JULY 26, 2026: HAMILTON TIGER CATS V MONTREAL ALOUETTES
The final score was not indicative of the play, but that, plus a couple of bucks, will get you a small coffee and not much more.
“We scored 10 points, offensively,” Ticats head coach Scott Milanovich said bluntly after Sunday night’s 31-18 road loss “That ain’t good enough.”
But the Ticats still found themselves in position to beat the first-place Alouettes late in Sunday’s game when the circumstances, if not fully in their control, were certainly manageable.
“I don’t know that we ever had it in control, but we had started to play a little better offensively in the third quarter,” Milanovich said. “And then we turned it over a couple times in the fourth quarter.”
“We got a punt blocked and, I mean, that was the difference in the game against a good team.”
Mitch McCarthy’s punt was blocked, but the ball went over the line of scrimmage, and Hamilton was called for no-yards, which added another 15 yards of penalties, but the Cat defence forced the Als to settle for a field goal and a 20-18 lead.
With under three minutes to go, judicious use of the clock and a few first downs could have put Hamilton in position to win on a field goal by Marc Liegghio, who had already hit one from 46 yards.
But a strong 33-yard completion from a rolling Ford to Kurleigh Gittens Jr, which had suddenly silenced the crowd, was called back because somehow the Ticats did not have enough men on the line of scrimmage.
So, in the waning moments of the game, the Ticats had a fumble, an interception, a potential-game-winning drive killed by a penalty, and an inability to stop running back Travis Theis, who ran for all 30 yards on a four-play TD drive to clinch the win in the final two minutes. He had 156 yards on 19 carries after running for 123 (and catching passes for another 49) in a win over Calgary last week.
The victory by the Als, who doubled down to outscore Hamilton 14-0 in the final quarter, sealed the season’s series and hurtled them to a 6-1 record, well ahead of the rest of the East Conference pack, with the Ticats now tied with Toronto at 3-4.
The Hamilton defence was solid and forced three turnovers — it was one of those rare occasions in which the team which won the turnover battle lost on the scoreboard — but grew tired in the fourth quarter.
And in the final five minutes with more than an even chance to pull out a second successive victory, all three phases of the Cats game — offence, defence, special teams — came up grievously short, and then some. That combination proved too much against an Als team that pounces upon miscues like a kitten on a catnip toy.
“I think the final five minutes determined who won the game, right?” said Ticat quarterback Tre Ford, who scuffled through the first half then found his legs and rhythm after some adjustments at the intermission and delivered a strong, intelligent third quarter.
“I thought the defence was great all the way through, again. We struggled for most of the first half then had one good drive and another okay drive. But that’s not enough to win a game.”
“I think there were things that are encouraging. If we just clean up some things, we just make a couple of more plays, I make a couple more throws, and I think we’re walking out of here feeling different.”
But as Milanovich said, again bluntly, you can’t play just one quarter and expect to win against Montréal, a team that knows how to win, especially when it’s close and especially when it’s late in the game.
Ford went 15-for-23 for 164 yards and a touchdown pass to Kenny Lawler, who deked and willed his way into the end zone. But Ford was also just 2-for-6 in the final quarter and threw an ill-conceived interception with under two minutes remaining that erased all chance of a victory as Montreal quickly scored a touchdown. The Cats were 0-for-4 on converting second downs in the fourth quarter.
After a Ford fumble — originally ruled a non-fumble but overturned on replay — the Ticats D forced a turnover of their own with five minutes to play. Destin Talbert stripped Tyler Snead, and Reggie Stubblefield, who had another great game, recovered with the Cats up 18-17.
But that was followed by a quick two-and-out, then the pivotal blocked kick, ensuing no-yards and the go-ahead field goal, the sixth and final lead change of the game.
“I thought we played well defensively for three quarters,” Milanovich said. “We’ve got to play better offensively. It’s my responsibility. We didn’t run the ball well. We didn’t protect the ball. We didn’t throw it well.”
And there were too many — as in way too many — penalties. They contributed, continually, to the outcome.
The Ticats, among the least penalized teams in the league, had 11 penalties accepted for 116 yards while the Als were flagged for just two infractions for 14 yards. Montréal didn’t take a penalty after the first quarter, and Hamilton was flagged for the final nine penalties of the game.
“We took the lead, and then we gave them, what, 35 yards of penalties when they retook the lead in the third quarter?” Milanovich said. “It’s the small details that we just can’t have.”
Most significant was the ejection of middle linebacker Wynton McManis for rough play with only six minutes gone in the second half. Ryan Baker and Jordan Crook stepped up, however. Crook had an excellent game, tying defensive end Phil Ossai with seven defensive tackles, the most by either team.
“Whenever you lose somebody like Wyn, it’s hard,” Crook said. “He’s the vocal guy. The energy. He makes it go for us. With him going down, I just kind of looked at it as an opportunity to go out there and be able to use my voice a little more.”
The results overshadowed Isaiah Wooden’s 100-yard punt return touchdown, which gave the Ticats a 7-3 lead in the first quarter and muted the party crowd on the McGill campus. He warded off three early tackle attempts, made a couple of clairvoyant cuts, then turned on the afterburners. But the dynamic major felt a bit hollow because of the final score.
“You want to come out with a win, so that’s rough,” he said. “Our unit has been working really hard to get into the end zone, so it feels good to see that. It’s been a while coming, and there’s been penalties that have cost some. We’ve just got to be more disciplined. We know we really can’t blame anybody else but ourselves.”
The Alouettes head to Ottawa Friday night to play the as-yet winless Redblacks while the Ticats host Calgary, and record-setting quarterback Vernon Adams Jr., who has thrown an unprecedented 20 touchdowns without an interception, establishing a new CFL mark to start a season. The Stamps are coming off a huge 52-30 victory in Winnipeg and Hamilton will get its first look at former Ticat Tyreik McAllister (he led the league in all-purpose yards in 2023) who scored a touchdown on a return, rush, and pass reception against the Bombers, to become the first player in CFL history to score in three different ways during the first half of a game.
“We’ve just got to keep on, as a team, coming together, locking in and know it’s going to be fine,” Crook said, while recognizing that the dying minutes of games have been a vulnerable time for the Cats.
“Those last three or four minutes, at least defence-wise, we’ve tended to kind of get a little looser, so we have to hone in right there.”
CATS CLAUSES
Ticats DE Phil Ossai and DBs Destin Talbert and Stavros Katsantonis were credited with forced fumbles and Ossai had the Ticats’ only sack … Devodric Bynum had Hamilton’s interception … Keric Wheatfall led the Cats with 55 yards from 3 receptions … Kenny Lawler had 45 yards and a TD from his 3 receptions and also made a perfect block on a swing pass … Isaiah Wooden Sr had 201 combined yards on punt and kickoff returns … Jordan Crook had 3 special teams tackles … Ticats forced turnovers on a fumble, interception and on downs … RG Nate Dumoulin-Duguay had more than 100 friends and fans at the game including a busload of 45 who made the six-hour drive from his hometown of Rimouski, QC … Hamilton had only 14 first downs to Montréal’s 25 and 228 net offensive yards while the Als had 347. But they were edged only 187-164 in passing yards … the Cats averaged 4.6 yards on first downs to 7.5 for the Als and converted only 29 per cent of their 14 attempts on second down when seven or more yards were required, while the Alouettes were 4-for-7 … Als’ QB Davis Alexander’s no-interception streak record was ended at 356 attempts but he completed 72 percent of his passes (21 for 29) for a modest 187 yards … short-yardage QB Terry Wilson had two TDs for Montréal but also had a rare 3rd-and-1 stopped by a stout Ticat D … Cole Spieker led Als receivers with 5 catches and 63 yards … Tyler Snead caught 4 for 37 … Jose Maltos Diaz was good on all 3 FG attempts … the Als totaled 79 yards on their first three touches starting with DeVonte’s game-opening kickoff return for 33 … Geoffrey Cantin-Arku, Tyrice Beverette and Mustafa Johnson had the Als’ sacks … attendance was 21,014.
