(Montreal) The clues were clear, but we still had to wait for confirmation from Jason Maas: Caleb Evans and not Cody Fajardo will be the Montreal Alouettes’ starting quarterback against the Ottawa Redblacks , Saturday at TD Place.
Fajardo suffered a left shoulder injury two weeks ago in the win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and had to make way for Evans. The latter led the Alouettes (5-3) to a 41-12 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders last Friday.
Evans had contributed eight passes on 13 attempts for 149 yards and a touchdown against an interception. He had also carried the ball 11 times for 66 yards and two majors, his first two in an Alouettes uniform.
The Alouettes’ rushing offense also contributed significantly to the win: Walter Fletcher, used as a replacement for William Stanback, who suffered a hip injury, rushed for 73 yards on 15 opportunities; Jeshrun Antwi had added 47 yards on seven carries and a touchdown after a spectacular 19-yard play.
Overall, the ground game provided the Birds with 186 yards in the game.
Fletcher’s performance, however, did not earn him a stay in the roster. The American – like Stanback – is a victim of the ratio of Canadian starters. Maas said after the last game that he had the flexibility in his squad to play both halfbacks, but he was trying to find the ideal combination. It won’t be for this week.
As for guard Kristian Matte, who missed the first two training sessions of the week before joining his teammates on Thursday, he appears as a starter on the organization chart sent to the media on Friday, but a decision will be made during the pre-season warm-up. match in his case.
The Alouettes will try to sign a fourth consecutive victory on Saturday, while the Rouge et Noir (3-6) will want to slow down their slide, which has just lost its last three outings. The Ottawa team will also try to register a first victory in five games against the teams of the Eastern Division.
This does not mean that the Red and Black will be easy prey.
Ottawa leads in turnovers (27), interceptions (14, tied) and fumbles recoveries (8), in addition to having taken only 54 penalties so far, tied with the Blue Bombers of Winnipeg.
“It’s a team that plays confusing football: a lot of switches, a lot of blitzing,” said Alouettes offensive line coach Luc Brodeur-Jourdain. It is heavy to dissect the films of their meetings. »
“They are in all battles,” added Maas. I believe eight of their nine meetings have been decided in the last three minutes. Their turnover ratio is very good [Editor’s note: 4, the Alouettes come just ahead at 6]. They are also a team that plays well in all three phases of the game. It will be a difficult task for us to go to them to collect a victory. »
It is once again quarterback Dustin Crum who will start for the Rouge et Noir. Quarter No. 3 at the start of the season behind Jeremiah Masoli (whose name is again on the injured list for six games) and Nick Arbuckle, Crum beat the latter after a few poor performances.
Crum has done well since becoming head coach Bob Dyce’s man. His completion rate of 70.6% (113 in 160) is also the second in the league among qualified quarterbacks, behind Vernon Adams Jr. of the BC Lions.
“We don’t want to allow a team from our section to approach a file close to ours,” said Brodeur-Jourdain about the importance of this meeting. We also want to put the odds on our side for the differential at the end of the season. We must take advantage of all the matches in our section in order to potentially finish first. »
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.