montreal Alouettes had receivers who could step up within their inexperienced group. On Saturday, it was Austin Mack.

With receivers Greg Ellingson, Tyson Philpot and Reggie White Jr. all on the six-game injured list, Mackfilled the void by making four receptions for 120 yards as Montreal hung on to beat the Ottawa Redblacks 19-12 in the CFL regular-season opener for both squads.

“We've got some young receivers, but the league is going to take notice and (Mack) had an incredible game,” said Fajardo, who threw for 261 yards on 14 of 21pass attempts and ran for a touchdown in his first game as the Alouettes quarterback.

“I feel like he caught everything I threw his way and he's just going to continue to get better.”

Fajardo and Mack connected on a 61-yard heave on the first pass of the game to set up the quarterback’s one-yard touchdown run and put the 20,865 fans at Percival Molson Stadium on their feet in the first game under new Alouettes owner Pierre Karl Peladeau.

“I knew the play call was a corner post, second I think and long, so you obviously know that it's your time to come up,” said Mack. “Everything matched up and we hit.”

While Montreal was missing key receivers, Ottawa didn’t have its No. 1 quarterback. Nick Arbuckle started under centre for the Redblacks with Jeremiah Masoli ruled out at least the first two games of the season as he continues to recover from a broken leg suffered last season.

Arbuckle struggled, throwing three interceptions and 176 yards on 19 of 35 completions. Kicker Lewis Ward scored all of Ottawa's points, going 4-for-4 on field goals.

“Overall, I think our defence and special teams played really well and I just don't think, you know, I left too much out there and didn't give our offence enough of a chance to score some touchdowns,” said a disappointed Arbuckle post-game. “It makes me sad that I didn't do well enough to give that win to (the team).”

After Montreal’s hot start, the offence went dry for most of the game and Fajardo was sacked six times — something head coach Jason Maas says is a top priority to fix next time out.

“If your quarterback gets hit like he did all night there’s gonna be concerns, but that’s not something that I think is gonna continue,” said Maas, who won his first game as Alouettes head coach after being hired in December.

“Protecting our quarterback is the first thing we think about every day so we’ll be better at that for sure and that’s on us as coaches to make that happen.”

Montreal kicker David Cote also went 4-for-4, and starting running back William Stanback ran for42 yards on 16 attempts.Defensive back and free-agent signing Ciante Evans had two interceptions in the game.

Halfback Devonte Williams ran 36 yards for Ottawa and receiver Nate Behar made a game-high five receptions for 46 yards.

Montreal opened the scoring 2:32 into the game when Fajardo completed his QB sneak into the end zone.

The Alouettes signed Fajardo from Saskatchewan this off-season after losing starting quarterback Trevor Harris to the Roughriders amid Montreal’s ownership instability before Peladeau took over.

Later in the first, Alouettes receiver Chandler Worthy ran in a touchdown off a punt return on their next possession, but the play was called back due to an offside penalty against Montreal.

The score was 10-6 in favour of Montreal at the break before Canadian rock band Our Lady Piece performed during halftime.

Arbuckle found receiver Quan Bray with a 41-yard pass early in the second half to set up Ward’s third field goal and cut the lead to one.

Kaion Julien-Grant gave Montreal a big gain of 51 yards off a catch, leading to a 46-yard field goal from Cote that increased Montreal’s lead to 13-9 at 3:45 of the third quarter.

Ottawa and Montreal traded field goals early in the fourth to keep it a four-point game before Arbuckle threw his third interception with 5 1/2 minutes left.

After Cote hit his fourth field goal with 1:03 left to put the Alouettes up 19-12, Montreal stopped Ottawa from getting a first down to ice the game.

“Defensively, our special teams I thought were very good tonight, two of the three phases did an extremely great job," said Maas. "Offensively we started fast and finished well, it’s in-between that we need to pick it up.

"Once we do that, if we can play all three phases that way, I think we’re going to be a team to reckon with.”

The Alouettes and Redblacks will meet again in Week 11 and Week 17 this season, both at Ottawa.

UP NEXT

Ottawa has a quick turnaround and hosts the Calgary Stampeders in its home opener on Thursday. Montreal gets a break during Week 2 before visiting the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in Week 3.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2023.