The surging Montreal Alouettes seek their fourth straight victory when they visit the slumping Ottawa Redblacks on Saturday night.
The Alouettes (5-3) have climbed into second place in the East Division with their current winning streak.
They defeated the Redblacks 19-12 in the June 10 season opener in Montreal. Cody Fajardo scored that game’s only touchdown with a 1-yard run in the first quarter and Montreal added four field goals by David Cote.
The Alouettes are coming off an impressive 41-12 win against Saskatchewan last Friday. Caleb Evans passed for 149 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 66 yards and two scores to lead Montreal.
Evans started against the Roughriders in place of Fajardo, who was out with a left shoulder injury and was limited in practices early this week. Fajardo will be a game-time decision at Ottawa.
“It will come down to the wire once again,” Alouettes coach Jason Maas said of his starting QB situation, per TSN.
Montreal running back William Stanback said he expects to return from a hip injury that kept him out of last week’s game.
“I feel really good,” Stanback told TSN. “I’m ready to go out there this week and go to war against Ottawa.”
Ottawa (3-6) is mired in a three-game losing skid and fell to 0-4 within the division with last Sunday’s 44-31 setback at Toronto.
The Redblacks led the Argonauts 24-21 late in the first half before fading. Ottawa quarterback Dustin Crum had his finest performance to date in a losing effort, completing 21 of 26 passes for 292 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions.
“I’m definitely improving,” Crum told the Ottawa Sun. “We’ve gotten better as a group, being able to see things the same way and have the same timing, so you feel like there’s a comfort level that’s continued to grow. It showed a bit last week and it’s something we have to continue to build.”
Ottawa wide receiver Bralon Addison (Achilles), defensive backs Brandin Dandridge (foot) and Douglas Coleman (head) and linebackers Frankie Griffin (head) and Gary Johnson Jr. (foot) have been ruled out for Saturday night.
Offensive lineman Patrick Davis (leg) and defensive lineman Marcus Valdez (ankle) are out for Montreal.
The teams will square off twice more during the regular season on Sept. 30 in Ottawa and Oct. 9 in Montreal.
–Field Level Media