The Alouettes owed it to their defensive power that they won 19-12 against the Ottawa Redblacks at Percival Molson Stadium on Saturday night at the start of the season. An enthusiastic crowd of 20,865 supporters attended the occasion.

“We had a good start and finished well. [à l’attaque]. We could have done better between the two, but football has three facets, analyzed Alouettes head coach Jason Maas himself after the game. The defense and special teams were outstanding. It remains a win for the whole group.”

Watch the highlights of the meeting in the main video.

Defensive back Ciante Evans caused a stir on the secondary with two interceptions. He also excelled late in the second quarter by preventing a touchdown when he interfered with receiving a pass in the end zone. A majority of the visitors could have changed the pace of the meeting.

“The opposing quarterback made a good pass, but I saw in the last second that I could intervene as soon as the ball touched the receiver’s hands,” Evans said. The impact with the ground helped make an incomplete pass.

Najee Murray was also able to intercept the ball in the fourth quarter. The special teams also did a great job for the Alouettes. Tyrell Richards is among those who have made many tackles in such circumstances.

A touchdown by Fajardo

Speaking of offense, quarterback Cody Fajardo couldn’t have made a better first impression on Montreal fans in that first game of the regular season early tonight. He put on a show, scoring a touchdown on a one-yard run and completing the opening sequence on offense. That offensive push was marked by a long 61-yard pass from Fajardo to rookie Austin Mack.

“It was good to get a deep pass early in the game,” said Fajardo. Austin Mack played an incredible game, he seemed to catch every ball that came his way.

The combination between Fajardo and Mack came through again in the third quarter with a 34-yard throw, but the Alouettes were unable to capitalize on it due to a quarterback fumble a few plays later.

Fajardo finished the game with 14 completions on 21 tries for 261 yards. For his part, Mack finished his first career game in the Canadian Football League with 120 yards on the clock after four balls. Kaion Julien-Grant was also a prime target for Fajardo, rushing for 62 yards.

Four placements for Côté

Kicker David Côté added the other 12 points with four field goals, all from 46-48 yards. He also showed composure twice in the fourth quarter.

Rouge et Noir’s Lewis Ward also put the ball between the posts three times in that game.

“The fans were fantastic all night and we found a way to win this game,” said Fajardo.

music and atmosphere

In the Percival Molson Stadium, too, the party had already started before kick-off on Saturday evening.

Under a sunny sky, a concert featuring 2Frères and France D’Amour took place before the football match between the Montreal club and the Ottawa Rouge et Noir.

To raise the spirits, small towels were distributed to the first 10,000 supporters.

The group Our Lady Peace played the halftime show.